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Brevard board asks staff to draft appeals policy after state changes to background-screening disqualifiers
Summary
Board members directed staff to draft a policy or rulemaking proposal for an appeals or waiver process after state statutory changes caused long-term employees to be flagged by the state clearinghouse and face termination under current rules.
The Brevard Public Schools Board of Education on Oct. 7 asked staff to draft a policy to create an appeals or waiver process for long-term employees flagged by recent changes in state background-screening rules.
Board members described cases in which longtime employees were newly disqualified when the district re-ran fingerprint-based background checks under the state's updated clearinghouse. Paul (staff) told the board that the state's change added some offenses to the disqualifying list and that, under current statute and practice, flagged employees must be removed from employment. "We're seeing some long time employees getting flagged for something that happened a long time ago, and, you know, we're having to terminate them," the staff presentation said.
Board members expressed support for a narrowly drawn process that would allow the superintendent or board to grant exceptions in limited circumstances (for example, offenses that occurred many years earlier and where there has been no workplace-related misconduct since). One board member suggested staff draft language to allow a superintendent or designee to grant waivers in narrowly defined cases and present the policy for rulemaking. "Anybody that's given their heart to our organization for a long time deserves to have some sort of an appeal process," a board member said.
Staff told the board the proposed change would have to go through the district's policy-rulemaking process, and that a final rule would take time. Staff said they could expedite placement of a proposed rule on a future agenda but warned that skipping standard workshops would reduce opportunity for board input. In the interim, staff said affected employees who are terminated under current statute may reapply, but clearance would be subject to the existing statutory standards.
Ending
Board members directed staff to draft proposed policy language establishing a waiver or appeals pathway for long-term employees flagged by the state clearinghouse and to bring a policy proposal through the district's rulemaking process for board consideration.
