I have learned some hard lessons over the last three years about independent schools.

1.  Your child’s teacher is obligated to report YOU but not an abuser teaching next door, in independent schools. We need to fix mandated reporting in New York State. And the Bronx DA agrees.

2.  Private schools in NY State rarely alert authorities when they get reports of abuse by teachers. Abusers love that.

3.  The policies schools write are to show parents. All bets are off when a real event happens.

4.  Schools aren’t accountable for keeping records. Once a school covers up an incident with an abuser, every next incident is preventable and inexcusable.

5.  If your child reported abuse to the principal, you’d expect an immediate call. Not at Horace Mann.

We know more about the sanitation of the restaurant down the street than about the risk our children face in the schools we trust to take care of them every day.

With any abuse event, knowing how and why is essential to prevention. Despite four decades of abuse by faculty, HM refuses to investigate or cooperate to learn the truth. We expect our schools to be accountable.

You can learn more in our report of the investigation by concerned alumni. The systemic conditions we found in our school may likely exist in your child’s school. Read what we found along with recommendations for school administrators.

Assess your school. And find out what your school is doing.