As the Penn State University child sexual-abuse scandal unfolded, Millersville University President Francine G. McNairy sent out a missive across her own campus.

Children visiting Millersville's campus need to be protected from abuse, she wrote. Anyone who hears about or knows about possible child abuse on campus should immediately contact university police. "If you are witnessing what appears to be an act of sexual abuse of a child, immediately call 911," she directed.

Safety-related concerns also could be reported to the university's threat assessment team. The university's policies and practices provide "appropriate avenues for all of us to do what we are required to do, as well as what basic human decency tells us we should do," McNairy declared.

The Penn State scandal has sparked a debate over who should be responsible for reporting abuse, and to whom suspected child abuse should be reported.

Meanwhile, school administrators are reviewing with staff members the mandatory reporting protocols they already have in place.

"This is certainly a teachable moment for our staff members, so probably like everybody else, we're going to take advantage of it," said Conestoga Valley School District Superintendent Gerald

In school districts such as Conestoga Valley, Hempfield and Penn Manor, administrators sent out written reminders of their policies on mandatory abuse reporting, or directed principals to discuss the issue with teachers and other staff members.

Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 Executive Director Cynthia Burkhart sent an email on the subject to 1,300 staff members; she also sent letters home reassuring parents that the IU adhered to the law on reporting abuse, and had procedures for doing so.

Hempfield School District Superintendent Brenda Becker said she would be surprised if school districts were not reminding staff members of their duty to report suspected child abuse.

She said that, like so many others, she has been shocked by what reportedly transpired at Penn State. "There were just so many opportunities for someone to speak up," she said.

Last week, Elizabethtown College launched an online crime/incident report that students, faculty and staff can use to report a crime or an incident that they believe merits investigation.

Franklin & Marshall College President Daniel Porterfield sent an email to faculty members, reminding them of "our shared responsibility … to make sure all allegations of criminal activity are properly reported to authorities."

Jane Bray, dean of Millersville's School of Education, said that mandatory reporting procedures are covered in the classes taken by students preparing to become teachers. But "this most devastating and disturbing case" — the Penn State scandal — presented an opportunity to really emphasize the importance of the Pennsylvania Code of educators' conduct, Bray said.

"It is hard not to discuss this topic either in or out of class," she said.

This matter is not merely academic. In 2010, the Lancaster County Children & Youth Agency received about 900 child abuse reports.

Now, Robin Boyer, director of intake services at Children & Youth, said her agency is getting "a tremendous number" of requests for briefings on child abuse reporting from organizations that work with children. "Everyone is kind of re-examining, 'What's in place in our school or our facility? ... Are we protecting the children? Are we doing what we need to do?' "

Burkhart, of IU 13, said: "I'd be hard-pressed to think of any good that has come out of this Penn State tragedy. But if there's any good, this has been a reminder to all of the adults who work with children that we act swiftly and responsibly to protect our most vulnerable."

By now, the details of the Penn State scandal are widely known. On Nov. 5, former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arraigned on 40 counts of sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years.

In an alleged 2002 incident —witnessed by graduate assistant (and later assistant coach) Mike McQueary —Sandusky raped a boy, who was about 10 years old, in the showers of the Penn State football building.

McQueary told the grand jury, which investigated Sandusky, that he reported the alleged rape to Joe Paterno. According to Paterno's testimony, McQueary told the football coach he'd seen Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature" to a young boy.

Paterno notified then-athletic director Timothy Curley. A week and a half later, McQueary met with Curley and another university official, Gary Schultz.

Curley apprised Graham Spanier, then president of the university.

None of the Penn State higher-ups notified the police — even though Sandusky had been investigated by university police four years previously, over a shower incident involving another young boy.

As a result, they have been excoriated for participating in what many believe was a cover-up of Sandusky's alleged sexual abuse.

Amid the fallout, Pennsylvania legislators are scrambling to strengthen the commonwealth's laws on the reporting of child abuse.

Pennsylvania, like other states, designates certain professionals —including teachers, social workers, law enforcement officials, nurses, physicians — who work with children as "mandated reporters." This means they are legally bound to report suspected child abuse.

But unlike in most other states, a mandated reporter in Pennsylvania only has to report suspected abuse to a superior at work (or to his workplace's designated person) — not to the police.

According to media reports, some state lawmakers want to see legislation passed that would require suspected child abuse to be reported directly to law enforcement.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. introduced federal legislation that would require all adults — not just mandated reporters — to report child abuse and neglect to law enforcement or child protection authorities.

Robin Boyer, of Children & Youth, said the child abuse reporting law was amended in 2007 to allow a mandated reporter to report abuse, even if he learns about the abuse from someone other than the victim.

She said problems remain, however. Every school district has its own protocol for reporting abuse. "Some schools will allow anyone to make a phone call; some say it has to be the nurse or guidance counselor or principal," Boyer said. "It would be helpful for everyone to have the same protocol, and then everyone's clear on that."

Kari Stanley, program supervisor for the Lancaster County Children's Alliance, said that direct reporting would help to minimize the "passing the story down the line" effect that often occurs when reports are passed from one party to another.

If a person is a mandatory reporter, it should be his responsibility to contact the police or ChildLine, the state Department of Public Welfare's child abuse registry, Stanley said.

Burkhart, of IU 13, said her staff members have told her that they would prefer to make child abuse reports themselves, rather than to bump them up the organization's chain of command. She thinks legislation will be introduced in the near future that will require any adults who suspect abuse to report it to county and state agencies and local law enforcement.

CV Superintendent Huesken said he wouldn't want to see school administrators left out of the loop, particularly when an accusation is made against a school employee. In a case of student abuse, he said, school officials need to conduct their own investigation, to determine if the accused staff member should be suspended or terminated, and to make sure due process rights are addressed.

He contended that the reporting system has worked at the K-12 level of public education. "We take this reporting seriously. Anything that needs to be reported, it's been reported," Huesken said, asserting, "Penn State is a unique situation. I think we need to identify what went wrong there, so we're not just making wholesale changes."

Stanley, however, is not convinced. "How many schools over the past few years knew about suspicious [or] concerning behaviors of teacher- student relationships, and instead of reporting to authorities, the school administrators did their own 'investigation'?" she asked.

J. Richard Thomas, superintendent of Lancaster Mennonite School, said he believes anyone having knowledge of suspected abuse should be empowered to report it, without needing to go to a supervisor.

Thomas' school has been grappling with allegations against one of its own educators: On Nov. 4, Steven Geyer, assistant principal of Lancaster Mennonite High School, was placed on administrative leave, after he was accused of sexually abusing international students he hosted in his home.

The school notified child welfare authorities of the accusations against Geyer, and barred him from campus, and from all contact with students, while the allegations are investigated.

Some legislators have said in recent days that they want to tighten the penalties for failure to report, which is currently a misdemeanor.

In the view of Penn Manor School District Superintendent Mike Leichliter, failure to report should be treated seriously. "We're talking about the safety of children," he said.

Becker, of Hempfield, said "you can legislate everything you want," but that may not ensure that people act as they should. Still, she said, a tougher penalty "may help, because people might think twice about covering up for somebody else. ... If it saves one child, it's worth it."

Thomas, of Lancaster Mennonite, was dismayed by the notion that tougher punishment might be needed to compel people to report child abuse. "We need to report it because this is the right thing to do, not because there's a law that says we have to."

Burkhart, of IU 13, said there needs to be more clarity about what everyone's reporting responsibilities are, and about what is required to be reported.

She said the IU 13 solicitor and Boyer, of Children & Youth, will be meeting with area school superintendents after Thanksgiving to review mandatory reporting requirements, board policies on reporting, and the possible legislative changes that lie ahead.

For school officials, reporting cases of suspected abuse goes with the terrain.

Leichliter said that at Penn Manor, "Our mode is to be overly cautious in the reporting. ... If there's any doubt, you always err on the side of reporting and let the experts figure out if it's abuse or not."

Contact Sunday News staff writer Suzanne Cassidy at scassidy@lnpnews.com.