A Hot Time in Tunica

The community in Tunica, Mississippi can breathe a little easier after a volunteer firefighter was arrested in connection with two blazes lit in vacant structures. Adam Paul Carriere was serving as a probationary firefighter assigned to the West Feliciana Parish Fire District prior to his booking on four combined counts of arson and trespassing.

Having joined the district’s fire department just three days prior to setting the blazes, an initial background check did not reveal any disqualifying incidents or existing conditions. However, a more comprehensive screening of Carriere’s past was still in process at the time he was running around lighting unoccupied buildings on fire.

A preliminary investigation quickly narrowed it down to Adam Carriere as a prime suspect. Working alongside the Fire Marshall’s office, the district acted quickly resulting in the arrest. Carriere was said to have surrendered without incident and cooperated with investigators during the interrogation.

In a news release, State Fire Marshall Butch Browning stated, “It is taken very seriously when a firefighter crosses the line and does something like this. We will not tolerate such actions.” Indeed, the irony of an arsonist working as a firefighter is nauseating.

With regards to future applicants, the Fire District may want to consider waiting for all background checks to clear before allowing an individual to participate in active duty. Considering that firefighters are essentially some of the last true heroes in society, it’s upsetting when one of them perpetrates the very calamity they are supposed to be preventing. No one wants to see a firebug like Carriere or some other unbalanced individual marring the reputation of an otherwise respected and heroic public institution.

Oklahoma Schools Lacking in Background Check Policy

What do the 532 school districts in the State of Oklahoma all have in common? They all share the lack of a standardized background check policy for substitute teachers. In a recent news report, the “Oklahoman” offered a look at how this disorganized background check standard has begun to result in the wrong people leading the class for the day.

State certification starts with teachers and other members of permanent faculty. However, noncertified substitutes, volunteers and other individuals aren’t necessarily required to submit to a background screening. Wait, really?

Yes, really. It turns out that each individual district typically assesses its own needs and adopts a background screening procedure for substitute personnel. Some schools go directly to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), which conducts a thorough, fingerprint-based background screening. Other school districts may go through the State Board of Education, which in turn will conduct a background check through the OSBI.

However, as one gets further away from Tulsa and Oklahoma City, districts may begin relying more on private background screening agencies or even conduct the search on their own. Theoretically, a district could even rely on Google to do its background checks if they felt it was in line with existing needs and policies, which would definitely leave them open to bad hiring decisions based on misinformation.

This melting pot of policies may provide each district in saying what’s best for them, but it can also generate loopholes and opportunities for all the wrong people. One district’s background screening process might deter creeps from applying, but the district next door might have an entirely policy in place that could effectively be an open door to criminals.

Duncan County has already had to hurriedly adjust its background screening policy. The school now requires national criminal checks after Erwin Johnson, a 24-year old substitute teacher, was tagged with felony charges for lewd proposals to a child after sending all the wrong text messages to a 16-year old student.

Because of the incident, the Duncan District adopted a new nationwide criminal search to supplement the statewide search already in place. A national search would have caught Johnson’s 2008 2nd degree Theft conviction and raised red flags for the hiring manager screening substitute teacher candidates.

Sherry Labyer, public school superintendant in Duncan, said “We don’t knowingly employ anyone who has been convicted of a felony.” Unfortunately, NOT knowing in this situation shows itself to have equally disastrous results.

There is one consensus shared by the district: There is a problem, but as for fixing it, they’re still working on that.

Jeff Mills is the executive director of the Oklahoma State School Board of Administration and says “It’s an issue. It is a situation and I don’t know what the immediate solution is considering the budget constraints.” Mills thinks an administrative database that is directly accessible by the districts could be one viable solution.

In the meantime, the state’s 532 districts continue to get along as best they can with what they have in place. Budget constraints, understaffed districts needing substitutes to man the classrooms, and scant solutions to a big problem all contribute to the lack of a defined background check policy keeping students safe and the criminals at bay.

Boulder Schools Beef Up Background Checks

Giving thought to performing volunteer work for your local school district? Well, if you happen to live in Colorado and you’re considering putting in some volunteer time with the Boulder Valley School District, be ready to for a background screening. Channel 9 News in Colorado reports that the school district is revamping its hiring process to keep with the times.

With almost 2,000 people volunteering their time to work in one of the district’s 55 schools, officials have made the decision to reinforce existing volunteer hiring policies with mandatory background checks.

Becky McClure, who functions as Assistant Superintendant of Human Resources, thinks there should be no difference between full time staff and the districts pool of volunteer workers: “With volunteers they are working with our children just like our employees are, so we want to be consistent.”

So far the background checks haven’t turned up anything too bad, but according to McClure, “Some were on probation that we were needing to disallow them for. It depends on the type of offense the individual had. Certainly a child abuse offense, a domestic violence offense would be a certain cause for concern.”

Although similar policies have been in effect in other districts, the difference is that the volunteers in other school districts must pay for the cost of the background check out of their own pocket. However, Boulder Valley has set aside $25,000 of its annual budget to cover the cost of the checks for all prospective volunteers as well as full time district employees. McClure hasn’t considering passing the cost along just yet but “We would consider possibly…but it would just depend on what the cost would be.”

Hats off to the Boulder Valley School District for its sound decision! Obviously employment status has no impact on the importance of a background check, something that the district has acknowledged through its new policy implementation. Some may consider $25,000 a bit steep, but the monetary cost pales in comparison to no check at all resulting in a dangerous predator working with children.

Pizza Party Peep Show

Maine’s "Seacoastonline.com" news source reported that a volunteer flag football coach for the Exeter Parks and Recreation Department has gotten the boot for displaying a pornographic image on his cell phone to a group of 12 year olds.

Christopher Miller may have thought he was being one cool grown up during an end of year pizza party when he showed the youth in his charge a cell phone photo described as “inappropriate” by Police Chief Richard Kane. But instead of “cool”, Miller came off as a “creep” leading to several kids informing their parents who, in turn, contacted the Parks and Recreation Department.

The Exeter Police Department was subsequently notified which led to Mr. Miller’s arrest. He was charged with a class B misdemeanor and fined $1,200. Although the sentence doesn’t carry jail time, it does ensure he won’t be doing any volunteer work with young kids anytime soon.

Police Captain Chris Fenerty applauded the quick action of the Parks and Recreation Department saying that “They did a real nice job. As soon as they found out, they immediately notified us.”

Mike Favereau, who serves as the Parks and Recreation Director, said “I’ve been in the business for more than 30 years and I’ve never had something like this happen. You pick up the paper and hear about it happening in other communities. You just never know.”

The Exeter Parks and Recreation Department has a policy of conducting a nationwide background check on volunteer coaches and performs annual checks from the point after which they sign on with the department. Although Miller had no prior record, the incident has been enough for the Parks and Recreation Department to look for ways to bolster its existing screening process for volunteer coaches.

In wake of the incident, a coaches meeting was conducted for a discussion on responsibilities coaches have when interacting with kids. There are also plans now to involve the police department in the coaches training program. The department is also considering altering the policies which allow coaches to hold celebrations and events that are not town sanctioned.

Fortunately, this situation was caught right where it needed to be. The Exeter Parks and Recreation Department seems to already be taking the necessary steps to make certain another impromptu (and wholly inappropriate) pizza party peep show never occurs again.