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Montgomery County Public Schools progress on security re-screening with 6,000 of 14,000 employees cleared, aiming for completion by spring.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools says its making significant progress in its effort to re-screen thousands of employees for updated security checks.
WUSA9 first brought you this story in August, after Montgomery County’s Inspector General issued a scathing report about the potential security lapse for people working in or around schools.
District leaders told the county’s Audit Committee on Friday, that of its roughly 14,000 employees going through the re-screening process – more than 6,000 are done and roughly 7,000 will go through the process in the coming months.
The district says it hopes to finish a good bulk of the re-screening before the winter break. Leaders prioritized staff who are in schools and working directly with children.
It expects all re-screening should finish by the Spring.
“We are moving very quickly on these findings,” said Essie McGuire, Montgomery County Public Schools, “We do continue to move every day. Literally every day we’re out at schools.”
MCPS does require an initial background screening before you can get a job.
But in August, the Inspector General’s report showed more than 12,000 employees were not added to the FBI security system that alerts the district if someone is arrested after they’re hired.
It also was reported nearly 5,000 people did not have the Child Protective Services screening that would flag child abuse allegations.
The report also noted some contractors and school volunteers were missing background clearances.
Since the district started the re-screening process it found:
- Through Fingerprint based checks: one employee was investigated. Their charges had been cleared and they returned to work.
- Through the CPS check: 13 employees were flagged. Of those 13 employees, seven were cleared, five are being reviewed, and one employee was ‘separated’ from the district.
During the meeting, the Inspector General praised the district’s progress in the months since the report was released, but said the improvements are considered ‘open’ and ‘in progress’.
“It’s still very early, so still waiting on final results,” said Megan Limarzi, Inspector General, “We don’t as a profession – we don’t opine on things before we have all the facts in front of us to review.”
A status update is expected February 2, 2025.
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