SCREENING MISSED TEACHER'S DRUG CASE

Case Of A Hoosier's Florida Arrest Record Exposes Limitations Of
Background Checks

A teacher who Florida officials say pleaded guilty to possessing
cocaine with intent to sell was hired by an Eastside charter school
last year, after a limited system of background checks failed to turn
up his record. State Police and lawmakers say the case highlights the
inadequacies of Indiana's screening system.

"It's scary that someone could be prosecuted in another state and
come to Indiana and we don't know about it," said Rep. Robert W.
Behning, R-Indianapolis, who heads the House Education Committee.

At least 41 other states have switched to FBI screenings that use
fingerprints to scan criminal records nationwide. Teachers who apply
for licenses in Indiana are subject only to the state's limited
criminal history check, a computer screening that relies on
incomplete records from county courthouses.

Money typically is the sticking point, according to Indiana State
Police officials who have pushed for changes. Schools would have to
pay up to $39 for FBI background checks, while the state system is
available for free.

No one knows how many offenders have slipped through screening in
Indiana. A check of newspaper stories from the past decade shows that
at least three school employees convicted of violent crimes passed
background checks.

Indiana bars those convicted of drug dealing, crimes involving
children and some other felonies from teaching. But first it has to spot them.

Undetected

Officials at Irvington Community School say they were unaware of the
state system's shortcomings when they hired science teacher Michael
Warner, who has been described as an energetic, charming role model
for students.

A native Hoosier who last taught at a Florida middle school,
administrators said, Warner cleared a state background check before
stepping into the Irvington job, which pays about $40,000 a year.

The school's first sign of trouble came last week when a private
investigator tipped officials off about Warner's 2000 arrest for
trying to sell a bag of cocaine to an undercover police officer at a
Hollywood, Fla., club. Warner, reached at his New Castle home last
week, declined repeated interview requests.

An administrative complaint filed by Florida's state education chief
shows Warner pleaded guilty to possession with intent to sell or
deliver cocaine.

"I'm pretty floored and frustrated," said Tim Ehrgott, Irvington's
school president. "It's not like we missed something that was obvious."

Warner, 58, has been suspended with pay while school administrators
scrutinize his past.

Florida education officials have filed a licensing action against
Warner that could lead to a penalty ranging from a reprimand to loss
of his teaching license, records obtained by The Indianapolis Star show.

The complaint stems in part from Warner's felony drug case. It also
shows Warner was reprimanded by his former employer, the Palm Beach
County school district, for claims that he spent the night with a
male student and "was discovered behind closed doors in the back of
his classroom hugging" the student.

The student has since withdrawn the allegations, according to a
Florida Department of Education official who asked not to be
identified because she didn't have authority to speak for the department.

Warner's reprimand might have been missed, but Florida law
enforcement authorities say a complete check by the FBI could have
revealed his drug case. In that, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail
and three years of probation.

The complaint said a judge withheld declaring Warner guilty but did
not explain why.

FBI background checks dig deeper than the public can, said Kristen
Perezluha, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Just how deep is determined by the scope of review requested by an
employer or a school.

Schools should go as far as they can, said Chris Lawson, whose
13-year-old daughter has been in one of Warner's classes at Irvington.

"I'm kind of stunned to hear this," Lawson said. "I think all things
like that should be checked out. To have a drug felony and to be
communicating with kids, I don't think that's where they belong."

Peeking at the past

Indiana requires FBI background checks for certain state employees,
including those who handle finances, work in child services or care
for disabled adults in state-run facilities.

An FBI check could have revealed Warner's 2000 drug arrest, Florida
authorities say. In fact, a check by The Star with a widely used Web
research service called Accurint quickly found information about the
drug case -- and cost less than $6.

Indiana law requires background checks before teachers can be
licensed, but it doesn't ensure that schools screen job candidates.
State Police say most schools do it on their own.

Charter schools, which are taxpayer-financed schools that are largely
free of traditional district control, are required by their sponsors
to screen teaching job candidates.

Ball State University sponsors Irvington and 13 other charter schools
in Indiana. The Indianapolis mayor oversees 12 others.

Indiana's screening system, however, not only excludes records from
other states; its reach within the state is limited.

Arrests show up on a computer search, but county court clerks often
don't forward a case's outcome -- conviction or dismissal -- to the
Indiana State Police, which maintains the central criminal history database.

Without proof of a conviction, State Police must omit reports of
arrests more than a year old.

"The school corporation has no idea that it's there," said Maj. Tony
Sommer, records division commander for the State Police. "When we
know there's an arrest on a record that we cannot report because the
law does not permit us to, we're pretty uncomfortable."

Unsatisfied with the depth of their background checks after three
employees were charged with crimes involving sexual contact with
students or indecent exposure, Carmel Clay Schools administrators
tightened their screening process in 2002.

Administrators now require all employees and some volunteers to
provide fingerprint scans, which are compared with a State Police
database. Even that falls short of FBI checks.

Indiana education leaders, including the state superintendent of
public instruction and the state's largest teachers union, have said
they support a broader system of background checks.

A legislative proposal this year to fix the state system never got a
hearing in the Statehouse.

Some Indiana lawmakers have balked at a crackdown on teacher checks
because of a perception that they would open the state to expensive
lawsuits, invade employees' privacy or wrap schools in more red tape.
FBI background checks also potentially hold up school hiring
decisions because they take up to three months.

Other lawmakers simply hadn't known that the state system is full of holes.

"If there's a gap in the system," said Behning, the Indianapolis
lawmaker, "I'm sure there would be overwhelming, if not unanimous,
support to make sure that gap is closed."

Florida enigma

Irvington school administrators say Warner received a "glowing"
recommendation from a former boss in Indiana.

He taught in Rushville, about 25 miles east of Indianapolis, for
nearly two decades. Warner moved to Florida in 1993, a few months
before he was sued by a former Rushville student on allegations of
sexual abuse, court records show. A judge later dismissed the case,
in part because it was filed after a statute of limitations had lapsed.

In Florida, Warner worked at Lake Shore Middle School but quit three
months after his 2000 arrest, according to the school district.

He moved back to Indiana in 2004, about the time his probation for
the cocaine case was set to expire.

Matt Parker, who owns the NCPI private detective agency in New
Castle, said someone who learned that Warner had a teaching job in
Indiana contacted him.

Parker searched Accurint, the same public records database used by
The Star, and came up with a rap sheet.

He contacted Irvington school leaders just before classes let out for
spring break last week. Since then, the school president has been
trying to piece together what happened in Florida.

That has been the hard part.

A Florida judge has sealed Warner's criminal record without
explanation. Ehrgott, the school president, said Warner has admitted
his arrest but denied a conviction. "It's just an odd situation,"
said Ehrgott, who noted he has been unable to verify a conviction
through the courts.

Florida law allows plea deals in which offenders admit guilt and are
sentenced to jail or probation, but their convictions are dropped and
any records of their crimes are sealed from the public. Law
enforcement officials, however, could still access the records
through a background check.

Under the special plea bargains, civil rights such as voting are
restored and individuals can deny having been convicted to potential
bosses. They can't, however, deny that they were arrested.

"It's a complicated process," said Jeff Harris, president-elect of
the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Investigation continues

The 2004 complaint from Florida's education commissioner clarifies
what the court system leaves murky.

The complaint remains unresolved because of a backlog at the state
education department, officials there said. Warner can try to keep
his Florida license, give it up or negotiate a settlement.

Even if Warner's license had been revoked in Florida, there's no
guarantee anyone in Indiana would have known about it. Criminal
history checks generally don't include education records.

The incomplete criminal history check, however, wasn't the only break
Warner had in Indiana.

Irvington school officials did not ask Warner whether he had a
criminal history, which "we obviously should," Ehrgott said.

Warner also has had, since 1978, a "life" teaching license in
Indiana, a now-discarded credential once offered to highly educated
teaching veterans. The license keeps its recipients from having to
reapply for teaching licenses, a process that would include questions
about criminal history.

The only other reliable check on Warner would have been from the FBI,
which has access to cases that are sealed to the public.

Ehrgott said he hasn't figured out what to do about Warner. Irvington
Community School, however, will change how it screens teachers.

"We're going to find a different system that works for us, even if
that costs us some money to do that," Ehrgott said. "You want to make
sure you know what you have in the classroom."

INDIANA LIMITED CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK

Cost: Ranges from $7 to $15, depending on whether an employer
requests one by mail, in person or online. Free for school districts
that do their own online checks through Access Indiana.

How it works: Enter identifying information, such as name and date of
birth, into the system, which scans an Indiana State Police database
of records. Searchers are provided a Web address on which they can
click to download information.

Who can request one: State law specifies conditions that qualify a
person for a background check, including employment, professional
licensing, running for public office, volunteering at a school that
requires special care and convictions for crimes involving children.
State law does not allow the public to request random background checks.

Effectiveness: The limited criminal history check pulls up records
only from Indiana. The database of criminal records is incomplete,
because county court clerks often do not forward the outcome of a
criminal charge to the Indiana State Police. Without records of
conviction, State Police cannot disclose an arrest that's one year or
older to employers who are screening job candidates.

FBI BACKGROUND CHECK

Cost: Varies, but about $39.

How it works: A computer system that involves an electronic
fingerprint card generates images of fingerprints. The fingerprints
are transmitted to the FBI, then used to search criminal history
files at law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Who can request one: In Indiana, FBI background checks are required
for certain state jobs, including those involving finances and child services.

Effectiveness: The FBI background check is only as good as the
records kept by law enforcement agencies, but it's considered the
best way to check the integrity of a prospective employee.

IRVINGTON COMMUNITY SCHOOL

Address: 6705 E. Julian Ave. Opened: 2002. Sponsor: Ball State
University. Structure: Grades K-8. Enrollment: 360. Background:
Expanded to include a middle school for the first time last fall;
expected to add a high school level in the future.