Criminals convicted of felonies and sex offenders will have a more difficult time getting jobs or volunteering in South Carolina public schools.
The South Carolina Legislature passed a law (Section 59-19-117) that officially went into effect on May 11 requiring all local school district board of trustees hiring new employees to conduct a name-based criminal record history check through SLED, the State Law Enforcement Division. The law also says any individual on the National Sex Offender Registry will not be allowed to serve in the district.
The Dorchester District 2 Board of Trustees unanimously passed second reading of an official “criminal record checks” policy at their Aug. 23 meeting.
The district has always followed its own variation of the policy for many years although there was no official policy set, school officials said. Substitute teachers were previously also required to have background checks.
The board had an “action” – a policy on behavior – in place that required criminal background checks on all employees and volunteers, according to board chair Francis Townsend.
Volunteers are not allowed to be alone with students at any time, Townsend said.
“It’s a good conscientious safety effort for our children,” Townsend said. “Anybody that has any connection to students is susceptible to a background check.”
In the last year less than 10 applicants have been turned down by the district due to background checks, according to DD2 Personnel Director Linda Huffman. None of those applicants were on the Sex Offender Registry.
Those who were turned down mostly had DUI and drug charges, Huffman said. “When we run a criminal record check it is kept in an electronic file. We immediately run a SLED check when someone is accused of a crime.”
If an employee is charged of a misdemeanor with no disposition, meaning they haven’t been found guilty or not guilty yet, they may still remain employed if the district decides they are not a threat to students, according to Huffman. “A felony is great red flag. It is a more serious charge.”
Anyone who is denied employment as a result of their background check may be given an opportunity to respond to the reasons, according to the policy.
Huffman says some applicants have contested their charges. In one case an applicant said their drug charge was several years old and they are a different person now. Huffman told them for the safety of the students she couldn’t let someone with a drug charge get close to “a very fragile audience” such as children.
Another applicant contested a drug paraphernalia charge they had plead guilty to saying that someone had planted the item in their house. A guilty charge makes someone accountable, but if there is a not guilty charge an employee cannot be held accountable, Huffman said.
The most common charge is writing a fraudulent check, Huffman said, adding that if there was only one such charge the applicant still has a chance of getting employed unless they apply for a financial position.
According to the new law, “The district policy must stipulate whether the district assumes the cost of the criminal record search or that the applicant assumes the cost.”
DD2’s policy states the district will assume the cost. There is no charge for running background checks on teachers or substitutes. The charge is $8 for volunteers and bus drivers and $25 for all other employees, Huffman said.
Every three years the district runs a SLED check on teachers and substitutes since it doesn’t cost anything, according to Huffman.