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DOE: Criminals
hired because of
contractors’ errors

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

Three people with criminal records were hired by the A-Plus after-school program because private contractors failed to follow procedures, the Department of Education says in a report to lawmakers.

The DOE acknowledged it needs to "tighten up its employee hiring and criminal history checks."

In a report released today, the DOE maintained its "basic design of the employee screening system is fundamentally sound." But, the hiring of the three workers revealed that "there may be implementation flaws" in the system.

To correct the flaws, the DOE plans to speed up the criminal history screening process, require all A-Plus providers to make sure there is complete and proper documentation of workers, provide more training for criminal screening and institute better guidelines.

Schools superintendent Paul LeMahieu began an investigation after state Sen. Marshall Ige raised questions on Feb. 10 about two workers with criminal records employed by Kama'aina Kids, which runs the A-Plus program for Ahuimanu Elementary School. Both employees were fired.

In its report, the DOE also mentioned a third worker with a criminal record.

In one case, the report said, a worker with a robbery conviction was hired in 1998 and worked an entire school year although he did not disclose his criminal record or give his fingerprints.

When he was rehired last August, he declared his robbery conviction, which was confirmed by the FBI in November. Officials failed to follow up on that information in a timely manner, the DOE said.

He was fired after he failed to keep a January appointment.

As result of this case, DOE spokesman Greg Knudsen said the DOE is proposing that "we not wait for the whole (screening) process to be completed. As soon as we get it back from the local checks, then we'll be, in most cases, able to make a determination" while awaiting federal checks.

In a second case, a worker did not disclose his criminal record, but did give fingerprints. But, the fingerprints were not submitted to the DOE for seven months; screening took another three months.

The employee was not dismissed until he failed to keep an appointment with the employer to discuss the matter.

In the third case, a worker did not fill out the required forms and was not fingerprinted. He also was fired for failing to keep an appointment. Afterward the DOE discovered he had two felony convictions.

Knudsen said all A-Plus programs have been asked to review their employee records.