Today, the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General issued a report entitled, "Review of MCPS Background Screening Office."
The IG's Report details disturbing gaps in the MCPS background checks of staff, contractors and volunteers.
The MCPS Superintendent, Thomas W. Taylor, responded to the Report and criticized the IG's process.
The IG responded to the Superintendent's criticism with a response letter that included the following statements:
...OIG staff met with members of the Superintendent’s leadership team on June 25th and in
response to that meeting made corrections to address the concerns raised and provided a revised
draft report on July 7th. On July 16th we held another meeting to discuss MCPS’s proposed
corrective actions and address any other questions or issues. At no time during or after that
meeting did MCPS leadership request additional changes to the report, raise wording
discrepancies, or identify any inaccuracies. The Superintendent did not attend either of these meetings, and despite his claims, MCPS leaders did not exhibit or invite an authentic
collaboration. In fact, during our last meeting with MCPS leadership, they repeatedly refused to
discuss specifics of certain planned actions which would assist the OIG in determining if the
proposed steps would address observed deficiencies or offer alternative considerations. It was
only in the Superintendent’s July 25th formal response that we learned of the nature and extent of
discussions with the State regarding CPS checks...
...Lastly, in contrast to their statements, the actions by MCPS senior leaders do not demonstrate
either accountability or transparency. The fact remains that thousands of individuals with
unsupervised access to MCPS schools and students have not had a criminal history check in more
than five years and thousands more have not completed a CPS check. In the end, only one entity
is tasked with and has accepted the responsibility for obtaining these background checks to
safeguard employees and students, and that is MCPS.
The full IG Report is reproduced below:
Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland screening of employees by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd
