FCPS expands employee background checks
Fairfax County Public Schools is expanding background checks for employees.
“Starting in April 2023, all FCPS employees (including temporary employees, hourly staff, and substitutes) will be reviewed through the National Sex Offender Registry,” FCPS announced April 25. “This is the beginning of a process that will expand over the coming school year.”
The increased scrutiny comes after it was revealed last August that a counselor at Glasgow Middle School had previously been arrested in another county for soliciting a minor for prostitution. An independent review subsequently found significant gaps in FCPS and state hiring and monitoring practices.
Related story: FCPS to investigate how a convicted sex offender was hired at Glasgow
Under the new procedures, the Office of Equity and Employee Relations will notify employees if there is a concern and will notify them again once the initial review is complete.
A new regulation requires employees to notify the Office of Equity and Employee Relations of any arrests, including misdemeanors, felonies, or acts that impact a person’s ability to work that happened after they were hired.
As a continuing condition of employment, the FCPS Department of Human Resources will require all employees to undergo background checks periodically to monitor for unreported criminal activity.
Related story: FCPS to improve employee oversight
Additional types of background checks may also be used for periodic monitoring, FCPS states. “Not every arrest would lead to action; however, a barrier crime, felony, or a crime that impacts a person’s ability to work may have cause for dismissal.”
Starting this summer, employee fingerprints will be resubmitted to the Virginia State Police and FBI for review. Digital fingerprint scans already on file for employees hired after Aug. 1, 2006, and before July 1, 2022, will be automatically resubmitted.
The fact that they were not already looking at the National Sex Offender Registry when vetting potential employees who would have direct access with children is beyond comprehension and frankly very irresponsible. Glad they are doing it now, but this is a huge failure to not have been doing this before. As a parent with middle schoolers, it is very concerning that it took until 2023 for them to do this.