AUSTIN (KXAN) - Where does your child spend the biggest part of their day? At school? School employees spend more time with our kids than just about anyone else. So shouldn't parents have the right to know if these people have a criminal background?
No, according to the Texas Legislature. In fact, school officials cannot even confirm or deny information when asked.
Karl Van'tVlie was arrested in January, accused of molesting a student at Hillcrest Elementary in Del Valle ISD. This was not Van'tVlie's first trip through the criminal justice system. According to court files, his past includes vandalism, assault and intoxicated assault. He is not the only Texas educator with a criminal history. The list goes on.
Shock rolled through a Hill Country county after a high school teacher and coach is arrested, accused of having a sexual relationship with one of his students. A Lometa ISD kindergarten teacher is accused of having sex with a high school student. A local school teacher is accused of behaving inappropriately with a student.
When analyzing the data of school employees with criminal histories, crimes such as robbery, burglary, theft, forgery, credit card abuse, DWIs, intoxicated assault, family violence, drug possession, engaging in criminal activity and prostitution were all discovered. People who have committed these crimes listed are working in districts all across the state. In fact, most school districts in Central Texas have employees with criminal records. Teachers, administrators, support staff, nurses, janitors: All people with criminal records that work in or around your child's school.
In Austin, specifically, employees had histories of theft, burglary, illegal drugs, DWIs, tampering with a governmental record, assault, forgery, assault on a police officer, carrying a prohibited weapon, official misconduct and credit card abuse. In Round Rock ISD, there were crimes of breach of computer security, fraud, credit card abuse, theft, organized criminal activity, drug possession, criminal trespass and DWIs. In San Marcos Consolidated ISD, there were drugs, criminal mischief and intoxicated assault charges.
But, if parents are curious about their kids' teachers, do not bother going to the districts. They cannot tell you.
In 2008, the Texas Attorney General ruled criminal history of teachers was public information. However, several teacher organizations sued in district court. When the court agreed with the AG's ruling, the groups took it to the Third Court of Appeals. But, before the court could rule, the group turned to the Legislature, specifically State Rep. Jessica Farrar and State Senator Royce West.
According to the Association of Texas Professional Educators Web site, when it became clear that the bills would not pass as stand-alone bills, West and Farrar added the bill's language onto the DPS reauthorization bill. It worked. Now, any criminal history information in the districts' files is off-limits to parents.
"What is prohibited is from the school district actually revealing information it obtains through these confidential databases, and it also cannot confirm or deny that a person has a record in the national database," said Jennifer Canaday with the Association of Texas Professional Educators.
It is more difficult, but Canaday said the information can still be found.
"Parents have independent sources for which they can run background checks on educators, and they can make their own decisions about whether the school district has responded appropriately, knowing the district has the same information about the educators," said Canaday.
Problem is, it is not that easy. Even though the information is available to the public at the courthouse, it is difficult to confirm. There were several cases where there was a lengthy criminal history for a teacher, but the new law prevents districts from confirming or denying if that information is accurate.
"I think it doesn't make a ton of sense," said Charles Newman, a parent of a fifth grader. "Maybe the way they constructed it, making it a little harder for parents to find out who's teaching our kids."
"I don't think that's very good, not very good at all," said Diane Riley, a grandmother. "And I think parents want to know. So I think they should be able to find out and know what's happening."
If a student is arrested, state law requires schools be notified, and the information stays in the student's records.
But, when it comes to teachers committing these same crimes, the information is deleted within a year, and the district is required to keep the information secret. Now, there is no way to know for sure if the district is complying with the law when it comes to keeping certain criminals out of their schools.