Felons were hired as teachers by three Florida private schools, prompting a probe by the state Department of Education, Fox News reported.
Two of the incidents, which included convictions for child abuse and theft, violated state law prohibiting schools from hiring felons. This was detailed in a report by the Orlando Sentinel, which noted that legislation prevented state schools that were taking scholarship money from employing people with certain convictions, but that it was up to the schools to conduct background checks.
This did not deter Kingsway Christian Academy near Orlando from hiring Diane Hayes Williams, who was arrested on allegations of child abuse in March and was also convicted 26 years ago for three third-degree felonies, according to the Sentinel.
Neither did it stop Winners Primary School, also near Orlando, from employing a teacher, Shanqual Marshall-Gunn, in 2016, a month after she pleaded no contest to Medicaid fraud the previous year, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Southland Christian School near Kissimmee hired athletic supervisor Marlon Brown despite being forced out of a job at a nearby school two years ago after it emerged that he had been convicted of three felonies, which included two theft charges, in 2011.
The Florida Department of Education has written letters to the schools, requesting them to submit the names of their employees along with proof that they had all undergone criminal background checks, by May 9.
There have been ongoing debates surrounding the rights of former felons.
In Illinois, a measure was submitted before the House of Representatives to change state law prohibiting people with felony records from working in schools, Illinois Public Media News reported.
The pending legislation was sponsored then by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy.
"What we operate under now is based on the assumption that someone with a criminal history is always a criminal, and never eligible to return to productive society," she said.
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