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

New Jersey Senate passes new background investigation bill

By Lauren Mortenson
The New Jersey Senate unanimously passed a bill last week that will revise the current background check requirements for all school employees who come in contact with students.

Sponsored by Sens. Loretta Weinberg, Barbara Buono and Shirley K. Turner, bill S-110 will revise the current criminal background investigation requirements for employees by requesting that all teachers and school district employees undergo a criminal background check. Besides the faculty and administration, people who are considered school employees also include bus drivers, cafeteria workers and janitorial staff.

The bill revises criminal history record checks for public and nonpublic school employees and bus drivers, and expands the list of offenses that would disqualify an employee from working at a school.

Buono said revisions to background check procedures are something she had been thinking about for a while.

"There were loopholes that needed to be closed," she said.

Since 1986, candidates for employment in New Jersey schools have been required to submit to criminal history background checks.

The bill states that "in order to assure the safety of school students and others in our schools, persons who come in contact with students or school property must possess the character and integrity necessary for their positions."

The bill also states that it is imperative that all employees, including those hired prior to 1986, and candidates for employment undergo criminal history record checks that are updated regularly.

All employees hired prior to 1986 as well as those hired before 2003 (before fingerprints were able to be taken electronically) would have two years to be fingerprinted by the state Bureau of Investigation.

The original criminal history background investigation was established in 1986, and the law at the time included a "grandfather" provision that said employees of a district who were hired before that date did not have to have their records checked.

According to the senators, applicants were fingerprinted before 2003, but once the background checks were complete, the files were destroyed.

Currently, the federal government does not have an electronic fingerprint database, so federal criminal background checks would be required every two years.

Additions were made to the list of offenses that would disqualify applicants and employees from working in schools. The current law provided that all first- and second degree crimes and other specified crimes would permanently disqualify a person from working in schools.

The senators added the crimes of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, human trafficking, peering [peering into windows or other openings of dwelling places], violating the Anti-TerrorismAct, and employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime.

"It's to protect our children from any form of danger," she said. "That's what the expansion clarifies."

The bill also adds an additional regulation to school bus drivers.

Information on all drivers or substitute drivers of vehicles operated by the Board of Education must be filed by the secretary of the board with the executive county and superintendent of schools. The information must include each driver's name, Social Security number, certification of a valid school bus driver's license, a criminal history record check, and evidence of a check for the driver's record of any alcohol- or drug-related motor vehicle violations.

The school bus driver will be permanently disqualified from his or her job if any offenses during employment result in conviction.

If any employee currently working in a New Jersey school facility is found with a criminal record that interferes with the provisions of the bill, he or she will be fired.

"Unless their crimes were expunged, which varies on the severity of the crime, they would be terminated," said Buono.

The reasons for employee termination will be identified in a written notice. Any employee who fails to comply can be subject to a fine of up to $500 for each incidence of noncompliance.

The bill is now headed to the Assembly for consideration. Buono said she is hopeful that it will pass and is encouraging that it be considered as soon as possible.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Revealing background Investigations on Alabama college workers conducted despite objections from the Alabama Education Association

The reults of background checks on employees of the two-year college system prove the state Board of Education was right to ignore Alabama Education Association objections.

The AEA did everything it could to keep college officials from finding out whether any of their teachers or staff members had felony criminal records. The teachers' organization lobbied against the proposed background checks, and when that failed it dragged the two-year system into court.

The lawsuit resulted in the system telling employees that providing Social Security numbers –– which would have made the checks more accurate –– was optional.

Even so, after checking the background of more than 9,300 employees, officials identified 73 who had been convicted of felony charges, including sexual assault and murder.

The system appears to be handling the revelations in an appropriate manner. Those people whose convictions were 20 or so years ago, and who have lived exemplary lives since then, were allowed to stay on the job. Eight others were terminated, four left voluntarily, and six found their contracts not renewed. The fate of 32 others is still being decided.

Granted, more than 100 employees were flagged as possibly having a criminal record when they didn't have one. The AEA is understandably hot about that.

Nevertheless, AEA's criticism of Chancellor Bradley Byrne and the school board for wrongly accusing the innocent employees seems disingenuous. The mistakes are understandable, and no one was fired because of a false accusation.

The bottom line is that at least 18 people who should never have been working for the system will no longer be in a position to harm students or compromise the colleges in any way, and that proves the background checks were good policy.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Background Investigations in Indiana have failed the students

By Andy Gammill
Indianapolis Star

The 7-year-old tried to keep her teacher's hands off her.

She faked stomachaches, hoping to stay home from school.

When that failed, a prosecutor later said, the girl wore dresses so the teacher couldn't slip his hand down the back of her pants.

It was a battle she might have been spared in another state: Four years earlier, two different girls in different classes accused the same teacher, Jeffrey Baber, of the same thing. Nothing happened after police discounted those claims.

In Georgia, the accusations would have been enough to spark a review by state investigators.

In Ohio, the allegations would have been put on record for parents to check.

In Utah and other states, the complaints likely would have cost him his educator's license.

In Indiana, he kept teaching.

The case highlights flaws in the state's approach to protecting schoolchildren. The Indiana Department of Education's efforts are largely limited to conducting criminal background checks within Indiana and checking newspaper clippings for educators who have been arrested. That information helps the state revoke 10 to 20 licenses a year.

Other states go much further to find and remove teachers who could put children at risk.

Most do more extensive nationwide criminal checks. Some require police and district officials to notify state authorities when a teacher has been investigated, arrested or accused of misconduct.

Indiana relies mainly on local school systems to root out dangerous teachers, a method that doesn't always work. Districts sometimes bury records of embarrassing or thorny cases in their files, hiding information from the public and other schools looking to hire a teacher.

Indiana's problems are no surprise to legislators, superintendents, school boards or members of the state's Board of Education. They've known for years that schools may unknowingly hire teachers who pose a threat to students.

"It scares the hell out of me," said Todd Huston, Fishers, a member of the State Board of Education. "The problem now is that we don't really have sustained policies. It's on a district-by-district basis."

Attempts to strengthen the safeguards have stalled.

What's left is so ineffective that no one can say how many of the state's 62,000 licensed teachers have criminal records, or whether predators are making the rounds of Indiana schools.

An Indianapolis Star review of Marion County police reports found dozens of current teachers with arrests for crimes including battery on a police officer, domestic battery, repeated traffic violations, soliciting a prostitute and drunken driving -- some as many as two or three times. Although they may be alarming to parents, some of these offenses might not be grounds for revocation of a teaching license.

The Star's investigation also found four cases where state laws didn't keep teachers out of classrooms even after more serious problems arose.

The result? Children taught by a teacher arrested on a charge of cocaine dealing. A teacher who brought marijuana to school. One with a long history of intimidating students.

And Baber.

After a jury convicted him of molesting the 7-year-old in 2005, he pleaded guilty to molesting another girl.

And another one. He had been molesting Beech Grove schoolchildren for at least four years.

The district's insurers paid out $740,000 to three victims.

Baber finally lost his license to teach.

Background checks

Limited Indiana search lets Florida drug dealer in school

Michael Warner's references described him as an energetic, charming role model, and officials at Irvington Community School were excited to hire him.

The new science teacher passed a criminal history check by the charter school, and the state had stopped running checks on him because he held a lifetime teaching license.

Even if the Department of Education had screened him again, the checks run by the school and the state review only Indiana court records and would have missed his arrest in Florida on a charge of dealing cocaine.

Florida officials said Warner pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to sell and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years of probation.

More than 40 states require comprehensive background checks that turn up arrests across the country before teachers can be licensed to teach. Indiana does check a national database of teachers who have lost their licenses, but beyond that, state law requires a "limited criminal history" check that reviews Indiana court records.

With the limited statewide name-based check, old arrests without a disposition won't turn up, and some counties had spotty records on entering data into the system.

After a private investigator tipped off Irvington Community School in 2006, Warner resigned and the state took away his license.

"We've deepened our interview and reference checks," said Timothy Ehrgott, the school's president. "We learned our lesson."

Outside Indiana, that task often is handled by state officials rather than local schools. Utah and Maine require their state police agencies to keep names of educators in an electronic system that alerts officials when a teacher is arrested.

A coalition of state governments that maintains a national database of teacher misconduct also recommends more stringent checks.

The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification urges states to use state and FBI checks for all new teachers, and every five years for all educators, director Roy Einreinhofer said.

Indiana does neither.

A few school districts feel so strongly that Indiana's system is too weak that they pay for national searches on their own.

"We don't think it goes deep enough into data," said John Ellis, director of the state superintendents' association. "The thing that frustrates school officials is there's too many holes in the system."

No one tells the state

School drug arrest details not shared, so teacher kept license

When police arrived at School 83 in Indianapolis one evening in May 2005, according to their report, a teacher told them he was high on marijuana.

They asked him whether he had drugs on him, the report said, and he said they were in his car. Officers searched the car, found marijuana and arrested the teacher, Eric J. Potthast, on charges of possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

Potthast took a deal from the court, agreeing to pay a fee, admit his guilt and attend behavior-modification classes. After he did so, the charges were dropped.

Indiana, unlike other states, does not require schools and police to report most teacher misconduct to state officials.

So Indianapolis Public Schools did not. Potthast resigned a few months later.

Potthast disclosed the misdemeanor on his next application for a teaching license. But what he didn't say and what state officials don't appear to have known was that the incident happened at a school, an offense that cost at least one other Indiana teacher his license.

So Potthast's license was renewed, despite the drugs he brought to school. That left it up to a school district to decide whether to put him in a classroom.

He was rehired the next year by IPS, which struggles to find teachers and substitutes to fill classrooms when teachers quit. He was fired last month for failing to keep his teaching license up to date.

"Was it wise to hire him?" IPS spokeswoman Kim L. Hooper said. "On behalf of the district, I would say no. But I know we also struggle to find subs in this district."

Prosecutors and superintendents must tell the state about misbehaving teachers only if they are convicted of a short list of felonies: kidnapping, dealing drugs or sex crimes against children.

Even those cases can stay off the state's radar if there's no conviction or the teacher pleads guilty to lesser charges. If a teacher is arrested on a charge of murder, raping an adult, assault, possessing child pornography or most other crimes, no one is required to tell state education officials.

"Ideally we would want to be notified anytime anybody holding a teacher license gets arrested," said Kevin McDowell, general counsel for the Indiana Department of Education. "Some states do that."

Indiana teachers who are arrested for many crimes must report a conviction to their school district, but the districts have no obligation to tell anyone else.

In other states, teachers are required to report their own arrests to the state, and police must tell education officials when a teacher commits a crime. Some hire teams of investigators that do nothing but look into teacher misconduct.

The Indiana Department of Education relies on calls from parents reading newspaper articles and a service that reviews newspapers for arrests of teachers.

If there's no article, the state never knows.

Quiet resignations

School let teacher with past of intimidation quit, get another job

Lawrence Central High School history teacher Charles E. Stallworth's dispute with one boy turned ugly three years ago at a Northside movie theater where the boy worked.

The theater manager called police after the teen said his teacher had come in, threatened him and then made a phone call.

Worried for the boy's safety, the manager hid the boy in an office. On video, they watched as Stallworth met two men who arrived at the theater and handed them money, according to a probable cause affidavit. Those men asked other employees where they could find the boy and then staked out the employee entrance, the affidavit said.

When police arrived, they ordered the two men to leave and questioned Stallworth about the incident. Despite the video evidence, he said he made no phone calls at the theater and talked to no one while he was there, the court records said.

Stallworth pleaded guilty to lying to police about the incident, but a felony intimidation charge was dropped. He quietly retired.

It wasn't the first time he had been accused of intimidating students. He was suspended for two days in 2001 after the district substantiated a girl's claim that he hit her on the back so hard he left a red mark.

"Your behavior on November 3, 2000, is not acceptable and you are hereby reprimanded for your action," an administrator wrote to him. "In addition, this incident seems to be one in a long line of other incidents of an intimidating nature towards students."

In a statement this past week, Lawrence Township Schools said Stallworth had planned to fight efforts to fire him and that an agreement letting him retire got him out of the classroom and prevented him from suing the district or the student.

Stallworth moved to Alaska and got a teaching job in Anchorage.

Like the other teachers highlighted here, Stallworth could not be reached or did not return messages left at phone numbers listed in court documents or public directories.

State officials said Lawrence Township Schools officials recommended against revoking Stallworth's license because the misdemeanor was "unrelated" to his teaching responsibilities. That and his retirement allowed him to keep his license.

That doesn't seem right to Marcia Riley, whose son Stallworth threatened. She wishes the district had fired him and the state taken away his teaching license. The whole situation was "swept under the rug," she said.

Riley, whose son is now a Marine serving in Iraq, said the incident at the movie theater shattered her trust in teachers.

"They're supposed to protect your children," she said. "In fact, he was putting my child in harm's way intentionally."

When school districts let teachers resign, it prevents the public from seeing records of their misconduct, which must be released if they are fired. And it becomes easier to get another teaching job if the teacher doesn't have to disclose a dismissal.

Such outcomes happen in cases more serious than Stallworth's, too. Bob James, an Indianapolis attorney, said he has handled three or four cases where school districts paid settlements to children victimized by teachers but no charges were filed, no licensing action was taken and teachers quietly quit.

He could not reveal names of teachers or districts, he said, because the settlement agreements included confidentiality clauses.

That kind of secrecy is why districts shouldn't have the last word in deciding to let teachers resign when they face termination, said Edward Eiler, a state Board of Education member and superintendent of Lafayette Schools. Eiler suggests that Indiana districts be required to report such cases for further investigation, as required in other states.

Even the risk of costly legal bills or unseemly public disputes should not prevent districts from firing teachers whose conduct merits dismissal, said Martha McCarthy, an Indiana University professor who specializes in education law.

"A lot of school leaders will take the path of least resistance," she said, "and the path of least resistance is to counsel the employee to resign."

Prospects for changes

Many support stronger system, but past reform tries didn't work

Bills have been introduced in the state legislature the past several years to make changes to the teacher licensing system, but none has been successful.

Those bills, which proposed requiring FBI background checks or ordering courts to tell state education officials about criminal teachers, appear to have become ensnared in other issues or bogged down.

The state's top educator thinks Indiana does a good job overall protecting children, but she said she'd like to see changes to the law to allow her department to issue formal public reprimands and to require courts or police to report when teachers break any law.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed said the state opted not to do FBI checks years ago because of the expense and difficulty of getting usable fingerprints they require.

"The overall system is protecting our children," she said. "The people that get in trouble haven't been in trouble before usually when we find them. It screens out the obvious people. That's what we want."

The state's teachers union backs strengthening background checks, adding more crimes to the list of those reported to the state and requiring school districts to fire teachers who have hurt children. The organizations representing superintendents and school boards largely agree.

"The system could be improved if the initial background check included the national databases and sex offender registries," said Dan Clark, deputy director of the Indiana State Teachers Association.

But even the groups that support strengthening Indiana's ability to screen out problem teachers want to include limits to protect teachers' rights or want to preserve local school boards' abilities to make their own decisions.

Richard Wood, the Democratic candidate for state superintendent of public instruction and a former superintendent, argues that it's largely an issue for local school boards.

"You just have to deal with those situations on a case-by-case basis," he said. "I'm not advocating any change. I would not initiate anything to make the process more lenient or anything to make it more stringent. The law we have in place is working at present."

State Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, disagrees. His constituents, he said, would blame him just as much as the School Board if a felon ended up in a classroom.

Behning, the ranking Republican on the House Education Committee, said he was interested in proposing a bill this legislative session that would require FBI background checks for educators.

"The state definitely should have a role in it," he said. "I'm not an advocate of big government, but I believe it is the responsibility of this state. . . . I do believe that we've tried to do what was right, but I don't believe we've gone far enough."


Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Bucknell University contemplates instituting faculty background investigations

By Lily Beauvilliers
The Bucknellian

The University is considering conducting background checks on finalists for faculty positions.

Human Resources (HR) suggested the move after examining trends in peer schools, said Marcia Hoffman, executive director of Human Resources.

Four checks are being considered: criminal background, national sex offender registry, education credential and employment verification.
The University has been conducting background checks on all staff since April 2001 and began a pilot program testing senior staff, including the new chief information officer, provost and dean of students, in April 2007.

“We were trying it out on them,” Hoffman said.

The process to implement faculty checks was halted after HR spoke with the Faculty and Academic Personnel Committee (FAPC) last spring.

“Members of our committee are concerned that background checks are expensive, and it seems unlikely that they will do much to make Bucknell safer,” said Geoff Schneider, associate professor of economics and chair of FAPC, in an e-mail.

Schneider also raised concerns that the University couldn’t compete with other employers if it began background checks.

“Many faculty care very deeply about academic and personal freedom, so we are concerned that we might turn off the best applicants ... by instituting an overly intrusive background check policy,” he said.

Currently, the University does not officially verify an applicants’ education before offering employment.

A search committee consisting of members of the department and someone of a different ethnicity or gender reviews the applications, Hoffman said.

The committee writes a “short list” approved by the Affirmative Action Officer Linda Bennett and deans.

These applicants are interviewed, and a recommendation is made.

“The hiring official does talk to references. Those conversations check the academic credentials, but there is no official check,” said Tom Evelyn, director of media relations.

Background checks would be conducted after an applicant is already chosen. “If discrepancies arise in the background check reports, HR would provide a copy of the report to the individual, and then notify the search committee chair the respective dean, and the provost for their consideration and deliberation,” Hoffman said.

The University considers the nature of the convictions, how many there have been, the date and how a conviction impacts the duties of a position.

“You might find the time served was sufficient punishment, but might also look into their background to see if there is a larger issue,” University General Counsel Wayne Bromfield said.

All convictions would not be treated equally.

“If we had someone that came up in the National Sex Offender registry, we would not put them on our campus. Minor traffic violations? Not a major consideration,” Hoffman said.

Before background checks are implemented, HR and FAPC will clarify language added to the background check policy and faculty application.

“It is likely that this issue will eventually come before the full faculty as a committee report,” Schneider said.

Current chair of the faculty Tony Massoud, associate professor of political science, declined to comment due to lack of information.

Martin Ligare, associate professor of physics and former chair of the faculty, expressed his concern over the possibility of background checks.“Broadly targeted background checks on a routine basis are antithetical to the ideals of an academic institution,” he said.

According to Ligare, the University should not act as an arm of the law.

“It’s not our job to punish people,” he said.

Andrea Stevenson Sanjian, associate professor of political science, feels faculty should be informed about the decision process.

“I am generally uncomfortable with [faculty background checks] so far, and nobody has made any effort to change this. And I haven’t talked to anyone else who thinks this is a great idea either,” she said.

Hoffman is confident background checks will be conducted soon.

“We are hopeful that, with the additional language, the FAPC will support this effort, and that a more formal approval process will not be necessary,” she said.

The University views background checks as part of a responsible hiring process and a common trend among our peer schools.

“The basis for all of this is to give us all the information possible, so we can make a better decision before hiring,” Evelyn said.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Ohio school district says all school employees pass criminal background investigations

By Sue Hoffman
The Solon Times

All employees in the Solon School District have had criminal history background checks with the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, officials said at Monday's school board meeting.
"We're compliant," School Superintendent Joseph V. Regano said. The practice is in accordance with a new state law and subsequent school policy. All substitute teachers also must have the background checks before they can be considered for employment, he said.
No district employees were found to have any record that would prevent their employment, school officials said.
Board member Julie Glavin raised the question of whether school volunteers will be required to have background investigations.
While districts will be "looking for clarification" from the state on that issue, Mr. Regano said he believes the requirement only affects volunteers working "in single relationships" and "in direct control of students." It would not affect room parents or parents helping on field trips, he said. With volunteers, "it's difficult for the state to control since there's no licensing," he said.
There also is the issue of cost. School staff members each had to pay the $46 cost for the background checks. Prior to the law, the BCI check was $15.
Volunteer coaches who work with students are fingerprinted, and background checks are completed, Assistant Superintendent Thomas W. Stupica said.
He said the procedure for getting background checks by the FBI and BCI is simple. Fingerprinting is completed and sent by a machine in the district, he said. "If all goes well, we'll have a response within 24 hours."
The school board discussed a recent report that an employee in the Orange School District was found to have a felony conviction 36 years ago.
Mr. Stupica said that, prior to the new law, teaching applicants residing in Ohio for the last five years needed a background check only from BCI. Those who lived outside the state within the last five years were required to have the background check by the FBI.
With the new law, Mr. Stupica said, all employees have had to have both background checks. Teachers must have them completed for any renewal of their licenses or certificates, which are valid a maximum of five years.
While teachers always needed the background check for initial employment, non-teaching staff members did not, Mr. Stupica said. Now, they must have it completed as well, he said. Future background checks are scheduled with licensing renewal, he said, which is every six years for bus drivers.
"There are certain offenses for which a person cannot be hired by the schools, even if they occurred 20 to 30 or more years ago," Mr. Stupica said. They include assault, robbery and other violent crimes.
Board member Roger Goudy said BCI checks do not show past convictions which have been expunged, while the FBI report shows all past convictions, "expunged or not."
Mr. Stupica said that, for people who are 18 and older, records are sealed rather than expunged. Those who have had their records sealed may believe they do not have to report the past conviction on their applications, but those records become "unsealed" for certain jobs, he said. "In education, nothing is sealed."


Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Colleges heighten background investigations on students: Case study The University of Central Florida

By: Stefanie Kuncman
Central Florida Future

Almost 10 percent of colleges now require students to submit to background checks before they can live on campus to increase the safety of college housing.

UCF, however, does not check a student's background unless the student indicates a criminal history on his or her admissions application.

Colleges have increased background checks due to incidents resulting in deadly violence on campus such as Virginia Tech. Schools are realizing how hazardous it is to allow potentially dangerous students to live with others in school-sanctioned housing.

UCF does not have a formal process for background-checking students before they move into campus housing. According to UCF News & Information, however, every applicant is required to tell the univsersity of any criminal history when they apply.

UCF officials say they value its students' safety.

"The safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors is our top priority at UCF," a statement from News & Information said.

And UCF is not without a screening procedure. According to News & Information, cases of students with criminal histories are turned over to the Office of Student Conduct for investigation. Office of Student Conduct then decides whether to recommend students for admission to the college.

If admitted, the office of Housing and Residence Life reviews the Office of Student Conduct's recommendations for those students who have applied to live on campus.

If students are found out to have undisclosed their prior violation of law, other than minor traffic infractions, they may not be admitted and may face other disciplinary action, the statement from News & Information said. Punishments could include expulsion.

Question 23 B on the UCF Undergraduate Admissions Application reads "Have you ever been charged with or convicted of a felony." The student checks yes or no. It then reads "In the past 10 years and including any pending charges, have you been the subject of any criminal proceeding other than a minor traffic violation?"

Stephanie Lashway, a 21-year-old senior does not agree that the current screening process is sufficient.

"Freshman year I would get e-mails frequently about sexual predators in Nike," Lashway said. "If this is a problem, they should have required background checks sooner. Parents send their children to college with the assumption that they will be safe."

The statement from News & Information did include that many positions on campus do require background checks.

According to the statement, background checks are conducted on all staff and student employees of Housing and Residence Life, incuding residence hall assitants, before they are hired.

UCF also conducts checks on all newly hired faculty, including adjuncts and most staff members. Those include Executive, Administrative and Proffesional, or University Support Personnel System, the statement added.

There are also some departments on campus that have additional background requirements for students, faculty and staff.

For example, the College of Nursing requires two background checks for all students, volunteers and employees. One check is conducted when students or staff apply and another is completed when they are accepted to work or study.

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

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

Edmonton school bus driver fired; lack of background investigation by Canadian bus company alleged

By Glenn Kauth,
Sun Media

A city bus company didn't get a criminal background investigation on a driver facing allegations of "inappropriately touching" a kindergarten student, a Catholic school board spokesman said yesterday.

The driver has now lost her job, but that hasn't stopped school officials from sending the bus company, R.L. Smith Transportation, a "strongly worded letter" about the breach of its contract with the board.

"We're very, very concerned that this is a serious breach and that the safety of our kids is always a priority," said board spokesman Lori Nagy.

Gordie Mayes, the owner of R.L. Smith, declined to comment yesterday.

But Nagy said the board learned the company hadn't done the criminal background investigation or a child welfare check, after it began its investigation into the allegations.

On Wednesday, Mayes told Sun Media that R.L. Smith runs background investigations on all of its drivers before they come on staff.

The driver, now under investigation, had been working for the company since February, Nagy confirmed.

The case first came to light Wednesday, after a parent of the six-year-old girl at St. Angela Elementary School in northwest Edmonton came forward with allegations against the driver, who ran a noon-hour kindergarten route.

Officials have said little about exactly what happened, but Nagy said she doesn't believe the touching was sexual.

Police are also investigating the case.

Since learning R.L. Smith hadn't done the background investigations, the board has changed its requirements of the company.

In particular, R.L. Smith must now give the board proof it has complied with its contract terms - which state that new drivers have to undergo background investigations before they start work - every month.

"The newest piece is that we have verification those checks have been done," said Nagy, who noted that under the previous rules, R.L. Smith only had to submit the information at the beginning of the school year.

"They're the only company that we will be doing this with, but we will be looking into whether to expand that to the other carriers," Nagy added.

Posted by Tyra Hearns of www.PebiServices.com

Ohio strengthens background investigation rules for school employees

Even though Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation criminal records checks have long been required for teachers and certain other school employees, the Ohio Legislature enacted still more stringent rules through HB 109, which went into effect in November. HB 109 mandates both BCII and FBI criminal records checks for all school employees at the time they are under final consideration for a position. It also calls for periodic checks thereafter. Private contractors such as construction workers, groundskeepers and others who enter school property to perform services are also subject to HB 109 background checks.

Along with teachers, substitute teachers, tutors and educational assistants, administrators such as superintendents, treasurers and principals are required to have a criminal background investigation, as are counselors, school nurses and coaches, including those with pupil activity permits. The criminal background investigation must be repeated approximately every five years from the date of application for employment or when the relevant license is renewed. Criminal background investigations must be repeated every six years for school bus drivers; bus drivers also must have a semi-annual driving record check.

While the law does not require criminal background investigations for most volunteers, school boards may require them. Most boards in the area do, especially if the individual is a regular volunteer, will be supervising overnight trips or will be working regularly with students on a one-to-one (unsupervised) basis.

Centerburg, Johnstown-Monroe, North Fork and the Knox County Career Center do background investigations on adult volunteers, but not on students who volunteer to help younger pupils. Clear Fork does not require background investigations for student volunteers, but must, according to HB 109, conduct a criminal background investigation on paid student workers. Danville does not require the checks for volunteers at this time, while at East Knox and Highland it depends on what the volunteer’s duties will be. Coaching volunteers at Fredericktown are required to pass a criminal background investigation, but chaperones at this time are not.

Northridge board policy mandates criminal background investigations for all volunteers and chaperones. Superintendent John Shepard said all those checks are expensive, but the board willingly pays for them. "Obviously expense is always a factor when operating a large department like a school board but there is no price for the safety and well being of children," says Tyra Hearns the President of background investigation firm PebiServices.com

“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Shepard said. “It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.”

The price to pay, especially for larger school districts, can add up to a lot of money. Cheryl Colopy of the Knox County Educational Service Center, which does the fingerprinting for area schools, said the cost of one BCII check is $27; an FBI report costs $29, a total of $56.

And the number of “clients” has increased. From Dec. 1, 2005, to Jan. 15, 2006, the ESC processed 45 fingerprint requests; from Dec. 1, 2007 to Jan. 15, 2008, 111 individuals were fingerprinted at the ESC.

The board of education must pay the fee charged by BCII for criminal background checks, but may recoup that fee from the applicant. Licensed individuals pay the cost of the continuing periodic background check as part of their license renewal. For nonlicensed individuals such as custodians and food services workers, the board of education must pay the fee, and may charge the employee a fee that is equal to or less than the fee charged by BCII. Background checks for private contractors working for school districts may be paid for by the company employing the contractor.

BCII and FBI criminal records checks, by law, cannot be required for school board members. According to information from the Ohio School Boards Association, “boards of education may not limit the ability of an individual from becoming, or serving as, a public official, including requiring background checks. This would be an unconstitutional limitation on the individual’s rights to political expression. However, nothing would prohibit an individual board member from voluntarily submitting to a background check.”

At Northridge Local Schools, however, a school board member who wants to volunteer in the schools, outside of his or her capacity as a board member, does have to have a criminal records check like other volunteers in the district.

The OSBA further noted that criminal background checks are not subject to the Ohio Public Records Law. They are not considered to be public records and may not be disclosed by the public entity.

Chicago area school food worker had child sex offender past

Batavia school administrators are considering ending their contract with food-services provider Sodexho after a child sex offender was found working in two school kitchens last week.

In response to this infraction, other area school districts also are re-examining their policies on background investigations for workers in their buildings.

"We are responsible for holding our vendors responsible -- there's no way around it," said Batavia School Superintendent Jack Barshinger. "It is our responsibility to make sure our vendors comply with all of our (policies)."

Gary Gasper, 41, of the 100 block of West Chicago Street, Elgin, has been charged with being on school property as a convicted and registered sex offender, a felony, Barshinger said.

Police arrested Gasper at Rotolo Middle School Monday after a school liaison officer conducted a background investigation that revealed he had been convicted of sexually assaulting a girl in Wisconsin 18 years ago.

Illinois law forbids convicted sex offenders from being within 500 feet of a school.

Gasper, a temporary worker who had been subcontracted by Sodexho, worked in Rotolo Middle School on Nov. 5, 6 and 11, and worked for a few hours in Batavia High School on Nov. 11, Barshinger said.

Sodexho is required to run background investigations on all employees who work in the district.

"It was most definitely a breach of their contract," Barshinger said.

A district investigation, tracing Gasper's whereabouts during those three days through staff interviews, is 90 percent complete, according to Barshinger. He said the final task is reviewing videotape from the high school.

So far, Barshinger said the district has not found any individual contact between Gasper and students.

In an attempt to rectify the situation, district administrators have been meeting with Sodexho representatives daily. Barshinger said the district is demanding the company send administrators paperwork on all employees whose criminal backgrounds have been checked.

The district has not yet made a recommendation on whether to continue Sodexho's service. Barshinger said a decision could be made at the next board meeting on Nov. 27.

After learning of the incident, administrators from the West Aurora School District contacted their food-service provider, Chartwells. Superintendent James Rydland said the district asked the company to review employees' background investigations and send the district the results.

The East Aurora School District -- which also uses Sodexho -- has an agreement with the company that background investigations will be performed, said district spokesman Clayton Muhammad.

"We definitely rely on Sodexho, and we have a strong relationship with them so far," Muhammad said.

Tyra Hearns defends the escalation of background investigations

Although large numbers of background investigations are being conducted, President Tyra Hearns of Miami based Pebi Services (www.pebiservices.com) emphatically states that the escalated use of background investigations in the private sector is working and working well. Already this year, 25 million Americans have had background investigations by the federal government, a number that's risen every year since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Amid the rise, a notable shift has occurred: More civilians are now checked each year than criminals. And background investigations on the vast majority come back clean, even as states allot more money for their growing screening operations.

And, in rare cases, predators still slip through the cracks. Take Timothy Stephen Keil, an Ohio church camp counselor recently convicted of molesting two young boys. Or Ralph Fiscale, a New Hampshire soccer coach, and Stephen Unger Jr., a Texas schoolteacher, both of whom committed similar offenses in the past year. "A background investigation cannot predict future events or actions, unless the background investigations are done annually or within a set and established employment marker area." says Hearns

All were either not run through a background investigation by their superiors, or they passed one.

Civil libertarians say the tradeoffs of such a system, built largely through state mandates enacted since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, have become too high.

State background investigation laws, applied to groups as varied as professional nursing home workers, reading tutors, bankers and even volunteer dog walkers _ are becoming so numerous as to be almost meaningless, said Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio.

In Ohio, nearly 4 million background investigations have been conducted since 2001, for instance, a figure equivalent to nearly half the state's 8.7 million adult population.

"The sheer volume of them tells us that they're not working, because to be effective these background investigations have to be looked at very carefully," Link said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there's a terrorist or two in there, but you're not going to find them when you're doing so many." According to Pebi Services (www.pebiservices.com) President Tyra Hearns remarks made by Link are prima facia evidence of flawed thinking "The absurdity of saying that terrorists will evade detection due to a large volume of work is in a sense throwing your hands up in the air and giving up because the statistical minority is in play, as it always is when quoting numbers."

In a recent poll conducted by The Barna Group, a California-based marketing group helping churches, a quarter of pastors surveyed admitted they don't have adequate background investigation and reference checking in place.

Barna Group president David Kinnaman said most churches are very small, with perhaps 100 parishioners, and the background investigations aren't seen as an urgent need.

"In a lot of those places, they have a setting in which it's very, very hard to imagine any abuse taking place," Kinnaman said. "There can be an over-inflated sense of safety, a naivete of the changing issues churches are facing."

Similarly, a recent Associated Press search of state-by-state records found 2,570 incidents of sexual misconduct in public schools between 2001 and 2005, despite background investigations of teachers being required in many states.

Civilian background investigations now dominate the workload at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, costing taxpayers nearly $9 million a year. Since 1993, the number of annual background investigations performed by the bureau has grown from 38,000 to 650,000 on average.

Checking someone's criminal background is a common political response to each new social crisis. Ohio lawmakers, for instance, have introduced additional background investigation requirements recently for foster care parents, following a series of incidents against children, and for public school teachers, following revelations of sexual acts toward students going unreported.

Yet Ohio figures compiled for The Associated Press by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification found that the 90-percent-plus passage rate remains consistent, regardless of how many Ohioans are screened.

Steve Fischer, a spokesman for the FBI, said that pattern also holds true at the national level, where the number of background investigations being conducted has exploded since 9/11. It continues to grow at a pace of about 12 percent a year.

Fischer said 69 percent of criminals who are checked turn out to have their fingerprints already on file, compared to just 12 percent of civilians.

He said the federal program used to be heavily weighted toward checking criminals, but a shift toward civilians has occurred since 9/11.

"It used to be slightly higher on the criminal side," Fischer said. "But since 9/11, the majority of our checks are civilians _ people applying for jobs, licenses, things like that."

Most of the background investigations are required under laws emanating from state legislatures aiming to protect people from predators.

"It's mostly about protected populations: children and the elderly," Fischer said.

Yet crime statistics present mixed evidence as to whether the explosion in records checks is having an impact. On a national level, sex crimes and forcible rapes had already been declining steadily before the 2001 attacks. The Bureau of Justice Statistics attributes that reduction to a variety of societal factors, of which background investigations are only one.

Ohio figures show an unpredictable pattern, with arrests for forcible rapes and sex offenses sometimes rising and sometimes falling year by year. Overall, since 2001, arrests for the two types of crimes are down from 2,253 to 1,371, based on self-reported law enforcement data.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers have begun to contemplate what they have created.

According to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, 21 states enacted laws last year related to the regulation of offender information _ including proposals that limited public access to the data, lowered costs for the checks, reduced the number of years to be checked for certain positions, and expunged some offenses.

___

Background Investigation reveals teacher's crimes; results never revealed

A criminal background investigation revealed an Arkansas teacher aide should of never been hired but the information from the background investigation was never revealed. When teacher’s aide Robert N. Richards was arrested earlier this month on child pornography charges, school officials immediately removed him from the classroom.

But his bosses at Leverett Elementary School didn’t know at the time that Richards, 53, already had been in trouble with the law in Fayetteville.

He’d been convicted of seven misdemeanors since 1986 — four of which occurred after he began working with children in 1998.

Administrators weren’t aware of the convictions since there is no mechanism for them to be notified of new arrests and because the results of criminal background investigations aren’t shared with school districts.

State law requires non-licensed school employees such as teacher’s aides to undergo criminal background investigations only once before they are hired. If the background investigation shows convictions, only certain crimes automatically disqualify a person from working in the state’s public schools, leaving school administrators and parents in the dark about the other cases. "This is clearly a major if not potentially dangerous flaw in the policy." says Tyra Hearns, President of Pebi Services a background investigation firm.

Richards’ record includes non-violent offenses such as public intoxication, shoplifting and violating the state’s hot check laws — crimes that don’t rise to the level of barring him from employment. "These are definate disqualifiers in any other forum." says Hearns

But some parents said administrators should be privy to that information.

“All of those speak to a level of irresponsibility that I think a principal has every right to be aware of,” said Becky Purcell, a parent and new Fayetteville School Board member. “It would be good to have it automatically in front of them.”

Richards faces five felony counts of possession of child pornography stemming from his Sept. 6 arrest.

An investigation in Florida led to Richards, who is accused of downloading images of young boys engaged in sexual acts.

He had worked as a teacher’s aide at several Fayetteville schools, most recently working with special education students.

Richards is on paid leave while school officials conduct an internal inquiry.

More frequent background investigations for school employees and a mandatory notification process between law enforcement agencies and school districts would help protect children, said Susan Heil, a Fayetteville School Board member.

Prior arrests — even if they are misdemeanors — can be revealing about a person’s character, she said.

“Since we have the safety of students in mind, we do have more of a right to know those things and get updates on those things,” she said.

Fayetteville police spokesman Cpl. Craig Stout said officers make an effort to inform school administrators if a student or employee is arrested. But there is no policy mandating it.

“In this particular instance, the officer may have chosen not to notify the school system as it was a misdemeanor crime with no violence, drugs or weapons involved,” he said. “Plus, there is always the consideration that someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

Arkansas implemented mandatory background investigations for school employees in 1997. Teachers undergo checks each time their licenses are up for renewal, which is typically every five years.

Non-licensed employees such as aides and janitors, however, are only checked when they first apply or if they change school districts.

There are 28 crimes that disqualify a person from employment, including murder, rape, kidnapping, battery, aggravated assault, felony drug charges and sex crimes against children. Even then, employers can request a waiver if they believe the applicant doesn’t pose a threat to the health or safety of school children or personnel.

If a school employee is convicted of a violent crime, the individual school district is supposed to notify the state board so that person’s license can be revoked.

Julie Johnson Thompson, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said it’s unlikely a school employee’s arrest or conviction of lesser crimes would go unnoticed.

“It’s hard for a teacher to get [arrested ] in a lot of communities without it getting back to the school district,” she said.

In recent months, the department has been asking school districts to inform the department of any arrests of school teachers, so the department can begin working on potential license revocation, she said.

Still, the department doesn’t put arrest or conviction information in a registry or any other kind of database so school districts or the public can easily find out about former or current employees’ troubles with the law. “Fortunately, it really hasn’t been a problem,” said Fayetteville district spokesman Alan Wilbourn. “We deal with these types of situations very rarely.”