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School system plans random background checks on employees
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Published: October 20, 2009
A random sampling of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools employees will have their names run through a criminal-background check to make sure they weren't convicted of crimes missed in earlier background checks.
The action comes in response to the arrest of Mineral Springs Middle School drama teacher Ralph David Surridge. Surridge, 57, was arrested over the weekend on 10 counts related to sexual misconduct. He served six months in prison on a felony embezzlement conviction in 1985, a crime that was missed on a criminal-background check when he was hired by the school system seven years ago.
"We believe this is an anomaly, but we want to make sure that's the case," Theo Helm, a school system spokesman, said.
At the time Surridge was hired, the school-system's human resources staff conducted background checks in-house using computer records from the state Administrative Offices of the Courts.
In the last few years, the school system has switched to hiring private firms to do their criminal-background checks. The current vendor, Public Data Works, was hired for the job about a year ago, Helm said.
Officials were still putting the plan together Tuesday, but the idea is to run a random sample of full- and part-time employees' identifications through the Public Data Works system to determine if anyone hired under previous methods had crimes that were similarly missed, Helm said.
"Methods available 20 years ago were different," Helm said. "It's a lot easier to do now."
The school system has about 8,000 total employees, Helm said.
Helm did not know how many employees would be rechecked. Those details will be outlined at the next school board meeting Oct. 27.
Final results are expected to be presented at the Nov. 10 school board meeting, Helm said.
Every school-system employee and volunteer is subject to criminal-background checks.
School Superintendent Don Martin said Tuesday that a criminal-background check on Surridge showed that he was found not guilty on a charge of forgery and uttering.
A spokesman for the sheriff's office said the incidents that led to the current charges against Surridge took place over the last month and involved a female student.
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