Background Checks for Utah Schools

Utah is joining the growing list of state run agencies and school boards mandating background checks for its teachers and volunteers.   According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the State House passed the bill unanimously.  The bill will now go to the State Senate.

It is good to see another school board giving careful consideration to the changing times.   There was once a time when local board of education workers and volunteers were local people.    They were seldom secrets and if they had committed any criminal acts or were listed as sexual offenders, people knew about it.   But those times have changed.  People move around, seeking job opportunities in a slower economy.   With respect to convicted criminals and sexual offenders they will often move around to avoid detection or to try to make a fresh start.

Too often convicted criminals and sex offenders slip through the cracks.   Even when background checks are conducted, sometimes they return so slowly that the hiring bodies forget to review them or give them only a cursory glance.  This is especially dangerous, and more so where children our concerned.  Sadly, the sex offender or criminal isn’t discovered until he commits some misdeed and a more focused investigation turns up prior criminal records.

Last year the Utah Board of Education discovered some of their hires had criminal backgrounds.  Mandating background checks should go a long way in preventing any further embarrassing situations.   We are glad to see they are rectifying the problem and creating new protocol by mandating these background checks.