Rockville, Maryland – Montgomery County Maryland Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi announced today the release of a new Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report, Review of MCPS Background Screening Office, OIG Publication #26-01, detailing the results of an OIG review of Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) compliance with requirements to conduct background checks forindividuals that have access to students.
MCPS is the largest school system in the state of Maryland with 211 schools and more than 24,400 employees, supporting the educational needs of over 160,000 students. Maryland law requires that public schools conduct criminal history checks for all employees at the time of hire. Additionally, MCPS requires applicants to undergo a Child Protective Services (CPS) check as part of the hiring process. Accordingly, MCPS’ background check process includes an initial criminal history check with fingerprints for employees and certain contractors and volunteers through the FBI’s Rap Back program and submits a CPS query request at the time of hire for anyone having unsupervised access to students. In 2019, MCPS began using the FBI’s database to continuously monitor the criminal records of employees and those with unsupervised access to students.
The OIG found that the criminal histories of more than 12,000 MCPS employees have not been added to Rap Back and therefore are not being monitored. Additionally, the OIG found that 4,900 individuals who potentially have access to MCPS students have not received initial CPS queries. The review also identified instances where some contractors hired by MCPS began work before their criminal history checks were completed. Similarly, the report noted that some volunteers who may have had unsupervised access to students did not always undergo a criminal history check as required by MCPS regulations.
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The OIG report details 5 findings and 8 associated recommendations aimed at ensuring MCPS compliance and help ensure the safety and security of the population that is entrusted to them.