When a background check company conducted rechecks for an Indiana school with about 1,000 employees, more than 40 teachers had criminal histories, including four with drug or theft felonies.
At least one employee was terminated.
Without the updated background checks, the potentially dangerous teachers still would be in front of classrooms.
"It just illustrates the importance of checking on a periodic basis," said Mike McCarty, CEO of Danville-based Safe Hiring Solutions, which conducts checks for about half the state's schools and every public school system in Greater Lafayette.
McCarty, a former violent-crime detective, is one of several stakeholders in the state who are advocating for ongoing background checks of public school teachers. Rechecks, they say, will help weed out problematic teachers already in schools to ensure students aren't among dangerous educators.
Currently, teachers, substitutes and other school personnel are required to submit to an expanded background check that searches their records in every jurisdiction they have lived and ensures they are not on any sex offender registries.
In March, Gov. Mike Pence signed a law that strengthens those screens by requiring schools to check child welfare records to determine if teaching applicants have been cited in child abuse or neglect reports. Schools also must check whether an applicant's teaching license has been suspended or revoked in another state.