Perverts should not be allowed near our children in public schools. At least one of our legislators gets it.
State Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Cecil and Harford counties) plans to introduce legislation to require all allegations about a teacher?s sexual or violent behavior be sent to districts across the state when the accused switches jobs.
Most people would consider this common sense. But as the case of Timothy Gounaris shows, some school districts would rather protect themselves from controversy than their students ? and those in other districts ? from predators.
Timothy Gounaris, sentenced to 18 months in jail last month for a sexual offense, moved from Harford to Baltimore County to Baltimore City school systems without detection. He received a reference letter from the first two systems.
When a teacher is moved from the classroom to a warehouse position, like Gounaris was in Baltimore County, shouldn?t aprospective school district find out?
As Jacobs said, “It should not be up to be parents to research the criminal background of a teacher or look into whether that teacher has been fired for sexual abuse.”
John Smeallie, Maryland?s assistant state superintendent for certification and accreditation, was the only one of 25 members of the state Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board who voted to push forward debate about the issue.
Those rejecting it said they feared it could unfairly tarnish the reputations of innocent teachers falsely accused, he said. That is a valid fear, but it must be subordinate to the fears of children, parents and taxpayers.
An invalid fear is the one cited by Harford and Baltimore counties and Baltimore City school officials in claiming they are limited on information they can reveal about former employees to potential employers because of possible litigation.
The Maryland Associations of Boards of Education says school officials can and should inform prospective employers. Doing so actually reduces liability.
School districts must have all the information about a candidate when making a decision to hire a new teacher.
At the very least school districts must provide detailed descriptions of each position a teacher held. In the case of Gounaris that would have shown an irregular work pattern ? and raised red flags with any credible human resource employee.
“Enhancing reporting is always one way of establishing safety nets,” said Smeallie. We couldn?t agree more.
The state?s 24 school districts do not need a law to start protecting children from those who would abuse their trust. They should start immediately sharing all relevant information about a teacher?s performance in reference letters.
In case some don?t, the General Assembly must pass Jacob?s bill this time. She withdrew it lastsession upon the Standards Board?s promise to protect children administratively. The board failed.
State law is the only certain way to stop another Gounaris ? and nobody knows how many others are out there now ? from skipping school district to school district for fresh victims.
