No details about sex offenders enrolled in schools

Des Moines school officials say that although they are required to educate convicted sex offenders who live in the district, they will not identify them publicly or notify parents which schools they attend.

School board members this fall approved education plans for two students - one whose crime was of a "heinous nature," according to board member Jonathan Narcisse - but declined to talk about the cases outside the closed-door meetings where the decisions were made.

The issue pits the confidentiality and safety of young offenders against parents' concerns that their children will be put in danger without their knowledge.

"The school or the police cannot at all times protect the public from becoming a victim if this person is a real predator. If this person isn't locked up, the best chance they have is for the public to know who he or she is," said state Rep. Clel Baudler, the ranking Republican member of the Legislature's public safety committee.

Baudler, of Greenfield, said school officials should make public not only the names and where offenders are enrolled, but details of the crimes they committed.

"Schools have a responsibility of confidentiality, but they also have a responsibility of safety," he said. "And they can't have that happen until there's information out there that's public."

Districts that refuse enrollment to an offender must provide and pay for alternatives, such as off-campus classes, home tutors or after-hours courses.