3/25/08

Columbus Dispatch

Short Takes

This entails criminal-background checks for teachers and many nonteaching employees, some of whom haven’t been checked for years and others who never have been checked. A new law means about 200,000 people must be fingerprinted and cleared by the FBI and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation by Sept. 5.

An October Dispatch series, “The ABCs of Betrayal,” showed that the state’s previous system of background checks failed to flag teachers and other school employees who committed crimes after receiving their licenses.

School districts are wise to start early with the checks. Processing takes time, and if districts turn up employees whose criminal histories make them unsuitable for work in schools, the districts must find replacements.