When I was in sixth grade, that was just about the time that kids were walking around wearing glitter gloves on one hand, red leather jackets with zippers all over the place, sparkly socks, loafers, and floods.  Moonwalking was kind of a thing too.  Here we are the day after Halloween – and although Thriller is probably played less these days, you were still likely to hear it yesterday.  Given all of the allegations against him, MJ is a hard guy for a Superintendent of Schools to write about.  But, focusing on his talents – he could sing, man…could he dance – and his lyrics, occasionally, were pretty good too.

Heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race, he sang.  That song has only a quarter of a billion hits on YouTube.  Let’s just say we all know who I am writing about.  Then sometime thereafter, Whitney piped in with The Greatest Love of All – asking us to let the children’s laughter remind us of who we used to be.  I think she was right, that everyone is looking for a hero, and we all need someone to look up to.  But who?  Because despite his raging worldwide popularity, if he were still alive, I’d pass on free childcare from MJ – I know the matter is up for debate – but I gotta err on the side of caution on this one. 

Parents get to pick their babysitters.  But they don’t get to choose the people who are going to be around their kids in school, on the sports fields, and overseeing clubs and activities.  They don’t pick the contractors who fix things in the schools while their kids are there, and they don’t get to know the parents of their children’s classmates in certain circumstances.   

The safety of our children in school environments is a paramount concern, one that is echoed in the lyrics of plenty of songs. The safety of the kids in school is the responsibility of our administrators, staff, policymakers, and other state and local officials.  There are plenty of songs about making the world better and loving our families and kids. But, to this day, there aren’t any songs about the importance of background checks for those who are going to be spending their time in school buildings with hundreds of little ones, everywhere.  

We conduct two types of background checks – state and federal.  Unlike state reports covering local arrests and charges, national fingerprint reports provide a comprehensive nationwide check. This is crucial because individuals may have moved from state to state, potentially leaving a trail of undisclosed history that could raise red flags. The federal fingerprint check delves into every corner of a person's background across all states, ensuring that no stone is left unturned.  However, only certain staff are required to have their fingerprints checked.  But all are required to have their state backgrounds checked. 

If you haven’t seen the news, some guy who was working with kids in a district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was picked up for possession of child pornography.  According to media reports, when the authorities nabbed him, not only did he have images of missing and exploited children (under the age of 10), but he also had pictures of kids who he was working with at the school at which he, “mentored.” 

Trusting someone with our children requires more than a cursory glance at their history. It demands diligence, thoroughness, and a commitment to uncovering the complete truth. Given what has taken place locally here, and with other horrifying news reports over the years, the 35 bucks it costs to have a federal background check for those who are going to be around kids is a small price to pay to err on the side of caution here.  Federal fingerprint reports are the gold standard in background checks because they cover the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), which includes records from all 50 states and international databases. They reveal convictions and arrests, which can be pivotal when assessing an individual's suitability to work with children.

I think the time to expand the Federal checks to anyone and everyone who will be near kids is upon us.  Oddly (to me anyway), there are people against this (over the $35 charge), and I cannot understand why.  Some people think that the most promising and amazing things we have access to are problems. There should be no debate about this. Federal checks are yet one more opportunity to keep our kids safe.