GERMANTOWN, Md. – According to FOX 5, a mobile fingerprinting unit is scheduled to arrive at Northwest High School on Thursday. This visit is part of a broader initiative to refresh background checks and clearances after a troubling report from the Montgomery County Inspector General released this summer, which claimed that the state’s largest school system failed to properly vet a significant number of its employees.
In a letter to parents, Principal Scott Smith of Northwest High School emphasized, “Please remember that every individual currently working with our students has already undergone a criminal background check.”
On-Campus Fingerprinting
The activities on campus this Thursday will include conducting background checks through fingerprinting to ensure that employees hired before 2019 are enrolled in the Rap Back monitoring system. Additionally, they will perform necessary Child Protective Services checks to confirm there are no reports of child abuse or neglect. Employees at NWHS will also receive new color-coded ID badges to distinguish between teachers, volunteers, staff members, and contractors.
Principal Smith stated that no one will receive a new ID badge until they have completed the MCPS background check process.
A previous letter from MCPS Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor indicated that mobile fingerprinting units would begin visiting county schools starting September 4th.
Community Feedback:
FOX 5 reached out to MCPS on Thursday morning for updates on this initiative. MCPS Communications Director Chris Cramm provided insights into the ongoing efforts:
Details about the mobile units:
The mobile units are equipped with fingerprinting and badging stations, along with dedicated staff to assist with the CPS process. The procedure is efficient, typically taking 10–15 minutes per individual, depending on whether they require both re-fingerprinting and/or a CPS check. Schools are scheduling staff in waves to minimize disruption during instructional time.
Timeline of the initiative:
This effort commenced last week with special needs schools. Following that, mobile units moved into the Paint Branch cluster starting September 8, and now they are in the Northwest cluster, aiming to reach all 211 schools and programs by mid-December.
Addressing potential issues:
All MCPS employees, contractors, and volunteers currently working with students have passed a background check and cannot be left alone with children without proper clearance. This initiative aims to enroll individuals hired before 2019 into the continuous monitoring system and to catch up on CPS checks, as the state system was previously under-resourced. Maryland state law and MCPS policy outline the procedures for any issues that may arise from these checks.
Number of employees involved:
The exact number of employees still needing updated checks fluctuates daily as mobile units progress from school to school, and as Human Resources and state CPS checks update their records. MCPS will provide progress updates to the Board of Education later this month and to the County Council Audit Committee on September 26. An update will also be included in the community’s “Thursday Things to Know” newsletter.
As previously reported by FOX 5, this county-wide initiative follows a Montgomery County Inspector General report released in early August, which highlighted deficiencies in the background check processes of Maryland’s largest school district. The report revealed that over 12,000 MCPS employees’ criminal histories had not been entered into the Rap Back service, a monitoring system provided by the FBI to track any criminal activity post-hire.
Additionally, the report indicated that nearly 5,000 employees who “potentially have access to MCPS students” had not undergone initial Child Protective Service (CPS) queries, a requirement under state law. It also uncovered instances of contractors working for MCPS before their background checks were finalized.
In a prior statement, MCPS Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor reassured parents and guardians that their “children are safe” and confirmed that every MCPS employee is mandated to complete a background check. He acknowledged the need for improved continuous monitoring, an issue that has persisted for the past six years, since 2019.
Dr. Taylor and his team introduced a comprehensive plan to ensure that all employees hired before 2019 undergo re-checks and are entered into the Rap Back system, among other measures.
Source: Information in this article is derived from the Montgomery County Inspector General’s report and prior FOX 5 coverage.
