Sept 30, 2007 - Arkansas Democrat Gazette: "Arrest reveals gaps in checks"
When teacher’s aide Robert N. Richards was arrested earlier this month on child pornography charges, school officials immediately removed him from the classroom.State law requires non-licensed school employees such as teacher’s aides, janitors, etc. to undergo criminal background checks only once before they are hired.
But his bosses at Leverett Elementary School didn’t know at the time that Richards, 53, already had been in trouble with the law in Fayetteville.
He’d been convicted of seven misdemeanors since 1986 — four of which occurred after he began working with children in 1998.
Teachers Teachers undergo checks each time their licenses are up for renewal, which is typically every five years.
Police do not automatically notify school districts. School districts do not automatically notify the state Department of Education. And there is no statewide registry or database to alert districts when they hire.
TT - Link to Richards
