Twenty-two Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) employees were flagged – two with disqualifying criminal charges and 20 with Child Protective Services findings – during a recent rescreening to clear a backlog of nearly 10,600 background checks for school-based staff, MCPS told Bethesda Today on Friday.
According to Maryland law, there are 14 disqualifying criminal offenses that would impact employment eligibility. The offenses range from assault to child sexual abuse. “Indicated findings” by Child Protective Services (CPS) means there is “credible evidence which has not been satisfactorily refuted” that child abuse or neglect occurred, but is not equivalent to being convicted of a crime, according to Maryland regulations and the Montgomery County inspector general’s office.
If current employees are found with one of the criminal offenses, there are due process and disciplinary processes that have to be followed, according to MCPS staff. If there are “indicated findings” on the CPS checks, the findings are sent to the MCPS Department of Compliance and Investigations for review.