[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Satans Mark/Cashless Title: District to teachers: Get fingerprinted or else Fifty-two teachers in the Phoenix Union High School District were told not to come to work this week and stay away until they have valid fingerprint clearance cards, as required by state law. The move is costing the district $25,000 a week in substitute costs, and as many as a half dozen teachers are missing from each of the district's 11 high schools. At Cesar Chavez High, both the band director and choir teacher are out because of expired fingerprint cards, and holiday concerts are coming up. The teachers won't be back anytime soon. Background checks can take three to five weeks to complete. Teachers who have expired fingerprint cards must use vacation days or take the time off without pay. "It's unfortunate, but it just got to a point that we had to do something," district spokesman Craig Pletenik said. The 52 teachers let their fingerprint cards expire despite repeated warnings to get them renewed, Pletenik said. Since 2000, all teachers must have Arizona Department of Public Safety fingerprint clearance cards to be certified by the state Board of Education. The cards are valid for six years and cost $52. The background checks screen out teachers with criminal offenses, and the fingerprints cards are kept in a computer at DPS. If a teacher is arrested, state education officials are immediately notified, and they alert the school district. Ultimately, teachers are responsible for keeping their fingerprint clearance cards up-to-date, said Vince Yanez, executive director of the state Board of Education. Some districts, as a service, do monitor expiration dates and remind teachers when they are coming due. Districts are responsible for enforcing compliance, though the law does not say exactly how to do it, Yanez said. "Districts have the option to enforce it however they see fit," he said. The state only notifies districts when teachers fingerprint cards are expired or suspended because of an arrest. However, teachers cannot renew their teaching certificates without a valid fingerprint card. Teaching certificates also are good for six years, though new teachers must renew every two years. Yanez has known other districts to bar teachers from their classrooms if they are out of compliance with the law, though most teachers are diligent about maintaining valid fingerprint cards. Officials in other districts said they occasionally come across teachers who let their lapse but not the kind of numbers in Phoenix Union. The Phoenix teachers got their first warnings that their fingerprint cards were about to expire in December. In March 2006, principals also contacted teachers and, on Sept.8, teachers received another notice from the district. On Nov.2, the district issued a notice that teachers with expired fingerprint cards would not be allowed back in the classroom beginning Monday. "It's an unpleasant, sad situation," said Ed Bufford, president of the district's Classroom Teachers Association. Teachers are upset, of course, especially those who must take the time off without pay. Some already had applied but are awaiting approval. "Right now, the Number 1 concern is what the ramifications could be if something happened and that person didn't have that valid fingerprint card," Bufford said. "It puts the district in a very awkward situation." He said teachers are working to get back to school as soon as possible. Phoenix Union is the city's largest high school district, with 1,500 teachers and 25,000 students.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Day prison.
"If I thought this war was to abolish slavery, I would resign my commission, and offer my sword to the other side." --Ulysses S. Grant
|
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|