School Background Checks
Schools constitute an important part of everyone’s life. The memories which we have of our schools are one of the most cherished ones. However, the scenario has quite changed now. There is a constant fear in parents’ mind for their children. This is all because of the increasing physical and mental assaults at the hands of the teachers and tutors. Considering all these incidents, all the states have their own system of background checks at schools.
Baltimore is one of the cities in the state of Maryland. It is the biggest city in Maryland. Despite this fact, there are numerous crimes that have been reported from different schools against the tutors and teachers. Background checks are one of the most important things before hiring any employees at the Baltimore schools. According to one of the spokesperson of the school, background checks are mandatory since the person is going to work with children. It is necessary to do the background checks for all the employees including the old ones, the volunteers as well as the tutors. The applicants need to update their fingerprints too.
An individual who applies for any job in the schools is aware of the strict rules of employment. His or her background is thoroughly checked and verified from various sources. These sources include FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), DSS (Department of Social Sciences) and consumer reporting agencies like verification of social security number. In addition to this, the applicants are required to submit an undertaking or an application disclosing all their previous or current crime records with details.
The procedure of background checks is intensive. Firstly, the applicants are fingerprinted. Then, the applicants who have a criminal record are interviewed and given a chance to discuss their records before the school authorities take any decision. These applications are then reviewed by office of Labor Relations. Labor Relations have the authority to declare them ineligible to be in the classroom filled with children. If that’s done, then the individual cannot apply for a job in schools. The schools can also accept or reject the applications on the following basis:
- 1. Nature of the applicant’s conviction.
- 2. How long ago did the conviction occur?
- 3. Applicant’s age at the time the conviction happened.
After the background checks are successfully completed, the selected candidates are given a professional development. This training is provided to all those employees who will come in contact with the children. The schools at Baltimore make sure that proper rules and regulations are followed while hiring teachers and tutors for children’s safety. For the same, the schools also organize or send their employees to participate in various workshops. These workshops are provided on different topics to provide the required training to them covering various aspects.
It is necessary to have proper background checks and rules for the teachers as well. After the shocking news of a tutor physically assaulting a child at one of the Baltimore schools, it has become all the more important that the authorities remain cautious while allowing anyone to handle children.