Wait! Isn't EVERY school doing this??......Surprise! The answer is NO!!
Cross-Checking Names With Registries Shouldn't Cost Schools Money, Boulder Says
Volunteers at Boulder Valley's schools will soon have to go through a different kind of background check.
Their names will be cross checked with a sex-offender registry.
The newspaper reported parent Eric Maxfield started the discussion about stricter background checks this school year after his son returned from his first day of kindergarten at Louisville Elementary School and mentioned volunteers in his classroom. Maxfield said he wanted to know more about the adults working with his son and learned the district doesn't have a blanket background-check policy for its volunteers.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sex offender nabbed at city library
A registered, Level 2 sex offender who walked into a children's room at the downtown public library Thursday was fined $150 for violating the city's "child safety zone" ordinance.
Police said Karlheinz Harding, 47, of 241 Ashley Blvd. is the first sex offender to violate a city ordinance banning individuals convicted of juvenile sex crimes from being in public places where children are present.
Mr. Harding was convicted in 1987 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, police said.
He also has two prior arrests for failing to register as a sex offender.
Police said Karlheinz Harding, 47, of 241 Ashley Blvd. is the first sex offender to violate a city ordinance banning individuals convicted of juvenile sex crimes from being in public places where children are present.
Mr. Harding was convicted in 1987 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, police said.
He also has two prior arrests for failing to register as a sex offender.
Sex Offender Arrested Outside School
A registered sex offender was arrested today outside an elementary school in Williamson County.
Police got a call about a man lying in the grass behind Franklin Elementary School. They found Terry Baker in the area with grass stains on his shirt.
Police said Baker was in violation of the sex offender registry.
Police got a call about a man lying in the grass behind Franklin Elementary School. They found Terry Baker in the area with grass stains on his shirt.
Police said Baker was in violation of the sex offender registry.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Children Escape Chasing Sex Offender
A group of Central Florida children said they were forced to barricade themselves in a house to escape a convicted sex offender chasing them from a school bus stop.
Four different children said they were chased from a school bus stop by the same man.
Tim Dodson's children used a birdcage and shelves to block the door of their home after they spotted the man looking in the home's windows.
Dodson said he found his children crying and shaken.
During a check of neighbors, Dodson discovered neighbor Fernando Soto is on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's sex offender database. Soto was convicted of child abuse in Maryland in 1996.
Soto lives with his parents at a nearby home located on Walnut Crest Run in the Preserve at Lake Monroe, near the Dodson family's school bus stop.
Soto was taken into custody by police after being questioned.
Four different children said they were chased from a school bus stop by the same man.
Tim Dodson's children used a birdcage and shelves to block the door of their home after they spotted the man looking in the home's windows.
Dodson said he found his children crying and shaken.
During a check of neighbors, Dodson discovered neighbor Fernando Soto is on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's sex offender database. Soto was convicted of child abuse in Maryland in 1996.
Soto lives with his parents at a nearby home located on Walnut Crest Run in the Preserve at Lake Monroe, near the Dodson family's school bus stop.
Soto was taken into custody by police after being questioned.
BCSC board adopts two policies
In an effort to keep students safe, Batesville Community School Corp. trustees enacted two policies Sept. 15 that deal with sex offenders.
The policy on offenders states, “individuals listed by the State of Indiana as registered sex offenders are ineligible for employment in any position with the Batesville Community School Corp.”
It continues, “No registered sex offender whose victim was a minor may come on the campus of any ... school except as otherwise provided in this policy.” If a principal or other administrator sees an offender on school property, the official will order the person to leave immediately. If the offender disregards the order, police will be called and later criminal or civil action may occur.
The policy states, “In the event that a registered sex offender whose victim was a minor has a child” attending school, the principal may modify the restrictions to allow the parent to drop off and pick up the child and attend parent-teacher conferences, but the parent may not linger on school property. “The parent is prohibited from being in any part of the school building except the front office. Volunteering at the school or participating on school trips or at school events is prohibited.”
The document notes, “At all times, school officials shall endeavor to protect the privacy of the offender’s child.”
A parent on the registry may ask for a waiver of the policy to attend graduation or another “truly exceptional situation.”
The policy on offenders states, “individuals listed by the State of Indiana as registered sex offenders are ineligible for employment in any position with the Batesville Community School Corp.”
It continues, “No registered sex offender whose victim was a minor may come on the campus of any ... school except as otherwise provided in this policy.” If a principal or other administrator sees an offender on school property, the official will order the person to leave immediately. If the offender disregards the order, police will be called and later criminal or civil action may occur.
The policy states, “In the event that a registered sex offender whose victim was a minor has a child” attending school, the principal may modify the restrictions to allow the parent to drop off and pick up the child and attend parent-teacher conferences, but the parent may not linger on school property. “The parent is prohibited from being in any part of the school building except the front office. Volunteering at the school or participating on school trips or at school events is prohibited.”
The document notes, “At all times, school officials shall endeavor to protect the privacy of the offender’s child.”
A parent on the registry may ask for a waiver of the policy to attend graduation or another “truly exceptional situation.”
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Court upholds 2,000-foot rule against sex offender
The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a sex offender was not discriminated against when he was charged with violating a residency rule that he claimed was not in effect when he bought his house.
So you decide it's okay to molest a child in 1997. You are released from jail and decided to buy a house in 2005, next to a school, you already know you are not allowed to buy a house within so many feet of a school, but do it anyway. Then cry when you are charged with living too close to a school? When will sex offenders learn, we don't want you around our children!
Read more about this story here:
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080920/NEWS/709209944/1006/news
So you decide it's okay to molest a child in 1997. You are released from jail and decided to buy a house in 2005, next to a school, you already know you are not allowed to buy a house within so many feet of a school, but do it anyway. Then cry when you are charged with living too close to a school? When will sex offenders learn, we don't want you around our children!
Read more about this story here:
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080920/NEWS/709209944/1006/news
Man Caught In Sex Act In Front Of Elementary School
A man who had been the subject of five citywide crime alerts and was arrested in July at a Sun Valley school was sentenced to four years in county jail after pleading no contest to misdemeanor child annoying charges.
Concepcion was sentenced Thursday in connection with his plea involving eight separate incidents of child annoying in a case that was filed after school police caught Concepcion masturbating at an elementary school in Sun Valley in July.
Concepcion was also ordered to stay away from schools, playgrounds, toy stores and other locations where minors congregate during his six years on probation, according to Frank Mateljan, a communications deputy with the City Attorney's Office
Concepcion was sentenced Thursday in connection with his plea involving eight separate incidents of child annoying in a case that was filed after school police caught Concepcion masturbating at an elementary school in Sun Valley in July.
Concepcion was also ordered to stay away from schools, playgrounds, toy stores and other locations where minors congregate during his six years on probation, according to Frank Mateljan, a communications deputy with the City Attorney's Office
Monday, September 15, 2008
Police Chase Sex Offender; Schools Put On Lockdown
Several Rockwood school were on lockdown Friday after a sex offender went missing. This all started when O’Fallon, Missouri police went to arrest two people wanted by Pennsylvania State Police.
But when cops came to Ballwin to get the man wanted for violating sex offender registry laws, he bolted. Police chased him on foot then called in a canine. A short time later, he was caught.
Rockwood officials say they enforced a partial lockdown because the wanted man's sex offender status. Four schools were put on a partial lockdown including Marquette High School on Clarkson Road.
Parents were able to pick up their kids, but kids were not allowed to walk off campus for a time. No students were hurt.
But when cops came to Ballwin to get the man wanted for violating sex offender registry laws, he bolted. Police chased him on foot then called in a canine. A short time later, he was caught.
Rockwood officials say they enforced a partial lockdown because the wanted man's sex offender status. Four schools were put on a partial lockdown including Marquette High School on Clarkson Road.
Parents were able to pick up their kids, but kids were not allowed to walk off campus for a time. No students were hurt.
Bozeman sets new sex offender policy
The Bozeman School Board has approved new policies in case someone listed on Montana's sexual or violent offender registry tries to enroll.
The board voted 7-0 last week to allow the district superintendent to decide if a Bozeman student would be educated at school or in some alternative way outside of school, if they were on the registry list or had been listed in the past.
The board also approved a policy that would allow the superintendent to refuse to enroll a student listed on the registry if they live outside the Bozeman School District.
The board voted 7-0 last week to allow the district superintendent to decide if a Bozeman student would be educated at school or in some alternative way outside of school, if they were on the registry list or had been listed in the past.
The board also approved a policy that would allow the superintendent to refuse to enroll a student listed on the registry if they live outside the Bozeman School District.
sex offender offered free haircuts
Parents in Holmesburg are shocked at claims that an alleged sex offender passed out leaflets offering free haircuts to girls at Forrest Elementary School on Wednesday.
The fliers that the alleged sex offender handed out are believed to have offered free haircuts at Frankford Avenue and Welsh Road.
Police were unavailable to comment on the case last night.
KYW reported yesterday that the man in question is a registered sex offender but that he is compliant with Megan's Law and not necessarily prohibited from distributing the literature, according to a police Special Victims Unit spokesperson.
The fliers that the alleged sex offender handed out are believed to have offered free haircuts at Frankford Avenue and Welsh Road.
Police were unavailable to comment on the case last night.
KYW reported yesterday that the man in question is a registered sex offender but that he is compliant with Megan's Law and not necessarily prohibited from distributing the literature, according to a police Special Victims Unit spokesperson.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
School volunteers could undergo sex-offender checks
One parent’s demand to know more about the people who interact with his kindergartner has prompted the Boulder Valley School District to consider requiring schools to cross-check names of volunteers with public sex-offender registries.The district now doesn’t require full background checks of all its volunteers because the checks — which are done through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation — are expensive and time-consuming, said Superintendent Chris King.
Eric Maxfield, who has a child attending Louisville Elementary School, has asked the school board to change that. This week, Maxfield requested that district officials tighten their background-check policy because, he said, it’s their responsibility to keep students safe.
“I don’t want a volunteer that hasn’t had a background check and is a registered sex offender to be in a classroom with my students,” Maxfield told the school board.
As more criminal-history information becomes accessible to the public, Maxfield said, it makes sense for the district to take advantage of the improving technology. A tighter policy, he said, not only would enhance student safety but minimize the district’s liability.
School board member Patti Smith said Maxfield is not alone in his concerns. Smith said she receives e-mails from other parents who have the same queries about the criminal backgrounds of volunteers, and she suggested the district investigate the possibility of altering its volunteer policy to at least check names with sex-offender registries.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
What To Ask Your School Bus Driver
Who is driving your kids to school? As a parent, you have the right to know. However, it turns out - most of you are not asking. Durham School Services says it does a full background check on everyone it hires. Without that information being public, parents may want to check it out for themselves. With a bus driver's name you can check the Kansas Sex Offender Registry and/or look at whether the person has a criminal history.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
NETSMARTZ® WORKSHOP LAUNCHES
Award-winning Online Resources Help Reinforce Internet and Real-World Safety
The new campaign will direct families and educators to the NetSmartz Back-2-School Kit, a free resource designed to help instill every day safety values in children between the ages 5-12 that can be downloaded at www.netsmartz.org. The content includes the high-definition animated videos Way 2 Go!, Beat the Tricks!, and The Boy Who Loved IM, which are each accompanied by resources for educators, parents and guardians including supplemental lesson plans, the new NetSmartz Activity Book and Teachable Recipes.
The new campaign will direct families and educators to the NetSmartz Back-2-School Kit, a free resource designed to help instill every day safety values in children between the ages 5-12 that can be downloaded at www.netsmartz.org. The content includes the high-definition animated videos Way 2 Go!, Beat the Tricks!, and The Boy Who Loved IM, which are each accompanied by resources for educators, parents and guardians including supplemental lesson plans, the new NetSmartz Activity Book and Teachable Recipes.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Schools take steps to tighten security
Sitting atop the main office counter inside Paragon Charter Academy is a virtual security guard that grants or denies people access to the building based on whether they are registered sex offenders.
Visitors, volunteers and maintenance workers stand in front of the machine, called LobbyGuard. An embedded camera snaps their photo and a computer scans their driver's license, checking names and birthdays against a national sex offender database.
With many districts struggling to maintain operations with limited state funding, school leaders say it is getting more difficult to install all safety measures they would like to have.Many agree that school-safety measures should be one of the last things to go.
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