By KEITH COUSINS

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — When Dave Eubanks was hired by the Coeur d’Alene School District in 1997, he said, he was told at the time he was one of nine new hires.

A total of 900 applicants, Eubanks added, were vying for those nine jobs.

“This district was able to basically take the cream of the crop,” Eubanks added. “You could look at a lot of good teachers and choose great teachers.”

Twenty years later, however, Eubanks said a shortage of prospective teachers and other potential employees has trustees and administrators asking tougher questions when it comes to selecting a new employee.

“We could fairly easily get people who were squeaky clean at the top levels 15 years ago, but right now, it’s much harder,” Eubanks said. “What if the very best candidate for a position is not very good? Should we be hiring people that are flawed? Maybe even significantly flawed?”

New hires can work as long as 90 days in Coeur d’Alene schools before a State Department of Education background check reveals what local checks did not. The recent case of a former high school teacher now facing child sex crime charges, coupled with a system built to focus on felony offenses rather than misdemeanors, has many taking a hard look at hiring throughout the district, and what can be done to improve it.

“Changes must be made in the district’s hiring practice in order to regain the public trust, and to ensure student safety,” wrote Rick Jones, a Coeur d’Alene High School counselor who has served on hiring committees, in an email to school district trustees and administration.

“I realize that this is the hiring season, but perhaps steps could be taken in the next few months to ensure that when we enter into the peak hiring season next year we are seen as a district that puts the safety of our students as the top priority when it comes to hiring new staff.”

The Class of ‘No’

The Press examined the seven school board meetings, beginning Feb. 1, 2016, where Trustee Christa Hazel pulled an item marked “Personnel” from the consent calendar — a group of items that require trustee approval but are considered routine business — and voted “no” on just that one item.

A total of 82 new employees — ranging from custodians and bus drivers to teachers and principals — were approved by the board during these meetings.

Public records detailing the new hires show that 50 percent of them have identifiable ties, whether employment or education, outside Idaho. Those out-of-state ties make thoroughly checking employees’ backgrounds more difficult, as many states do not make criminal histories easily obtainable by members of the public.

And already, 48 percent of the new hires are no longer working with the school district.

Searching the names of every new hire during this period on the Idaho Repository, a public database of court records accessible by anyone, quickly revealed eight positive hits for people who were hired with criminal convictions ranging from possession of marijuana to battery.

Only one of the individuals identified by The Press is still employed by the district. A search for the remaining seven yielded no results on the district’s staff directory.

Among the eight individuals identified is a Hayden woman whose employment as a nutrition services assistant was approved on Dec. 5, 2016. Her previous work experience at a local tobacco shop was listed in a public packet provided to trustees before their vote.

A search of the repository for the woman’s name revealed misdemeanor charges and convictions beginning in 1998. That year, she was charged with, but not convicted of, indecent exposure. In 1999, she was found guilty of misdemeanor driving under the influence and possession of paraphernalia charges. A year later, a Kootenai County District Court judge found her guilty of misdemeanor unlawful possession of wildlife and hunting without a license.

Her most recent criminal case, according to the repository, was in 2005, when she faced a misdemeanor injury to child charge. That charge was later dismissed by the Kootenai County Prosecutor.

According to public records, the employee was working for 21 days before her hire was approved by trustees on a 4-1 vote. She is no longer working in Coeur d’Alene schools, according to a search of the district’s staff directory.

All of the identified personnel were working in Coeur d’Alene schools prior to trustee votes of approval on their employment.

"We're following statute; we're following board policy," Superintendent Matt Handelman said Tuesday of the district's hiring practices. "I am curious to know, are we out of line? Have our practices been that far out of line? I truly don't believe they are based on the conversations I've had."

The Press also examined meetings within the same period when Hazel was either absent or no vote was taken on the consent calendar. There were five positive hits on the Idaho Repository, with only one of the individuals — a man working as a custodian with a 2006 conviction on a misdemeanor petit theft charge — still employed by the district.

Two of the employees in this period were convicted of possession of paraphernalia and driving under the influence.

Another was charged with domestic battery in 2013, but had the charge dismissed. The remaining individual — a man hired as an assistant boys soccer coach — was found guilty of felony grand theft in 2011.

Only one employee in this group was scheduled to begin work following the meeting at which trustees were scheduled to approve new hires. That employee, a custodian at a middle school, was supposed to begin work the day following the meeting.

“Historically, we’ve had teachers in the classroom who haven’t been through a thorough background search,” said Trustee Tom Hearn. “That, I think, has prompted a lot of the angst and criticism we’ve gotten from people in the community and people on the board. I think it’s a reasonable expectation of the community that we don’t have people in the classroom who haven’t had a thorough background check.”

Handelman responded this way:

“It’s not that we weren’t aware of these things. I can’t say that I’m personally aware of every one of them, but I would certainly be alarmed if there was anything of concern identified.”

The State Process

The Idaho Department of Education is tasked with processing fingerprints and FBI background checks on prospective public school employees. Lisa Colon Durham, director of certification and professional standards, told The Press Tuesday that the goals of these checks are twofold — the first being to ensure the state is following legal requirements when issuing certifications to educators.

“(It’s) also to be able to provide information for each school district to make the best hiring decision possible per their own guidelines and policies,” she added.

Background checks happen on a first-come, first-served basis and Durham said her office handles as many as 4,000 checks during busy months.

One of the biggest factors in the timeliness of returning the information to districts, according to Durham, is whether the district uses digital fingerprinting to send fingerprints electronically or instead uses traditional ink and paper to take fingerprints before mailing them to the state.

Districts that submit fingerprints electronically, called “Live Scan” districts, can receive results — which show whether or not an employee has any history of arrests in the U.S. — in one to five days. The state, according to Durham, then has to mail the detailed report showing what the arrests were for and when they occurred.

That process, she added, can take a week to a month.

For districts that use ink and paper, Durham said it can take up to a month to process the fingerprint cards. It can, she added, take an additional 45 days to get results to districts and longer to get a detailed criminal history.

When asked by The Press if districts are encouraged to purchase the Live Scan equipment and software, Durham said they are. However, Durham added, it's the districts themselves that must make the final decision on the purchase, just like it’s their responsibility to make the final decision on a new hire.

“We do not make any decision on employment at all,” Durham said. “We give that information directly to districts and it truly is a local decision.”

Potential Changes

Last month, former Lake City High School teacher Jeff Kantola was charged with two counts of felony lewd conduct with a child under 16. Further details on the case have not been released because a Kootenai County District Court judge ordered the case sealed, likely because the case involves a minor.

Kantola resigned from his teaching position after at least one parent expressed concern that Kantola is barred from being licensed to treat patients as a chiropractor.

Publicity of Kantola’s past, and current criminal charges, prompted Hazel to speak out about longstanding concerns she has about hiring practices in the district. In an April 8 article in The Press, Hazel, an attorney, said although she believes the district’s hiring practices are “for the most part” ensuring student safety, there is a need to improve the process.

Handelman defended the district’s approach Tuesday.

"This isn't unique to Coeur d'Alene," Handelman said. "Even though there's an issue that brought this to light, it doesn't mean we've done anything nefarious or irresponsible." 

Hiring practices were once again addressed during a special meeting of the school board on Monday, when trustees discussed potential measures to further improve hiring practices. At the meeting, Hazel challenged fellow trustees to take a hard look at what the district uses as employment disqualifiers.

“Are multiple misdemeanors that might be DUI or drug related, or misdemeanors for assault, are those OK?” Hazel asked. “Because I’ve got to tell you my expectation as a parent is not matching what I’m seeing as a trustee. Look at the list of what is disqualified, I’m having a hard time with it. We can add to the list of what might be disqualifying. Those things we can change locally.”

“It is a judgment issue and everyone’s judgment is going to be different,” added Board Chair Casey Morrisroe. “So that is a challenge: How do we quantify something difficult to quantify, and what is the barometer? It’s difficult. It’s not black and white.”

Handelman told The Press Tuesday the district has talked in the past about making its list of offenses that disqualify an individual from employment more comprehensive. Such a decision, he added, would have to be made by trustees.

"Do we go with what the majority think, or do we go with the person who has the highest bar and least amount of tolerance for anything in the (background) report?" Handelman asked. "We need to gain clarity about what the board thinks. I think some of the conversation they had last night helped them recognize it's not just a black-and-white issue."

Morrisroe, with approval from the rest of the board, directed school district administration to explore the following three measures in an effort to improve and expedite the process:

1. Purchasing Live Scan equipment to speed up state background checks.

2. Possibly contracting with a third party to complete thorough background checks at a local level.

3. Hiring a third-party HR consultant to examine current hiring practices and determine what is being done appropriately, as well as areas in need of improvement.

Handelman said district administrators could implement all of the suggestions, but are still seeking further guidance and direction about the order of implementation. As an example, Handelman said a consultant might suggest a third-party background check service is not necessary.

"Rather than knee-jerking, we need to find out what this is really going to cost us and what the benefits are," Handelman said. "It's an investment. Is it a good investment? Probably. We just have to come up with the money for it and understand what it is."

In addition, Hazel recommended that more information be provided to trustees about potential “gray-area candidates” prior to a vote of approval on their hire.

"We have a constant loop of people coming and going, so really figuring out how to make that work will be the challenge," Handelman said in response. "But, if the board wants the involvement, then administration will act and make it happen."