Law designed to keep sexual predators off Florida school grounds affects business with contractors
A law designed to keep sexual offenders and predators off Florida school grounds is forcing school boards across the state to change the way they conduct business with vendors and contractors. The Jessica Lunsford Act states that people paid by a school board for services of any kind satisfy an extensive background check that requires a virtually spotless criminal record before they can walk onto a campus when students are present. While some school officials applaud the law's goal, they see serious drawbacks. "The idea of the Jessica Lunsford Act is good. Let's keep sexual predators and offenders off our school campuses," says Bob Williams, Polk School District's assistant superintendent of facilities and operations. "But it could have a major impact on our subcontractors and suppliers, who could refuse to do business with us." Currently, all school employees must pass a stringent background check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The investigation costs $61 per person. Polk School District spends approximately $65,000 per year on background checks. Under the Lunsford Act, the school district will spend four times that amount to re-check all of its current employees and to record the fingerprints of vendors. While vendors will pay for the background checks themselves, the district's assistant superintendent of support services, Fred Murphy, believes taxpayers ultimately will foot the bill through higher prices. School volunteers and tutors must pass a less stringent background check, while parents, unless otherwise prohibited by a court order, will be allowed on campus as usual. School district officials fear the law's requirements will drive away existing vendors and scare off potential ones. Polk School Board member Jack English expresses doubt that some vendors will want past mistakes dredged up by the required background checks. He points out that the law could bar someone who has moved on from a youthful offense from performing services on school campuses, which includes everything from stapling roof shingles to picking up mail. Another law enacted last year requires the school board to re-fingerprint all employees who were printed before July 1, 2004. The district has reallocated about $270,000 from the current year's budget to buy equipment, hire staff, and start the first round of fingerprinting and background checks. But at $61 per person, it will cost more than $730,000 to fingerprint the district employees alone. The district also expects to spend $72,000 annually to maintain an updated database with the state.
Lakeland LedgerBy Julia Crouse
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Editor's Note: For background information on the act, see below.]
[NSBA School Law pages on Jessica Lunsford Act]