Background Check Policy for Hiring Teachers Questioned in Lawsuit against School District

Norbert Ryan

By Amanda Kelley
The Myrtle Beach Herald

The father of a former St. James Middle School student is suing Horry County Schools over the district’s hiring of a teacher who had sex with the man’s then-13-year-old daughter, according to court records.
That teacher, Norbert Ryan, had a sexual relationship with one of his students in Michigan prior to being hired by Horry County Schools, the lawsuit states. Neither the local girl nor her father are identified in the lawsuit, which was filed this week in civil court.
Jeff Chandler, the family’s attorney, said information about Ryan’s past could have easily been obtained by Horry County Schools. “The SRO (school resource officer) found it by just doing a little inquiry by calling the former high school in Michigan,” he said. “The school district failed our client in the hiring.”
Police said Ryan was a 32-year-old social studies teacher at St. James Middle when he had sex with the girl during the 2009-2010 school year. The illegal relationship led to Ryan’s arrest. He was sentenced to seven years in prison last year after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor younger than 16. He was ordered to pay court costs and was placed on the central registry of child abuse and neglect.
The lawsuit states that the school district was negligent in both the supervision of its students and the screening of prospective hires. Teal Britton, a spokeswoman for Horry County Schools, said the district’s process for handling background checks varies depending on the applicant.
“Let’s just say that [someone] teaches somewhere else in the system or they are a new teacher in South Carolina,” she said. “They’ve already gone through a background check as part of their certification.”
For those teachers, Britton said, there’s no additional check through the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Out-of-state hires are put through a SLED records check, but that search only turns up in-state offenses.
Just looking at an in-state criminal history isn’t thorough enough, said Kenneth Trump, a Cleveland-based school security consultant.
In cases where teachers have inappropriate relations with students, he said it’s actually common for those teachers’ criminal history records to come up clean.
“The words background check and criminal history check are not one in the same,” he said. “A criminal history check is just that. It is a records check of prior crime. A background check should be more comprehensive. It should include a criminal history check, but it should encompass a great deal more, including character references.”
Horry County Schools screens out-of-state teachers differently than it does in-state or newly certified ones, Britton said.
“There would be reference checks,” she said. “And they have the ability to do more expansive checks if there is a suggestion that that needs to be done.”
Although the district can do a more thorough background check, Britton said that doesn’t necessarily happen.
“[If] someone certified from another state received very favorable recommendations for employment, [then] there would not necessarily be a national background check,” Britton said.
Trump questions whether that practice is sufficient.
“What is the trigger to get them to dig further?” he asked. “You have to dig to find the red flag to dig further. If you’re only scratching the surface, then you’re taking transcripts or information that is submitted by the applicant at face value.”
The issue of background checks comes down to cost.
“With 5,400 employees and the cost of doing those checks, you don’t annually check everyone,” Britton said. “But you do when there is a suggestion for cause to do so.”
The cost adds up quickly for the district. Britton said even parents wishing to chaperone field trips are required to have a SLED background check.
“It costs us $25 at a minimum to check you to see if it’s OK to be around kids in the classroom,” she said. “You can see those costs add up.”
Trump said the district’s explanation sounds familiar.
“What school districts historically have not done is a truly thorough background check,” he said. “They do the minimum required under state mandate and they do cursory checks and verifications of employment dates. But typically the schools point out that due to budgetary and staffing restraints they don’t have the resources to do comprehensive background checks.”
Many districts pass off troubling teachers on other districts, he said. He calls this “passing the trash.”
“Historically school districts, when they have a problem employee or someone suspected of being a problematic employee, instead of prosecuting or terminating that employee they will allow and encourage the employee to resign and then that employee later on moves to other districts,” he said.
The only thing that the then-former school district will say is that a person was hired here from this date to that date.”
Trump said school districts need to do more detailed background checks.
“It’s doing their due diligence and it’s a cultural change,” he said. “If you’re doing a thorough background check, often it can be those things that are not said by a previous employer that can be as much a red flag as those things that are said.”
Other things to pay attention to are on paper. Trump said gaps in employment and significant mobility could be reasons to question candidacy, though mobility will change if there is a spouse in the military.
“You don’t always see major and frequent movement from town to town and state to state,” Trump said of educators. “If you start seeing a person move, and especially if they’re not moving up the ladder position-wise, that can be a red flag.”
He said school districts need to encourage employees to report their suspicions and action should be taken if those questions are confirmed.
Britton said Tuesday that the school district had not been served with the family’s lawsuit. She said the district typically doesn’t discuss pending litigation.
The school district where Ryan reportedly worked in Michigan referred questions to its human resources division. Calls to that division were not returned.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Mayor wants Commissioner to resign over background investigation scandal

By Deborah Highland
The Tennessean

Mayor Linda Elam on Monday night asked that Wilson County Commissioner Chris Sorey resign from office because a TBI audit showed he had used a state Web site to run unauthorized background checks on her and other city workers and elected officials.

Vice Mayor Will Sellers, whose records also were checked, asked that Sorey be ousted from office and be brought up on ethics charges by his fellow county commissioners.

Sorey was elected in August to his first term on the Wilson County Commission representing District 2, which includes part of Mt. Juliet.

Elam and Sellers made the public statements after the Mt. Juliet commission met in a secret "executive" session before the public meeting.

Sorey was working as a police officer for the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport Police when he misused the state's Criminal Justice Portal to look at private records, TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said last month.

The TBI found the misuse during an audit of the portal and notified Smyrna Airport police.

Helm would not identify those whose information was sought, but Mt. Juliet's city manager, Randy Robertson, confirmed that his records, along with those of Elam, Sellers, storm-water coordinator Gary Gaskin, public-works secretary Amy Rooker, assistant public-works director Shannon Joiner, public-works project manager Casey Binion and chief building inspector Gary Branham were checked.

Elam added during Monday's meeting that the records of another county commissioner also were sought through the portal. She did not name that commissioner.

"I have no idea why Commissioner Sorey would want to have any background information on me, especially my Social Security number … ," Sellers said. "I and my wife feel that Commissioner Sorey has invaded our very private lives and has compromised our identities and financial security."

Sellers called for Sorey and his former employer to be prosecuted.
The Web site is the same site fired state trooper Ronnie Shirley is accused of using to run unauthorized checks on as many as 182 private citizens and state employees.

Sorey says he is victim

Sorey said late last month that the TBI audit was "nothing more than political payback" after he raised concerns over adherence to fire codes in homebuilding in Mt. Juliet.

"There is no reason or rationale for running a background check on the mayor, who is never involved day-to-day in city business," Elam said after the Smyrna Airport police notified her that her records had been checked.

Sorey was placed on unpaid administrative leave Nov. 6, said John Black, executive director of the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport Authority. On Nov. 13, Sorey resigned, saying he was taking a higher-paying job. He said he was no longer working in law enforcement.

No charges pending

The TBI gave its information to Rutherford County District Attorney William Whitesell, who said no charges are pending. The TBI removed the airport police department's access to the site, Helm said.

Black did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. He said in late November that Sorey was a good employee who worked for the airport for more than two years.

The TBI audit was sparked by a request from Mt. Juliet Police Chief Andy Garrett, who had received a copy of an e-mail from Gaskin, who was concerned that his personal information had been compromised.

Gaskin sent the e-mail after he was notified through the human resources department that Sorey had asked to see his personnel records. Gaskin's job is not related to fire codes inspections.

"I was the guy who blew the lid off of the fire codes issues in Mt. Juliet," Sorey said late last month.

"Any activity that has taken place regarding the alleged misuses of the integrated criminal justice portal system was done in connection with my investigation of the past and ongoing fire code violations" in Mt. Juliet, he said then. "I am very concerned that I now seem to be the subject of the investigation instead of officials addressing any possible safety issues."

Robertson said fire code issues were brought to the city's attention last summer, and the city has been inspecting every home built between 2006 and 2008. As of Nov. 21, the city had inspected 909 homes, 49 of which were in violation of one specific code. Robertson said builders have corrected the problems in 36 homes.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Governor Schwarzenegger signs bill for California EMT background investigations

By Andrew McIntosh
Sacramento Bee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation today that requires California's 70,000emergency medical technicians to undergo mandatory criminal background checks. In 2007, he vetoed a similar bill after expressing disapproval about last-minute changes that would have kept secret some details about rescuer misconduct.

This time, Schwarzenegger signed an Assembly bill that will modernize a patchwork licensing and certification system in California's emergency medical services world. Extensive problems with the system were exposed in a 2007 sacramento Bee investigation.

"EMTs provide vital services that help Californians in their time of need, and because of the critical role they play, it is important that we have a universal statewide standard that will prevent those who are unqualified or have a past criminal history from becoming EMTs," Schwarzenegger said in a statement issued by his office.

"By signing these bills into law, we are increasing safety and accountability within the emergency medical services field and ensuring that Californians have the best EMTs available at any given moment," the Governor added.

Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 2917, which was introduced by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark. It also requires that EMTs be certified in the county in which they work and calls for the creation of a state-run central EMT registry.

The local certification requirement aims to stop rescuers with spotty employment or criminal records from shopping for certification in counties with no background checks -- a problem The Bee also uncovered.

The registry would allow officials to track EMTs statewide and, after a disaster, to identify rescuers in areas where help is needed. EMT fees will be raised to pay for it.

Torrico said that with a statewide registry, the state will be able to develop a single set of standards for certification, disciplinary orders and conditions of probation for EMTs. Employers will also be able to check if an EMT recruit has had a background check or past action against their certification or license.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association in need of stringent background investigations

State lawmakers should throw a penalty flag on the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association for failing to conduct background checks on officials at athletic events.

Given the widespread requirement that schools conduct background investigations on employees, including teachers, coaches, janitors and more, including, at times, construction and contract workers, it's stunning to learn that athletic officials in their striped shirts have slipped through the cracks.

And now it's time to change that.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that it found numerous instances of people having the same names as those with criminal records officiating sanctioned sporting events in Districts 7 and 8.

The PIAA acknowledges that the newspaper found some instances in which people who had committed crimes had officiated sporting events but noted that even after a yearlong investigation, the Post-Gazette didn't find any cases in which an athletic official committed a crime in connection with his officiating duties in the districts examined.

We're glad there apparently hasn't been a problem and that the PIAA has adopted policies that prohibit one-on-one, unsupervised contact between officials and student athletes.

But just because there hasn't been problems in the past doesn't mean the PIAA shouldn't look to improve its policies.

Since 2006, the PIAA has asked people applying to be officials for the first time if they have been convicted of a felony, and if so, what it was and when it happened? But the organization doesn't check on the applicant's truthfulness, nor does it inquire about the criminal records of those who had registered before 2006.

The PIAA says it relies on schools and others associated with the athletic association to identify those who have been convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes and does regular evaluations in an effort to spot problems.

Those are reasonable steps, but the lack of criminal background checks still leaves a hole that should be plugged.

The PIAA raises concerns about the cost of doing regular background investigations for the approximately 13,700 officials that register every year. The group says other states have seen 10 percent to 25 percent drops in the number of people signed up to officiate when background checks are required.

The PIAA also expresses worries about whether increasing the cost of dues of athletic officials to cover the expense of the background checks would reduce the number of applicants.

But what is the cost to the PIAA's reputation if it cannot attest to the criminal history of its referees, umpires and officials?

Perhaps there could be a middle ground in which background checks are done immediately on new applicants and on a rotating basis, for example once every three years, for existing officials. This might not be perfect, at least it would be better than what currently exists.

The bottom line is checking on whether referees, umpires and other athletic officials have committed crimes may come at a cost and be an inconvenience to the PIAA, but our kids are worth it.Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Some school bus drivers with criminal records in New Jersey are working

By Larry Higgs and Paul D'Ambrosio
Gannett New Jersey

Dozens of school bus drivers with criminal convictions transport children to class each day, many with the state's approval, a Gannett New Jersey investigation has found.

Offenses for the persons convicted range from manslaughter to drug distribution to theft.

Of the 35 drivers found by Gannett New Jersey, three have had their bus driving endorsements revoked by the state Department of Education after the Press forwarded its list to authorities.

None of the banned drivers worked in Middlesex, Monmouth or Ocean counties.

The three drivers include a man convicted of manslaughter and two women convicted of endangering the welfare of a child.

The gap in background investigations for school bus employees is so wide that one man with two prior drug convictions was hired as a bus aide by a Keansburg company to transport Middletown students. State officials said they were never told about the hire, and, as a result, no background check was ever run.

The aide, Parrish L. Jones, is now serving a 10-year prison term for giving a near-fatal dose of methadone to a 15-year-old on a school bus in 2006.

Of the 32 remaining bus drivers whose permits were not terminated because of prior convictions, state officials said none had offenses that would warrant taking them off school buses. The convictions included simple assault, gambling, weapons possession and official misconduct, according to a review of state court records.

Still, state education officials said that those with serious offenses shouldn't have escaped detection and that measures are being taken to close the loopholes that let Jones and others get on a school bus.

"The safety and security of our children are DOE's highest priorities, which is why we do these background checks in the first place," said Kathryn Forsyth, Department of Education spokeswoman. "It is simply unacceptable to us to have anyone slip through the cracks, and when we find that someone has, we move quickly to make sure they are disqualified and fired."

Gannett New Jersey also found that 148 convicts received school bus driver licenses after their convictions, but that their permits have since expired, according to a review of bus drivers and state criminal court records for the last 15 years.

The drivers worked for both private bus companies and school districts that operated their own bus service.

State education officials, who are required by law to keep certain criminals from driving school children, said that the three terminated bus drivers fell through the cracks because of changes in the state's fingerprinting system.

"In these instances, we are obligated to take action," said Carl Carabelli, manager of the criminal history review unit for the education department. "Disqualification notices went out on Aug. 21, which said they are disqualified (from school employment) and should be terminated, and we sent notices to MVC (Motor Vehicle Commission) to revoke their school bus endorsement."

School bus drivers are supposed to be fingerprinted and go through criminal background checks every two years, when they renew their bus driver's license. But those safeguards, designed to reassure parents, don't always work, said Dr. Alan Ross, founder of the National Coalition for School Bus Safety, Connecticut.

Federal law prohibits individuals from driving a school bus who have been convicted of first- or second-degree crimes, such as murder and aggravated assault, and some third-degree theft offenses.

Middletown school bus aide Jones is a recent example of how a slip-up can cause a near death. Jones had two prior drug convictions in Monmouth County, but got a job as an aide for the Aberdeen-based Milu Bus Service.

Jones, 37, of Keansburg, was convicted of drug distribution in Monmouth County in 1992 and again in 1996. He was given a 364-day jail term in 1992 and a three-year prison sentence in 1996, according to public records.

Jones pleaded guilty to giving methadone a synthetic narcotic to a 15-year-old Middletown North High School student in October 2006. The boy nearly died from the overdose. Jones was sentenced last June to five to 10 years in prison.

Jones was hired for school employment despite his two prior drug convictions because his name was never submitted for a background investigation to the state by the bus company, Forsyth said. An education department audit revealed that the company also failed to submit other employees' names for background checks, she said.

"His name didn't go through the system. They were cited for noncompliance. They have to perform a corrective action plan," she said.

Education officials are putting together administrative procedures to fine any bus company that fails to submit workers names for background checks, Forsyth said.

"It is a shame that what happened in Middletown happened. I thank God the child was okay, it's one heck of an awakening for the township," said Maria Wheaton, parent of a student who graduated from Middletown North High School last year.

While Wheaton said she was satisfied with how the district handled the situation, she said she supports a bill introduced by state Sens. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, and Shirley Turner, D-Mercer.

The bill would require more frequent fingerprinting of all school employees and mandate that those fingerprints are kept on file. In June, it was approved by the Senate education committee and is waiting to be posted for a vote by the full Senate.

"That bill is a great idea, it should pass with flying colors," Wheaton said. "I think that any adult who works with school age children should definitely go through a thorough background check."

The three school bus drivers state officials said were disqualified are:

Cora Outlaw, 42, Newark, convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and sentenced to three years in prison in 1992. She was last approved for school employment in May 2007 in Essex County.

State education department officials said they initially found no disqualifying crimes on her record. Her endangerment conviction has since been verified, disqualifying her from driving a school bus.

Marba L. Morris, 50, Teaneck, was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and placed on two years' probation 1999. She was last approved for school employment in 2005 in Bergen County.

Bobby G. Allen, 54, of Vineland, convicted of manslaughter in 1992, was sentenced to 270 days in jail and four years' probation. He was approved for school employment in August 2006 in Vineland. Education department officials said the conviction wasn't on his record. After a new review of records, he was disqualified from school employment.

None of the drivers could be reached for comment.

The drivers can challenge the action by filing an administrative appeal with the department within 30 days, said Carabelli, of the education department's enforcement bureau. None has filed an appeal as of Thursday, Sept. 11.

How did those three drivers and others make it through the system?

In several cases, individuals uncovered by Gannett New Jersey slipped through the criminal background safety net because their fingerprints weren't kept on file by the state Bureau of Identification, Carabelli said.

In 12 other cases reviewed, the crimes weren't considered by the department to be disqualifying offense at the time they were convicted, Carabelli said.

All first- and second-degree offenses, such as homicides and major drug crimes, are disqualifying. A theft charge depends on the severity and the value of what was taken, Carabelli said. Some third-degree theft offenses also are considered disqualifying offenses, he said.

State officials determined that 10 drivers on the Gannett New Jersey's list would keep their license because the offenses they were convicted of weren't disqualifying under the law. They included weapons possession, interfering with custody of a child and witness tampering.

Four drivers on the list were convicted of lower offenses, such as disorderly persons and drug possession, which were not considered a disqualification at that time of arrest. But such offenses would bar them from obtaining a school bus driver's license now, Carabelli said.

The state criminal history review unit handles 70,000 background checks a year for all school employees and disqualifies an average of about 1 percent, Carabelli said. There are 25,000 school bus drivers authorized to drive students in the state, he said.

One problem identifying drivers with records is that until February 2003, the state Bureau of Identification didn't retain the physical fingerprints from background checks, said Forsyth, the spokeswoman for the education department.

"If they committed a crime, we didn't know unless we found out anecdotally or through the newspapers or if the police or prosecutor let us know a crime was committed," Forsyth said.

That database is "much more complete" and state education officials will know immediately if a bus driver or school employee is convicted or has a record, she said.

Legislation in the state Senate would require all school employees and applicants to undergo fingerprinting and criminal background checks every two years.

The bill, S110, also would require the education department and state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which tracks individual wage data, to compare databases to determine if a school employee has not undergone a criminal background check, or has been disqualified yet still works with students.

"The (education) department not only strongly supports this bill, we helped write it," Forsyth said. "As the people who administer the system, we knew where the problems were and what had to be addressed legislatively. We think this bill will significantly tighten the safety net."

"It expands our ability to make sure people don't fall through the cracks," Forsyth said. "All these pieces are filling holes."

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Ohio background investigations arriving after school has started

By LeeAnn Moore

Results of Ohio criminal background investigations on teachers, administrators, other school employees and even some volunteers will continue to come in over the next few months.

Sept. 5 was the deadline for most to have fingerprints turned into the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI).

"We believe that all of our employees have done that," said David Branch, Franklin Local School District superintendent. "However, we do not have all of the results because there is a rather large backlog at BCI in processing. Therefore, we do not have all the results of all the required testing, but we have a lot of it back."

Jim Heagen, superintendent of East Muskingum Local School District, said 100 percent of those in his district who needed to have prints submitted by Sept. 5 did so.

"The BCI/FBI system is inundated with all these requests. Now even veteran employees have to have it done," Heagen said. "They're inundated with all these people who had to have it submitted by Sept. 5. We're in the same boat as everyone else. 100 percent of our people have submitted but we're waiting on returns. As far as I know, we are following the law."

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) began requiring applicants seeking any license or permit to have an Ohio criminal background investigation and an FBI criminal background check completed. The rule became effective Nov. 14, 2007 to comply with House Bill 190.

House Bill 79, which went into effect March 2007, requires those teaching with a professional teaching certificate to have a background investigation every five years on a date set by the state board of education. The first date established to have the checks completed by was Sept. 5.

"However, it's not a deadline for all prints as this deadline is only for teachers who teach under a permanent teaching certificate or an eight-year teaching certificate. Many teachers teach under a five-year teaching license. This Sept. 5 deadline doesn't apply to them. They receive background checks when the renew their license every five years," said Karla Warren, ODE press secretary.

Kevin Appleman, coordinator of operations and student services for Zanesville City Schools, said the process went smoothly the first time around.

Those needing to submit prints within Zanesville City started submitting them April 28 and they were all in by May 28. Appleman said most of the results are in and OK.

"Personally, I like it, because I think as a father myself who has a child in school, I appreciate it as a parent and as a person who facilitates it. I like it and I'm sure Mr. (Superintendent Terry) Martin does too because it protects everybody, our teachers, students, parents, administration, everybody," he said. "I don't think it's a bad thing at all. It's a positive."

In most cases, prints are submitted at the districts' administrative offices using WebCheck, an Internet-based program used for conducting fingerprint-based civilian background checks developed by BCI.

"ODE has been communicating aggressively with districts and with educators who hold eight-year, permanent or permanent non-tax certificates. They have been notified that those certificates would be inactivated if they did not submit fingerprints for mandated BCI and FBI background checks by Sept. 5, 2008," Warren said.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper in unathorized background investigation scandal

By Brad Schrades
The Tennessean
Long before he was accused of running unauthorized background investigations on private citizens, a joke made its way around the Tennessee Highway Patrol about Ronnie Shirley.He could parachute over the old Soviet Union, the joke went, and if you telephoned the Kremlin an hour later, Shirley would have schmoozed his way so far within the corridors of the communist state, you'd hear his West Tennessee drawl on the other end of the line.

The joke illuminates a truth about Shirley, a 6-foot-4 trooper full of charm and backslapping political skill, but it also reflects a long-held belief about what it takes to get ahead in the THP: Politics and cozying up to the powerful too often determine the course of a trooper's career."He makes friends," said former THP Lt. Col. Steve Browder, who is from McNairy County, where Shirley grew up, and helped Shirley get hired as a trooper in the late 1980s."He's kind of a self-serving guy. Whoever is in charge, he will find a place at the table."Browder said he's concerned the latest allegations surrounding Shirley — that he ran unauthorized background checks through a criminal justice database on up to 182 Tennesseans — give a black eye to the state's other troopers.

For years, many have said Shirley, 42, could one day be commander of the patrol because of his skill in courting those in high places in state government.He has enough political clout to land plum assignments in the patrol: serving on Republican Gov. Don Sundquist's security detail, and later serving as bodyguard for House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.It was shortly after the Boston trip that news surfaced that Shirley had fixed a speeding ticket for then-Deputy Gov. Dave Cooley — at the time, the most powerful person in Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration. It later came out that the patrol's leadership had concocted a fake punishment for Shirley to throw off the press and public.Could be a politician.

Whenever Shirley came into General Sessions Court Judge Paul Simpson's courtroom, he was polite and as straight as an arrow, the former judge recalled."It really surprises me he's in a controversy," said Simpson, contacted by phone in Denver, where he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. "I think I know him, I don't think he'd ever do anything criminal. I think he's a law-abiding officer; he's been ever since I've known him."A longtime Democrat and Selmer's current vice mayor, Simpson was one of the people Shirley listed as a reference on his job application with the Highway Patrol. Simpson said Shirley is still a friend, and he would have recommended him without any hesitation."He wants to help everybody," said Bryan Farmer, a former trooper from East Tennessee. "In my 25 years in the Highway Patrol, sometimes you have to say, 'No, I can't help someone.' I don't know that Ronnie has the ability to do that." Farmer said he's surprised by the scandals Shirley has been connected with. If Shirley hadn't been in a THP uniform, Farmer said, with his personality, he'd easily be running for political office — with success.His willingness to help may include a deputy governor with a speeding ticket or a trooper who needs help moving furniture on the weekend, Farmer said. "There's consistently temptations to do things around the general orders" — the THP's internal rulebook —"or around the law because you are in a higher rank," Farmer said. "You just have to be able to say no. You never know a man until you work with him," Farmer said. "That's just something I've always lived by and come to realize. If you work with someone on a day-to-day basis you get to know the ins and outs and how he operates."

The THP leadership has given Shirley good marks on his performance evaluations, including one that was completed more than a month after the unauthorized background checks were reported to the THP.On July 30 — almost a month into the criminal investigation into allegations against Shirley — his direct supervisor, Maj. J.R. Perry, signed Shirley's annual performance review, giving him "exceptional" ratings across the board, the highest possible marks.State Safety Commissioner Dave Mitchell and THP Col. Mike Walker signed the review the same day, approving the evaluation.Walker on Friday said he didn't conduct the evaluation, which is based on the entire year's performance."We don't base it on what's happening right at that time," he said. "You look at the year as a whole. I didn't sign his evaluation. I was the reviewer on it. I was not the evaluator. I simply read it and sign off on it."Shirley's full-time posting is another plum assignment — serving as the Safety Department's liaison to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, a position he's held for about two years.Shirley, is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Washington state school fires principal charged with child rape, questions arise concerning background investigations

By Diana Hefley and Bill Sheets,
The Daily Herald

The principal of a private Arlington school has been fired after being accused of child rape involving a student at the school.

Mark Evan Brown, 37, was placed on administrative leave from Highland Christian School after he was charged with third-degree child rape. School board members announced on Friday they were firing Brown after they learned more about the situation, according to a letter posted on the school's Web site.

The decision was made Thursday, said Linda Wallitner, the school's office manager.

"In the contract that Mark had with our office, he broke some of the rules, so they were able to let him go," Wallitner said. "It's not that we're saying he's innocent or guilty."

Brown is accused of encouraging a 14-year-old student to run away from home and offering her a place to stay at the school. The girl told detectives Brown had sexual contact with her at the school in a room he set up with a hide-a-bed and a television, according to court documents.

Detectives say Brown and the girl exchanged nearly 700 text messages and phone calls.

Brown pleaded not guilty to the rape charge Wednesday during a Snohomish County Superior Court hearing. He later was released from jail after posting $100,000 bond. School board secretary Kristin Sande released a statement after the hearing saying the board and the staff were standing behind Brown and planned to "continue to support him and his wife and his son through this ordeal he is going through."

In a letter released Friday, school board officials said they are cooperating with detectives and prosecutors. They also are conducting their own investigation, according to the letter.

"We are dedicated to continuing our investigation and discovering the full extent of this situation," the letter said. "As our inquiry progresses, the board will respond appropriately in a manner sensitive to the safety of our students and our employees."

School officials are obtaining a counselor to help students and families.

Brown has been principal at the school for three years. Before coming to the school, he was a wrestling coach at Concrete High School in Skagit County.

He was released from his coaching contract in 2004 after allegations surfaced that Brown had sexual contact with several female students at Concrete High School. The school district reported the allegations to officials at the state Department of Social and Health Services, who forwarded the complaint to the Skagit County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's deputies opened an investigation. No charges were filed.

Snohomish County sheriff's detectives are revisiting those allegations as part of their investigation. They also have spoken to Brown's ex-wife, Casey West. She said she and Brown began dating in 1996 when she was 14 and he was 26.

The couple married in 2002. West filed for divorce in 2004. She said one reason for the split was her discovery of inappropriate text messages to Brown from a cheerleader at Concrete High School.

Highland is a state-approved private school and state law requires the school to do background investigations on employees. Information about a criminal investigation that doesn't result in a conviction, such as the case in Concrete, is not provided to school districts, according to Deborah Collinsworth with the Washington State Patrol. That sort of information is only shared with other police agencies.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Canada RCMP official suggests stricter background investigations for Parliment Members

Maxime Bernier arrives to be sworn in as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs accompanied by Julie Couillard during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on in this Aug 14, 2007 file photo. (The Canadian Press)

By Daniel Leblanc
Globe and Mail

Background investigations on cabinet ministers could be improved by expanding them to include spouses and family members, an RCMP official indicated Wednesday.

In his second appearance before the House committee on public safety, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Raf Souccar was guarded in his comments, but he told MPs the current background investigations could be beefed up.

“The process is what it is. If it is not the right process, it has to be changed, and government has to make that decision,” Assistant Commissioner Souccar said. “Can this [process] be improved? I'm sure it can.”

Assistant Commissioner Souccar and Bob Paulson, the assistant commissioner for national security, were under fire over the RCMP's handling of the case of former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier, who recently dated a woman with ties to men with criminal backgrounds.

The opposition is concerned that the RCMP never raised a red flag about Mr. Bernier's ex-girlfriend, Julie Couillard, with the government's top bureaucrats at the Privy Council Office.

Assistant Commissioner Paulson said he noticed Ms. Couillard with Mr. Bernier last August at a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall. However, the RCMP had no responsibility to conduct further background investigations on her or any other minister's spouse.

“At the time that I saw her, I had none of that knowledge [about Ms. Couillard's past] and didn't make that connection,” Assistant Commissioner Paulson said.

In 1998, according to court records, the RCMP ordered a surveillance operation on Ms. Couillard's home as part of a drug investigation.

Assistant Commissioner Souccar pointed out that the RCMP have no responsibility to look at the immediate family or the people surrounding a potential or current cabinet minister.

“We don't go around and do spot checks on ministers or anybody that is subject to a pre-appointment check to determine if they have anybody in their life … who has had a questionable past,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Souccar said that future changes to the screening process are in the hands of the government, and will depend on the extent to which ministers “are willing to expose themselves.”

During Wednesday's hearing, opposition MPs criticized Assistant Commissioner Souccar for refusing to tell them last week whether the RCMP informed the Privy Council Office about Ms. Couillard's past. The PCO, however, later acknowledged that it had never received information on Ms. Couillard from the RCMP.

Assistant Commissioner Souccar said the PCO warned him that it was about to make public that information last week, although he did not see a reason to do it.

“I had some difficulty understanding the need to go public with the statement indicating that we had not contacted them. They nevertheless chose to do that, and it's their right to do that,” he said.

Two days ago, the Prime Minister's national security adviser, Margaret Bloodworth, said that Mr. Bernier cleared a full background investigation by the RCMP and CSIS just weeks before allegations of missing documents led to his resignation from cabinet.

Ms. Bloodworth stated that while she had read allegations surrounding Ms. Couillard in the newspapers, she has no evidence to suggest what is true or not true.

Assistant Commissioner Souccar said he has obtained new information about Ms. Couillard in the past week, but he refused to say whether the RCMP are investigating the matter.

Ms. Couillard and Mr. Bernier have refused to appear before the committee.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Portable security clearances may be on the way

Every year, thousands of employees move from one federal agency to another. But when that move involves the transfer of a security clearance, the system breaks down.
Hiring agencies often do not recognize the security clearances of other agencies. And that causes long delays — and sometimes considerable expense — in getting new employees into their new jobs. Agencies often request new background investigations on employees even though they’ve been cleared in previous investigations.
Now the Bush administration is trying to fix that. The president directed the heads of the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Management and Budget, the intelligence community, and the White House’s national security adviser to come up with a plan by April 30.
OMB requires that agencies accept each other’s security clearances, but that doesn’t happen. Last year, agencies asked OPM to conduct 25,000 new background investigations on people who already had security clearances. OPM denied those.
When hiring a new employee who comes with a clearance from another agency, the hiring agency typically reviews that employee’s background file and other materials to decide what level clearance to give. That process is called adjudication.
And because agencies are readjudicating new employees who already have clearances from other agencies, there’s a big backlog. The problem is especially big at the Defense, Energy and Justice departments, which have accumulated a combined adjudication backlog of more than 80,000 cases.
The problem is particularly bad at the still-fractured Homeland Security Department, said Ben Romero, chairman of the Information Technology Association of America’s intelligence subcommittee.
“They have too many different departments that don’t even recognize their own reciprocity, much less reciprocity from those in industry who are coming in,” Romero said. “Whether we [contractor employees] hold Justice [Department] clearances, or DoD clearances, they still have to vet, yet again, that we are trustworthy enough.”
Kathy Dillaman, associate director for OPM’s Federal Investigative Services Division, says there is some progress in fixing the problem. OPM in 2005 took over Defense’s security clearance investigations, and that has produced more uniformity and willingness among agencies to accept existing clearances.
“What fed into that [lack of trust] was years of different standards, where DoD would do an investigation one way and may or may not include some types of coverage, and OPM would do it another way,” Dillaman said at a hearing last week. “It’s something that’s being fixed with time.”
OPM has taken steps to increase the transparency of the process and build trust among agencies, Dillaman said. For example, its Clearance Verification System database is tied to Defense records and can be accessed by security clearance officials governmentwide. So officials from other agencies can use the database to review what steps were taken by an agency when it gave an employee a security clearance.
Romero of the ITAA said he is seeing signs of improving reciprocity in the intelligence community. The 16 different agencies that make up the community are increasingly accepting one another’s badges and clearances, he said.
A sluggish clearance process has hampered the government for years. Increased staff and improved automation have helped eliminate the backlog of initial security clearance investigations, and shortened the time it takes to do an initial investigation, Dillaman said. Initial investigations now take an average of 67 days to complete, down from 121 days in fiscal 2006, she said.

Background Investigations on the way for NCAA Referees

When or if the NCAA and its member conferences become more scrupulous in performing background investigations on referees, longtime basketball official and Albany resident John Cahill can understand why.
"In this climate, they have to be extremely careful," Cahill said.

An FBI investigation revealed this past summer that NBA referee Tim Donaghy wagered on games that he officiated, prompting NCAA conferences to scrutinize or even change their procedures for performing background investigations on officials.

The Big Ten and Conference USA plan to expand on their previous policies. And Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Silve told reporters in July that his conference may soon begin performing background investigations.

The NCAA also screens all referees who work Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, Division I bowl games, the Frozen Four and the College World Series. Those procedures have been in place since 1999.

Cahill said the subject figures to come up again in October when referees converge in Philadelphia for meetings. Cahill said he would support even more exhaustive background investigations but added referees also police themselves.

"We're a pretty close fraternity," said Cahill, a 25-year veteran official who has worked six Final Fours. "We take pride in what we do, and we realize the integrity of the game is at stake. If something came up that would lend to some questioning, we would bring it to the proper parties."

While extensive background investigations might become more common in major conferences, mid-majors such as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, America East and Northeast Conference plan to rely on their bigger brethren rather than instituting their own screening procedures.

In basketball, most officials who work MAAC and America East games also referee games in conferences that require background investigations. So the smaller conferences see no reason to duplicate the process.

"You could say we rely on the kindness of strangers," MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor said. "Our resources aren't in a position where we can do all these checks."

Also, some football and basketball games played in the MAAC and Northeast Conference receive no odds from the Las Vegas casinos. So without a betting pool, the conferences lack much reason to worry about a wayward official affecting the outcome of a game for the sake of a wager.

"We haven't found that there is a tremendous gambling pool out there, so it hasn't been a problem," said Brenda Weare, commissioner of the Northeast Conference, in which the University at Albany football team competes. "We talk to the officials, and we have everyone complete information. We rely on that."

Cahill and Ensor, who was subject to an NCAA background investigation when he served on a women's basketball committee, said the screenings are exhaustive. Both were given copies of the information the checks uncovered. Ensor said his numbered 15 pages.

"The NCAA was ahead of the curve on this," Cahill said. "They know just about everything you're doing."