Sun, Jul 24, 2005 Dozens employed by school groups without background checks By Kirsten Valle Salisbury Post Rowan-Salisbury School System administrators might be taking a closer look at adults who work in schools but who are not system employees. On average, four or five such employees are working in each high school at a given time, said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Alan King. One of them was Christopher Patterson, 33, of Rockwell, who worked with East Rowan's band for two seasons before he was charged with one count of sex offense with a student and one count of indecent liberties with a student. He was not a school system employee; rather, East Rowan's band boosters funded his position. Patterson, like dozens of employees across the county, was not subject to a background check or formal interview process because he was not on the school system's payroll. It's difficult to keep track of who is working in a school at a given time because there are a number of volunteers and employees hired by various organizations, King said. It's unclear who hires many of them and how much they are paid. "There's just a lot of those things going on," he said. For example, a volleyball team might hire an outside coach to administer a clinic. A cheerleading squad could pay out of pocket for help at a summer camp. Or a basketball coach might hire former players to assist him, King said. The bottom line, he said, is that schools encourage volunteers. "It's difficult to have strong programs without some risk of those things happening," he said, referring to East Rowan's situation. "We need to very carefully monitor all the people who come in to help." The school system subjects anyone on its payroll to scrutiny. All system employees undergo background checks, drug tests and formal interview processes. Even people who aren't technically school system workers — like some coaches — get background checks because they are paid with school system money. But, "there may be volunteers with those teams that aren't subject to checks," King said. A loophole, too, is that the school system provides $1,000 to every high school band. With that money, band directors and school principals can contract extra help. In the East Rowan band's case, Patterson was contracted and paid for solely by the band boosters, King said. "That money from the school system is usually not enough to cover everything," he said. "Larger bands often contract people with booster money. The band directors are responsible for who they hire and are expected to make wise use of all the money available to them." Doug Morin, East Rowan's band director, said he did not wish to comment on Patterson or who had the final say in hiring him. Nor did Cathy Stewart, band boosters president. King said the situation would probably prompt school system administrators to monitor all hiring decisions. "One thing this incident has done is made the administration take a really close look at all the people working with our students," he said. "We're going to be taking a look very carefully to see if we need to subject them to a higher level of scrutiny." School officials have said Superintendent Dr. Wiley Doby has considered a stricter hiring process in the past. Doby was not available for comment Friday. King said a background check on Patterson would likely not have changed anything; he did not have a criminal record. Still, a tighter hiring process for contracted employees would protect students — and be fairly easy to implement, he said. One drawback would be the cost, especially for organizations with limited funds. "If you contract someone, doing a drug test and a physical exam would be expensive," King said. "A background check would be easier, but it makes it difficult (to check) if a person's lived in several states, for instance." Until administrators require any changes, they have to rely on trust, King said. "Every time we select someone, we try to make sure that we know them well and feel comfortable with them," he said. "We want our students to feel comfortable, too." http://wwwsalisburypost.com/area/283838927362815.php Back To Guvment Skool Page 7 COPYRIGHT "DUHMAG.COM" 2005