(The Center Square) – A state audit estimated the Michigan Department of Education never fingerprinted 4% of contracted staff, and that 7% weren’t done on time as required by state statute.
State Auditor Doug Ringler found four “material conditions” – the most severe rating – when auditing the public school contracted staff program. Ringler determined that MDE’s efforts to ensure public school contracted staff are fingerprinted and monitored for criminal convictions weren’t effective.
The audit found three of the 45 sampled contract staff weren’t fingerprinted according to mandated timeframes.
State law requires everyone who regularly works under contract in a Michigan school district to be fingerprinted before employment.
In those cases, the employees were fingerprinted 23 days, 16 months, and 10 years, respectively, after they began working for the district. MDE is responsible to oversee school districts’ compliance with criminal history record checks and notifying districts of criminal convictions.
MDE monitors criminal convictions during school employment through the Rap Back program. School districts, the Michigan State Police, and MDE must carry out actions related to fingerprinting and monitoring employee criminal convictions to protect Michigan school children.
The audit noted: “The deficiencies reported in the four material conditions all have a direct impact on Michigan school districts’ receipt of criminal history information needed for school districts’ employment decisions, including convictions occurring before and/or during an individual’s school employment.”
In a statewide survey of school districts, 91% said they use contracted staff for substitute teaching, as well as custodial, maintenance, and food services. However, the total number of contracted staff is unknown.
Also, the audit found MDE had no monitoring procedures to verify the district’s compliance with state law prohibiting them from employing people with specific convictions and requiring written approval from school officials to hire convicted felons.
The audit found MDE didn’t send Rap Back criminal conviction notifications to school districts for 13% of sampled contracted staff who were convicted of a crime(s) during their school employment or to school district boards or governing bodies, as required by state law.
While this audit focused on contracted staff, the audit noted the reported deficiencies extend to all employees working within Michigan schools. The audit suggested solutions such as clarifying key definitions, mandating the frequency of schools’ submissions of employment information, and revising required time frames for the Rap Back notifications to school districts.
