Austin school district fighting to withhold background check details
The issue in this article surrounds the dissemination of arrest and differed adjudication records for teachers. The district and two additional statewide groups want for arrests and non conviction data not available for public viewing. Since this data is not being used for employment purposes, as these educators are already employed and not subject to termination, so the Fair Credit Reporting Act is not in play. This is a matter that may set a precedence for other school districts.
Update: Ruling on school background checks stands, Read Article
The Austin school district and statewide teacher groups are contesting a ruling by the Texas attorney general’s office that the district must comply with an open records request from the American-Statesman seeking information on background checks that revealed that 310 district employees have criminal histories.
Texas lawmakers recently passed a law requiring all public school districts to fingerprint certified educators and certain other workers by September 2011 in advance of mandatory national criminal background checks.
The Austin district was selected as a pilot site. Of the 310 workers found to have criminal backgrounds as of Feb. 28, the district has not said how many were charged with felonies, how many had convictions or how many were teachers.
In March, the American-Statesman asked the district for documents showing a school-by-school breakdown of what crimes were revealed in the background checks and the outcomes of those cases. The newspaper did not ask for names or other identifying information.
The district, joined by two statewide groups representing teachers, argued that releasing the requested information would violate employees’ privacy rights and is not in the public interest.
