Inspector General finds gaps in MCPS background screening; district, HHS outline rescreening plan

The Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General presented Publication 26-01 at the Audit Committee meeting, identifying gaps in Montgomery County Public Schools’ Background Screening Office (BSO) that left thousands of employees, contractors and some volunteers without current checks or continuous monitoring.

Inspector General Megan Lamarzee told the committee the review produced “5 findings and 8 recommendations” and found that MCPS was not monitoring criminal histories for all employees and had not ensured that required initial checks for some contractors and volunteers were completed before work began.

The finding matters because Maryland law bars schools from hiring or retaining people convicted of certain enumerated crimes and requires criminal-history and child-protective-services (CPS) screenings for people with unsupervised access to students. The inspector general’s report flagged that records and monitoring intended to meet those legal obligations had gaps and gave a set of recommendations for MCPS and its partners.

MCPS officials and county health partners briefed the committee on immediate steps and timelines. Superintendent Taylor said the district had moved to “great haste” to address the problems and described the work as fundamental: “none of us should be here today talking about this issue. That this is so fundamental to what school systems should do.”

What the audit found and MCPS’s response

Lamarzee said BSO’s announced review began after the IG office observed procurement records that required contractors who might have unsupervised access to students to have background checks. The IG reported that, as of November 2024, 12,655 active MCPS staff had not been re-fingerprinted and enrolled in the FBI Rapback continuous-monitoring program, meaning some employees had not had a Rapback or re-screening since 2019. The IG also reported that certain contractors had begun or completed work without required checks and that some volunteers who are required to have criminal-history…