Keeping students safe is the goal of a couple policies finalized by the Eastern Pulaski School Board Monday. Superintendent Dan Foster says state law now requires all school employees to have a criminal history check, not just new hires. “We will have five years now to get all current employees a background check done, and the only option the board had was if they would pay for it or if they would make the employee pay for it,” Foster explains. “The rest of it is law. So the board did decide to cover that cost for the employee, to get the criminal history check done.”
He says the state has also updated the procedures school employees must follow, if they suspect child abuse or neglect. “Previous law was an employee had to report immediately to their supervisor or building principal, and then it was up to the supervisor or principal to call either DCS or the police department, local law enforcement,” Foster says. “The new law is if you have reason to believe, as an employee, you must call the authorities, whether it’s DCS or local law enforcement, then you report it to your supervisors.”
He says staff members were notified of the change, before the start of the school year last week.
