Cheers to the schools that run background checks on prospective employees and volunteers before letting them work with children. For them, it's all about school safety. Sadly, there are those who don't take all necessary precautions and allow the wrong people to slip through the cracks and have access to children. And if something happens and the situation could have been prevented, that certainly is a major problem. Well, it's a problem either way, but I'm sure you know what I mean.
Sometimes people with a record of sexual misconduct are able to get jobs in public or private schools as teachers, support staff or volunteers. It can happen if employment or volunteer background checks are not performed before making hiring decisions. And that is very troubling. There could also be a red flag on an application, such as if an individual states he or she has been convicted of a child crime and there is no follow-up on the application.
In my mind, there are no excuses when it comes to doing all we can to protect our children. School background checks are necessary to keep our kids safe. Here are some tips to help create an employment and volunteer background check program for your school:
- Develop a creating a screening policy that follows FCRA rules and regulations
- Use a combination of background check services and screening solutions
- Choose products that you can bundle in a package for job specific searches
- Establish criteria to evaluate background check information and determine what will define disqualifying information
The fact of the matter is the most important people at any school are the children. They should be able to come to school and learn in a safe environment free from sexual predators.
Check out this article about an incident that occurred in a Fort Worth, Texas school.