Legislators continued work on a bill that would modify “grooming behavior” by teachers to mean the process of building trust and emotional connections with a student with the intent to exploit such student.
The Department of Education has proposed Senate Study Bill 1066 in an effort to make the law less duplicative as the Attorney General’s office argues that the definition of grooming and committing a sexual act are duplicative in current law. This law is trying to target the gray area between inappropriate behavior and a sexual relationship as sexual abuse isn’t always committed in cases of grooming.
Eric St. Clair, legislative liaison for the Department of Education, said teachers who establish a good, productive relationship with a student is not a bad thing, but exploiting those relationships can be “dangerous and damaging.”
A number of lobbyists from the education world expressed concern with some of the language in the definitions, noting the importance of teachers and coaches developing relationships with students and players.
Nathan Arnold with Professional Educators of Iowa spoke against the bill, citing concern over a “discouraging trend” of the definition of abuse getting broader and broader to the point where it is “impossible” to defend yourself if you’re accused because “everything meets the definition.”
“Now, perhaps naively, I used to think it was a good thing for a teacher to build trust and emotional connections with a student,” Arnold said. “Obviously there are going to be odd cases out there where it goes further than that. The BOEE already has the tools at its disposal currently to deal with those situations.
Arnold said it is “very concerning” for the rights of the accused as teachers should be entitled to the presumptions of innocence.
“But I don’t think that’s possible with definitions like this,” he said. “We’re not stopping abusers, we’re creating them by defining everyday actions as abuse.”
Heaven Chamberlain with Bitches Get Stuff Done spoke against the bill because of it being “intentionally vague.” Chamberlain said the bill is attempting to “undermine schools.”
“I appreciate that we are trying to reduce grooming, but we’re acting like teachers are around every corner preying on students when they’re not,” she said.
Retired teacher Patty Alexander spoke in support of the bill. Alexander said the key word in defining grooming behavior is “secret.”
“It makes sense to tighten up the definition of grooming,” she said.
She also added that educators should not be allowed to “friend” or “follow” students on social media and that educators should demonstrate an understanding of ethical behaviors by completing a course on ethics for Iowa educators.
Concerns were also raised about the “very different” definitions of grooming in the criminal code as compared to the proposal. In addition, efforts are underway to make someone convicted of grooming criminally also register as a sex offender.
Democrat State Sen. Molly Donahue said nobody wants bad actors working in schools, but the bill is too broad. Donahue asked for specific instances where the current code isn’t providing enough guidance or specificity that it isn’t solving such problems.
The representative of the BOEE in attendance said there haven’t been any cases that have come up under the current definition and the concerns were raised by an assistant attorney in the AG’s office.
Donahue said an educator cannot come back from being accused of “grooming” even if it isn’t true.
Ultimately the bill is trying to put in place a punishment and law against grooming before a sex act takes place.
“How are you going to know if it’s going to go to a sex act,” asked Donahue. “That’s the problem. This is far too broad.”
Donahue said she guarantees education will decline because of the proposal against grooming.
Republican State Senators Mike Pike and Sandy Salmon agreed to support the bill with an amendment to continue the conversation in full committee. Salmon said she understands the concerns regarding broad language and encouraged people to submit suggestions to improve the language.
