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Broward County, Fla. Schools Hire Firm to Check Contractors

Posted on: Friday, 2 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Sep. 1--Scrambling to comply with a state sex-offender law, Broward County school officials are turning to a 30-day grace period as a last resort.

Officials hope that will be enough time for most contractors to comply with new set of rules governing who is allowed on school campuses.

Starting today, the Jessica Lunsford Act requires contractors working on school campuses to be fingerprinted and pass a state and federal criminal background check.

But the district has decided to give contractors until the end of September to comply in most cases and hired a private company that officials think can handle the massive task of fingerprinting thousands of workers.

"I feel better than I did last week," said Michael Garretson, deputy superintendent for Broward schools. "Now I feel we have the manpower and we can get it done."

The district should not see any major delays to its bigger projects, which include expanding schools such as Oakland Park Elementary, Coral Springs Middle and Monarch High, said Rick Ragland, director of project management for Broward schools.

Work on projects that are fenced off from active school buildings will continue during the grace period even if workers have not been screened, he added.

"We're going to keep everything flowing and just use some common sense," Ragland said.

The February death of Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Homosassa girl, inspired the law. The man accused of her murder, John Couey, once worked as a day laborer at her elementary school.

Melita said the law would usher in a heightened sense of security at public schools.

The district will pay Arena Investigations of Clearwater to fingerprint construction workers at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale starting next week, said Joe Melita, director of the district's Special Investigative Unit.

Employees who pass the criminal check will receive new ID badges. Broward schools will accept badges issued by any other state school district until November.

The law's intent is to disqualify sexual offenders, but workers with major crimes on their record, such as robbery or child abuse, also would be barred.

"Hopefully, just about everybody can be screened [in the next month]," said Len Mills, vice president of Associated General Contractors, a local trade association. "Whether or not they pass, that's up to the individual's record."

The law gives contract employees the right to challenge the screening should they fail the criminal check.

The Lunsford law also applies to contract employees who stock vending machines, photographers taking school photos, referees at school athletic events, and vendors who sell class rings.

In the meantime, vendors who are not screened must be accompanied by school staff while on school grounds, Melita said.

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Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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