Anne Arundel County Schools begin background checks for new employees

Wbaltv

School officials in Anne Arundel County have added a new policy to ensure student safety. Prospective employees must pass a criminal background check before they are hired.

School officials have said that when it comes to student safety, nothing is off limits.

For applicants, the new requirement, which includes fingerprinting, may the last and most important step they’ll take, said 11 News Education reporter Tim Tooten.

Anne Arundel County school employee Dana Gordon is supportive of the new policy.

“It’s very important to me because now I’m becoming an employee. I’m also a mom and I want to make sure I know who’s around my children all the time,” she said.

Jennifer Aguayo, another school employee, added this perspective: “To protect the kids, you have to make sure the kids are safe, you want to know who’s going into the schools.”

“We have a duty to our parents to assure them that their children are being educated in a safe and secure learning environment and that the employees we’re hiring will be role models for the children,” said school system representative Bob Moiser.

The criminal background check builds on the strict policy that Anne Arundel County schools already has in place. Background checks are conducted on anyone entering school buildings.

For school employee Jane Lefavor, the strict policies are reassuring.

“I like the way your visitor badge would show your driver’s license ID,” she said. “That way the staff knows who you are and why you’re there. It’s great. I think as an employee I appreciate it a little bit more.”

In the weeks that lead up to the first day of school, even more potential employees undergo background checks.

“It shows that they have good, secure people. The background check is the main thing. It lets people know they have solid citizens working for them around their children,” said employee Tanoka Brown.

This article originally appeared on Wbaltv