Criminals were working in Nashville schools

NASHVILLE — Metro Nashville Public Schools is pledging to take a hard look at its personnel policies after a routine background check of custodians found 56 with criminal records serious enough to bar them from working in a school, according to the Tennessean.

The district recently outsourced its janitorial work, and the new company, Ohio-based GCA, required district workers to be fingerprinted and undergo background checks before they could reapply for their old jobs: For many longtime employees, it was the first time anyone had checked to see whether they had a criminal record, the article stated.

According to the article, there were three incidents of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury and eight cases of aggravated assault with a razor or pistol, as well as cases of domestic assault, drug possession, robbery, forgery, driving under the influence, sexual battery, indecent exposure and patronizing a prostitute.

In the end, 56 members, or 9.3 percent, of the district's 600-person custodial staff could not be rehired because they flunked the background check, the article noted.

"This was disturbing, to see those results," said district spokeswoman Meredith Libbey. "We are discussing some options."

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