Twice in two months, teachers in Palm Beach County accused of sickening crimes.
Thursday, we finally got the chance to ask the important question we had hoped to ask the school superintendent for weeks.
We know teachers must pass a background check before they're hired. However, we wanted to know, what can or is the school district doing to keep track of teachers and staff members after they're hired?
“That's a big question and it's one we're really grappling with,” said Superintendent Robert Avossa.
Avossa told Newschannel 5 he understands parents’ frustration, but how do you screen for morality?
“Right now we do what's called a level 1 screening,” explained Avossa. “It's a national background check and it's done every five years.”
But is that enough?
Consider the Corey Perry case, a middle school teacher and coach accused of using local students in child pornography.
He shot himself days after police started to investigate him. Then, there's Bill Weed, the former athletic director at Palm Beach Gardens High School.
He's under investigation for video voyeurism.
“How do you screen for people making bad decisions that aren't necessarily originally breaking the law, but wind up moving in that direction.”
Weed is currently on paid suspension. Avossa told us parents can be a line of defense.
“If you feel that there's a teacher that's communicating with kids outside of school, something just doesn’t seem right, let authorities know,” said Avossa.
Meanwhile, the district continues to recruit and retain its good teachers.
“In Palm Beach it's difficult because the average home is well over 300,000 dollars, and with a 41K salary, many of our teachers are not reaching 50k until after 20 years,” he said.
