A proposal to require volunteers in Roanoke’s schools to undergo background checks is on hold.

Superintendent Rita Bishop told the school board in a work session Wednesday morning that she will seek input from principals next week regarding how to proceed. In the meantime, she said principals will be directed to maintain a list of volunteers and check it against the state’s sex offender registry.

“Volunteers are not to be alone with students, not to assist with things like toileting,” Bishop added.

Many volunteers do not work with students directly but perform administrative tasks such as making copies, she said.

The proposal to more strictly screen volunteers came to light this summer after parents contacted The Roanoke Times about it. Bishop said in hindsight the concept had not been discussed with principals or any of the community organizations that supply volunteers. She estimates some 600 volunteers give their time to the city’s schools.

“If we want volunteers, we have to make sure it’s not hard to be one,” school board member Todd Putney said.

Bishop is preparing to launch a separate initiative that would place mentors in one-on-one relationships with students. Those individuals will be subject to intense criminal background checks, she said. School officials may learn from that process how – or whether – to move forward with volunteer screens.

http://liarcatchers.com/background_checks.html

In other board news, the board informally opted not to institute random drug testing for student athletes. No vote was taken. Salem school officials adopted a policy last year, and the Botetourt County School Board approved a similar plan earlier this month. But some Roanoke School Board members noted the testing is costly and not always an effective deterrent.

“I think before I’d say let’s do this, I’d like to know if there is success,” school board member Annette Lewis said.

Board members on Wednesday also turned down a proposal by Putney that would have required school employees to report outside employment if they work as high school athletics coaches for other school divisions.

“I think it makes sense for us to be aware of the occasions where our staff are working for other districts,” Putney said.

His concerns — centered around loyalties — stemmed from a city school employee who coached at an area private school and openly admitted recruiting city students for the private school team, he said.

“I am totally, totally against a policy like this because to me it’s like punishing the whole class for one student’s misbehavior,” school board member Suzanne Moore said.

School board Chairman David Carson said he would like to have such a policy to understand why city school employees are not coaching the city’s teams.

“I would not restrict the other coaching,” he said. “I’d want to know about it. I’d want to have the ability to potentially restrict it. I would make it high school only, head and assistant coaching only.”

Lewis and Mae Huff each said they could not support a proposal that discouraged employees from working part-time jobs.

’m hoping to tag along with Mia and her classmates at Hendricks Avenue Elementary on some field trips this year.

There is one problem, though. OK, two problems according to a company that does background checks for Duval County Public School volunteers.

Domestic battery.

Felony counts of firearms possession.

Hearing about this background came as quite a surprise to my friends, employer, wife and — last but not least — me.

I think the biggest legal issue I’ve had in my 50 years is a speeding ticket.

“Or so you say,” several co-workers said.

Most of them quickly said they believed me, so much so that they kept laughing about the idea of my “criminal history.” Which led me to have a counter-reaction, arguing that, hey, I could be bad enough to be packing some illegal heat. Which only made them laugh harder.

B.R. Rhoads, Hendricks’ principal, said that I’m still welcome at school “with a full-body patdown and ankle bracelet.”

But as they all eventually pointed out, this does raise serious questions. Not just about me. About background checks.

Everyone who volunteers at the public schools has to have one done, which certainly makes sense. This year they all were done online. And when I put in my name, address, date of birth and Social Security number, I was asked if I wanted a copy of the results.

I didn’t think about it again until I received an envelope from InfoMart, a company in Marietta, Ga.

The profile prepared for DCPS said that “based on the identifying information made available by the applicable jurisdictions, the applicant had the following criminal history”:

It listed two matches in Cook County, Ill., in 1997 and 2006. (No word on whether I also voted for any Chicago mayors.)

As tempting as it was to use the gun charge to boost my street cred in Jacksonville, I decided I better try to clear this up.

When I called InfoMart, a friendly woman named Maria explained that some courts won’t share Social Security numbers. So they match what they can, such as names and birthdates (and if the client asks, give them all of this information).

Maria said they would dig deeper into it. I asked her for her last name.

http://liarcatchers.com/background_checks.html

“We don’t give those out,” she said politely, an answer that seemed a bit ironic considering that I had given her my full name, address, Social Security number … “It starts with a G.”

That was Thursday morning. It only took me a few calls to Cook County to find out more about the “match.” I was told it wasn’t based on the Social Security number, but there is a Mark Woods. Same birth date. Different middle initial. Different physical description. Living in a city where I’ve never lived. Doing things I’ve never done.

I’m hoping InfoMart will figure this out soon. Because when Mia and her classmates go to the pumpkin patch this week, I’d like to tag along. Preferably without an ankle bracelet.

The Otay Water District unknowlingly awarded a $175,000 contract this month to an Orange County firm that was accused by an ex-employee of the city of Maywood of handing out envelopes of cash as part of its bid-securing efforts.

The company, AAE Inc., started unising a different name after the Los Angeles Times in January reported an ongoing FBI investigation. The firm now goes by Infrastructure Engineers.

Otay selected the company from among nine seeking to provide traffic engineering services such as striping, synchronizing traffic signals and traffic control.

According to a staff report, the firm scored the highest in the district’s rankings, a system based on a combination of staff qualifications, understanding of the project and proposed rates.

Under the old name, the same company was the subject of the Times article in January that detailed federal prosecutors’ and the FBI’s probe into whether the company paid officials to obtain contracts in Southern California cities. The Times cited unnamed federal officials who said the investigation had been ongoing for several years. FBI officials would neither confirm or deny an investigation this week.

A former official from the Los Angeles suburb of Maywood told the Times that while working as part of an FBI undercover operation in 2008, he twiced received envelopes containing thousands of dollars in cash from an AAE executive.

The employee, former Planning Director David Mango, told the The Watchdog this week that the executive gave him the money to get his firm more contracts and to get paid faster for existing ones.

“I did work with the FBI, and the owner of AAE did do what was reported in that story,” Mango said.

At the Otay Water District, which supplies 200,000 people in south and east San Diego County, officials said they weren’t aware of the allegations about the firm until a reporter inquired. The district does not do extensive background checks on bidders.

“Staff checks technical ability demonstrated by similar types of work,” wrote Rod Posada, Otay’s engineering chief. “Staff checks the company’s listed references, but staff does not perform professional background checks.”

The company’s owner, Sid Mousawi, said the new name was in the works before the newspaper article.

“Many times, we would hear from our clients and reaching out to new clients that they didn’t know what we did,” he said. “With infrastructure being a big buzz word, it seemed to be appropriate.”

Mousawi said the company was not aware of any federal investigation. He called the statements in The Times’ story the “allegations of a disgruntled employee.”

The former planning director of Maywood, Mango, is suing the city, claiming he was fired for his role in the FBI investigation.

“Of course from my perpsective it wouldn’t be fair for a client to consider it because they are just allegations from an individual and a newspaper article,” Mousawi said. “We provide services communities need and we have a wonderful reputation.”

Based in Brea, AAE started doing business as Infrastructure Engineers in April after nearly 17 years in business, according to the Orange County Recorder’s website.

Several officials with the San Diego chapter of the Institute of Traffic Engineers said that well-known firms rarely change their names unless they are acquired, merge with another firm or a principal leaves to form another business.

“In our field, your name is the foot in the door, so to speak,” said Saul Kane, the institute’s president and a principal engineer with Lin Consulting. “It’s extremely important. In 10 years I’ve been in San Diego, I can’t name a case where a reputable firm has changed its name just for the sake of changing its name.”

Minjie Mei, the group’s treasurer and a traffic engineer with the city of Santee, said an agency should ask questions when a firm changes its name.

“I would be curious,” Mei said. “You would want to know why they made the change, and if the change would affect the level of service they provide.”

http://liarcatchers.com/background_checks.html

Several cities have dropped the company, including La Puente and Maywood. Other cities, such as Lynwood, still use the firm under previous contracts, but said they would weigh the allegations if the firm competed for new work.

“It would certainly be a consideration,” said Robert Torrez, Lynwood’s assistant city manager.

At Otay, Posada said the district didn’t ask about the name change because the firm’s bid package was stellar.

“You can see from the … proposal… this firm had a good competient team to do the work, the best pricing, was available to do work on an as-needed basis and received good references,” Posada said.

With future contracts, Posada said, the district would have to determine how it would weigh allegations such as those in the news story.

“If a firm submits a proposal, has good reference checks and the people in the firm have the experience and the qualifications, as this firm does, how do we contrast this with the allegations in a news story?” Posada said.

VICTORIA – The Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia issued guidance on Wednesday to assist organizations and public bodies using social media sites to conduct background checks of prospective employees, volunteers and candidates.

Commissioner Elizabeth Denham cautioned that using social media to conduct background checks presents legal and other challenges.

http://liarcatchers.com/background_checks.html

“We enter a new era with the application of privacy laws to social media background checks,” the Commissioner stated. “The guidelines my Office is issuing are designed to provide guidance and practical steps to assist organizations and public bodies in complying with the law.”
The guidelines highlight some of the risks associated with performing a social media background check, such as collecting inaccurate information and collecting too much personal information. Commissioner Denham stated that she expected organizations and public bodies to review and adopt the guidelines so that their practices concerning social media background checks comply with privacy obligations.
The use of social media background checks received attention earlier this year when a political party requested the passwords of its potential leadership candidates to permit an examination of their social media sites.

The state Department of Education has notified public and charter school officials that school board members and charter school trustees who have not registered for the new criminal background check will be removed from office.
An Oct. 11 letter sent to chief school administrators by Robert J. Cicchino, Director of the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance, said all of the registrations should be complete. He asked school officials to confirm that their board members or trustees have complied, and to send the names of those who have not to the state, which will notify them that they are no longer eligible to serve on the board.

The New Jersey School Boards Association posted the memo and a reminder on its website and online newsletter Thursday, noting that as of Oct. 12 only about half of the more than 4,000 school board members and charter school trustees in the state had registered and scheduled appointments for the required fingerprinting.
Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the NJSBA, said some board members have reported difficulty using the online registration system. He said the lack of a firm deadline for completing the process also made it seem less urgent.
“Some of it may just be a communication issue,” he said. “It is more effective to set a deadline. But this is a law, and all members must comply.”
The bill requiring the background checks and prohibiting citizens with criminal backgrounds from serving on public or charter school boards was signed into law May 26. The law gives board members 30 days to comply. But the state Department of Education needed some time to prepare, and board members were not required to begin the process until July. The state did not set a firm deadline for compliance since summer is typically the busiest time for background checks as new school employees also complete the process. A second reminder was sent to districts in August.
Local school officials contacted Thursday reported mixed results.
Hammonton school superintendent C. Dan Blachford said all of theirs are complete.
Vineland school spokesman John Sbrana said all board members had completed the process but one report was still outstanding.
Kateryna Bechtel, business administrator in Egg Harbor Township, said at least one board member had difficulty with the online registration system. She said she knows at least three of the nine members have completed the process and she sent out a reminder Thursday asking members to update her of their status.
Belluscio said the NJSBA will also send email reminders to all members stressing the urgency of completing the process. The state memo said board members would be considered in compliance if they had either an approval letter or a receipt showing that they had scheduled an appointment to be fingerprinted.
Board members must pay for their own fingerprinting, but the law does allow them to use funds from their election campaigns. Local school boards can also pass a resolution to reimburse members the $85 cost.

http://liarcatchers.com/background_checks.html

The October state memo does not set a specific deadline for school officials to submit the compliance information to the state. Department of Education spokesperson Allison Kobus said in an email that while the law is new, and there were some delays in the startup, the state is committed to working with the NJSBA and district officials to assure that all board members complete the process.
So far five board members have been removed because of prior criminal records, including George Crouch of Atlantic City who had a 1992 drug-related conviction.
Contact Diane D’Amico:
609-272-7241