§ 261.101 – Persons Required to Report; Time to Report
(a) A person having cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect shall immediately make a report to the Department of Family and Protective Services (CPS).
(b) An educator, or any other person licensed or certified by the state who has direct contact with children in the course of employment, shall make a report no later than 48 hours after first suspecting that the child has been or may be abused or neglected.
(c) A professional may not delegate to or rely on another person to make the report.
Annotations:
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Violation 1: Teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal did not report allegations to CPS.
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Violation 2: Each was independently required to report; none could defer to the other.
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Relevance to Title VII: The District’s failure to follow mandatory reporting procedures supports a finding of pretext (failure to follow policy = evidence of discrimination).
§ 261.102 – Matters To Be Reported
A report should reflect the reporter’s belief that a child has been or may be abused or neglected or has died of abuse or neglect.
§ 261.104 – Contents of Report
A report to CPS must include, if known:
(1) the name and address of the child;
(2) the name and address of the person responsible for the care of the child;
(3) the facts that caused the person to believe the child has been abused or neglected;
and
(4) any other pertinent information concerning the alleged abuse or neglect.
Annotations:
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Violation 3: No statutorily compliant CPS reports were filed, so required information (student names, guardian contact information) was never submitted.
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Violation 4: By failing to provide this information, the District deprived CPS of jurisdiction to investigate, intervene, and assist students and families.
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Violation 5: By failing to provide this information, the District denied Mr. Bravo due process.
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Relevance to Title VII: The district’s failure to comply demonstrates that its stated “child safety” rationale was false, establishing pretext.
§ 261.109 – Failure to Report; Penalty
(a) A person commits an offense if the person is required to make a report under § 261.101 and knowingly fails to make a report as provided in this chapter.
(c) An offense under Subsection (a-1) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor intended to conceal the abuse or neglect.
Annotations:
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Violation 6: By failing to file statutorily compliant CPS reports, the teacher, assistant principal, and principal allegedly breached § 261.109.
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Violation 7: Each mandated reporter faces individual liability; they cannot rely on internal district processes as a substitute for statutorily required CPS reports.
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Relevance to Title VII: Demonstrates willful violation of mandatory state law, supporting pretext and further showing disregard for legal obligations.
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Policy Implication: Dallas ISD’s and TEA’s failure to investigate, despite these statutory penalties reinforces systemic disregard.
Summary of Legal Impact
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Procedural Violations = Pretext: Failure to comply with these mandatory statutes shows Dallas ISD acted outside normal procedure, supporting an inference of discrimination.
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Identical Comparator Evidence Impossible: Bypassing CPS ensured no external investigation or record existed, eliminating potential identical comparator evidence.
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Safe Harbor Risk: If this conduct is not checked, districts statewide can repeat this process to avoid CPS oversight and Title VII liability.