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(Giarrusso on L, Arizona J. on R)
On
January 29, 2014, State Rep. Anthony Giarrusso (R-Dist. 30, East Greenwich,
West Greenwich) introduced legislation requiring national background checks for
all employees of firms contracting with Rhode Island school districts, with
“the full support” of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.
Currently, federal background checks are not required for bus
monitors or drivers. School personnel,
such as, teachers, are required to undergo National BCI checks, the requirement
should extend to bus personnel that come in contact with our children. “We have
a growing trove of criminal background information available to us, locally and
nationally, but we fail to take full advantage of it when vetting those who
come into contact with school children,” Mr. Giarrusso wrote in a press
release. Investigation revealed a loophole in state
law which required background checks only for direct employees of public and
private schools and school districts. The new legislation, developed in
cooperation with the Attorney General, would expand the definition of
employment to include contract employees and employees of third-party
contractors, such as school bus drivers and monitors, cafeteria staff, etc.
At the
cornerstone of this bill were two incidences that occurred at the end of last
year- the assault of 13 year old Arizona Jacobowitz, diagnosed with autism and
limited communication skills, on October 7, 2013 by First Student bus monitor,
James Canton and First Student bus driver, James Miller, in Barrington, R.I.
and the arrest of Scott Sanford, a 35 year old Ocean State Transit School Bus
monitor, of East Greenwich, on the afternoon of Oct.
31, along with 10 others, as part of a Rhode Island State Police investigation
into child pornography, Mr. Giarrusso’s 11 year old son rode on Sanford’s bus.
“I
cannot imagine a scenario in which this legislation does not receive
overwhelming support in the House and Senate this year. This bill expands
protection of school children across the state, and helps ensure our kids are
not placed in vulnerable situations with people hired to care and look after
them,” Giarrusso said. Giarrusso’s bill
was co-sponsored by four Democratic legislators, State Representatives
Anastasia Williams (D-Providence), John G. Edwards (D-Portsmouth, Tiverton),
Patricia Serpa (D- West Warwick, Coventry, and Warwick) and Donald Lally
(D-Narragansett, South Kingstown).
Rhode
Islanders and citizens from other states that believe children should be
protected on the school bus as well as in school should pick up the telephone
or send a letter to your legislator requesting that they introduce and/or
support this bill and other bills that protect our most important commodity-our
children.
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