Goodman Arrest
May 6th, 2008 by Joe Ciccanti“Goodman has been principal at Sussex Central for just under two years and Indian River School District officials say his background check was clean.” Does it matter if one’s background check is clean? Obviously if someone applying for the position of school principal has a criminal history, this might get some people worried, but how do you know if there aren’t any hidden issues that might come to the surface later? Many parents are probably wondering–”Who can you trust?” I heard one on-air caller the other day say that District employees such as Goodman should get a psychiatric evaluation before getting hired. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Keep asking questions Joe. Ask the Board members and ask Dr. Bunting. Get them to explain to you their plan for avoiding children being victimized in our public schools by the employees they hire and put in a position of trust.
It’s tax payer money … we deserve answers.
Keep asking …
May 6th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
For lack of a comprehensive background investigation, one beyond the usual checking of references and employment history, a psychiatric evaluation wouldn’t be out of line for educators, and especially for key administrative positions.
Contrary to what a caller implied on the air this morning, police officers are required to pass a psychiatric evaluation and sign waivers enabling the employing agency to have access to their past employment records, credit history, school transcripts, etc. Some agencies also require polygraph tests. The bottom line is, even with in-depth investigations and testing, there’s no absolute assurances that an employee won’t later commit a criminal or egregious act.
I would suspect the reason teachers aren’t subjected to a similar process is because of the expense and resources required to conduct a real background investigation (not to be confused with a background check).
May 8th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
“Ask the Board members and ask Dr. Bunting. Get them to explain to you their plan for avoiding children being victimized in our public schools by the employees they hire and put in a position of trust.”
I did get a chance to ask Dr. Bunting about this. See the new post for her response. They say they won’t change their policy. However if other employees observe questionable behavior on the part of someone such as Principal Goodman, they should report it. I am not sure if enough people came forward with their concerns about him.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Keep asking questions, Joe. Don’t let them convince you that they didn’t have a clue anything was going on. They knew plenty and their actions are cowardly and show 100% lack of accountability.
Know and understand that this very policy is put in place to protect the Board and the Superintendent from being held accountable when situations like the one with Goodman come up. This is not the first time a situation like this has happened. IRSD just wasn’t as lucky this time. They can’t hide behind the “procedures” and simply claim — “we followed them.”
If Dr. Bunting claims they “followed procedure” then the next question should be:
The “procedures” didn’t work with keeping IRSD kids safe … SO, what are YOU and YOUR SCHOOL BOARD going to do about it in order to ensure our kids are safe from this day forward?
That IS THEIR JOB; their #1 JOB - to maintain a safe and orderly environment in all their schools. They failed miserably — all of them and they know it.
If THE SCHOOL BOARD and DR. BUNTING were truly vested in the safety of the students in IRSD, they would begin to examine their OWN ACTIONS.
Now that is true accountability - looking at one’s own actions… something IRSD continues to have a problem with.
Keep asking, keep pushing, Joe.