Are substitute teachers mandated reporters, and does telling the principal count? What Arizona's, California's and other states' laws say, and where to find yours

Very likely yes. A federal summary of state laws, current through May 2023, counts 44 states and the District of Columbia that name teachers, principals and other school personnel as mandated reporters. The other six states require anyone who suspects child abuse or neglect to report it. Arizona wrote substitute teachers into its law in 2025. Whether telling the principal counts depends on the state. In California and Texas it does not, and you make the report yourself to a child welfare agency or to law enforcement. Arizona says the same when you have direct knowledge of abuse, and in Arizona a report to the school resource officer never counts. In Virginia and Massachusetts, the law lets school staff notify the person in charge instead, and that person then has to report.

The sections below quote the laws and state agencies for those five states, give one staffing agency's policy, and show how to find your own state's rule. We read every page cited here on November 11, 2026. This is not legal advice. Your state's statute sets the duty, a state or county agency takes the report, and your district's HR office or your agency can tell you its procedure. If a child is in danger right now, call 911.

What the federal summary counts

The Child Welfare Information Gateway, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, publishes Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect, a summary of every state's law. It lists "Teachers, principals, and other school personnel" as mandated reporters in 44 states. The six it leaves out are Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah and Wyoming. All six are among the 17 states where "any person who suspects child abuse or neglect is required to report," and so is Texas.

On the principal question, the summary describes two approaches. In nine states, "the staff member who suspects maltreatment notifies the head of the institution first, and then the head or their designee is required to make the report." In 10 states, including California, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania, "the person who suspects maltreatment must first make the report to the appropriate child protection authority and then notify the institution that a report has been made." Separately, it says laws in 17 states make clear that, "regardless of any policies within the organization, the mandatory reporter is not relieved of their responsibility to report."

Reporters "do not have the burden of providing proof that abuse or neglect has occurred," the summary says. It is current only through May 2023, and Arizona and Texas have both changed their laws since.

Arizona: substitutes are named, and the school resource officer does not count

Arizona's law is A.R.S. 13-3620. Senate Bill 1437, signed April 7, 2025, rewrote the school entry in subsection A to cover "School personnel, including substitute teachers, domestic violence victim advocates or sexual assault victim advocates who develop the reasonable belief in the course of their employment."

Subsection A says a covered person "shall immediately report or cause reports to be made" to a peace officer or the Department of Child Safety, or to a tribal law enforcement or social services agency for an Indian child who lives on a reservation. Subsection F is stricter when you have direct knowledge. A covered person "who has direct knowledge that a minor is or has been the victim of abuse or neglect shall immediately report the abuse or neglect to the department of child safety and may not delegate another person to make the report." Subsection R adds, "A report to a school resource officer or a school safety officer does not satisfy the reporting requirement prescribed by this section."

Failing to report is "a class 1 misdemeanor, except if the failure to report involves a reportable offense, the person is guilty of a class 6 felony."

California: a report to the school does not count

The California Department of Education's child abuse reporting guidelines say the mandated reporter list in Penal Code 11165.7 "includes all school/district employees, administrators, and athletic coaches." For the training districts must give every year, CDE says "'All employees' includes anybody working on the LEA's behalf."

On the principal, the guidelines say, "This legal obligation is not satisfied by making a report of the incident to a supervisor or to the school." The report goes to a police or sheriff's department, "not including a school district police department or school security department," to a county probation department if the county has designated one, or to the county welfare department or child protective services. It "should be made immediately over the telephone and should be followed up in writing."

CDE also says, "No supervisor or administrator can impede or inhibit a report or subject the reporting person to any sanction." And "A person who fails to make a required report is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or up to a $1,000 fine."

Texas: 24 hours, and no handing it off

Texas requires anyone who suspects abuse to report it. For educators, nurses and other mandated reporters, the Texas Education Agency's child abuse prevention page says the deadline was "reduced from 48 hours to 24 hours after first suspecting that a child has been abused or neglected," under Senate Bill 571. TEA's June 2025 letter to districts says the governor signed that bill on June 21, 2025. Older guidance still says 48 hours, including TEA's August 2024 letter.

That 2024 letter also says, "School system personnel may not delegate this duty or rely on another person to make the report." A report goes to "any local or state law enforcement agency," to the Department of Family and Protective Services, or to the state agency that operates or licenses the facility where the alleged abuse occurred. The state's reporting page gives the DFPS hotline as 1-800-252-5400 and online reporting at txabusehotline.org.

Virginia and Massachusetts: the person in charge can make the report

Virginia's Code 63.2-1509 covers "Any teacher or other person employed in a public or private school, kindergarten, or child day program." A teacher or staff member who learns of abuse in the course of work at a school "may, in place of such report, immediately notify the person in charge of the institution or department, or his designee, who shall make such report forthwith." That person must then tell you when the report was made and the name of the person who took it. A first failure to report can bring a fine of "not more than $500."

Massachusetts's General Laws chapter 119, section 51A works the same way. Its section 21 defines mandated reporters to include "a public or private school teacher." A mandated reporter on a school's staff "may instead notify the person or designated agent in charge of such institution, school or facility who shall become responsible for notifying the department." A reporter who goes to the department directly must "immediately communicate with the department orally" and file a written report within 48 hours. The fine for failing to report is up to $1,000.

In both states, telling the principal counts because the statute gives the report to the person in charge. You can still call yourself. The federal summary says that in every state "any person is permitted to report." In other states, read the statute before you rely on the principal. The summary's notify-first list also includes Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, South Dakota and Wyoming, but it puts Kentucky, Maine and Wyoming among the 17 states where an employer's policy does not relieve the reporter of the duty.

What a staffing agency tells its subs

If an agency employs you, it may have rules of its own. Kelly Education's page on mandated reporting, dated November 14, 2024, says, "Kelly Education considers all our employees who are on assignment in a school to be mandated reporters." It also says, "if you witness it and tell the principal, you are not 'off the hook' to report it." The page is general advice. Your state's statute decides where the report goes, and your agency's handbook gives its procedure.

Your name, and retaliation

The federal summary says reports "may be made anonymously to most of these reporting numbers," but about 19 states, Arizona, California and Massachusetts among them, require mandated reporters to give their names and contact information. California's guidelines add that "the reporter's identity is kept confidential." The summary counts 44 states that protect the reporter's identity from disclosure to the alleged perpetrator, and 17 where an employer "is expressly prohibited from retaliating against an employee who has made a report." California, Massachusetts and Texas are among those 17. If you later stop seeing jobs at one school, our post on Frontline's excluded substitutes list explains how that list works.

Finding your own state's rule

• Open the federal State Statutes Search, pick your state, and find its mandatory reporting summary. It quotes the statute and gives the citation.
• Read the current statute on your legislature's website. The summary dates from May 2023, and Arizona and Texas have changed their laws since.
• Check who is listed. Look for "teacher," "school personnel" or "school employee," and for a rule that covers any person.
• Check where the report goes and whether someone else can make it for you. Look for "delegate" and "person in charge."
• Get the number from the federal list of state reporting numbers or from your state child welfare agency's site.
• Ask your district's HR office, or your agency, for its written procedure, including whether it wants you to tell the principal after you report.

What this post can't tell you

It can't tell you whether what you saw is enough to report. Arizona's statute speaks of a "reasonable belief." California's guidelines say you do not have to "witness the abuse" or "have definite proof." Each state sets its own standard, and the agency that takes the report decides what happens next. It can't tell you whether your state's wording covers a substitute employed by an agency rather than the district. Arizona's names substitute teachers without saying who employs them, and the passages we quote for the other four states do not mention substitutes. And it checks only five states against their own sources. For the rest, the federal summary is a starting point, as of May 2023.

Learn more: app.getsubhero.com

Plans start at $6.99/month. Works with Frontline Absence Management.