File #: Res 1393-2012    Version: * Name: Require full background checks, including fingerprinting, of private school employees either by order of the State Department of Education, or by law, or both.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Education
On agenda: 6/28/2012
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature and the Governor to require full background checks, including fingerprinting, of private school employees either by order of the State Department of Education, or by law, or both.
Sponsors: David G. Greenfield, Christine C. Quinn, Margaret S. Chin, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Daniel Dromm , Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, Lewis A. Fidler, Sara M. Gonzalez, Letitia James, Peter A. Koo, G. Oliver Koppell, Karen Koslowitz, Brad S. Lander, Rosie Mendez, Deborah L. Rose, James G. Van Bramer, Albert Vann, Jumaane D. Williams, Ruben Wills, Eric A. Ulrich
Council Member Sponsors: 20
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
12/31/2013*David G. Greenfield City Council Filed (End of Session)  Action details Meeting details Not available
6/28/2012*David G. Greenfield City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
6/28/2012*David G. Greenfield City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
Res. No. 1393
 
 
Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature and the Governor to require full background checks, including fingerprinting, of private school employees either by order of the State Department of Education, or by law, or both.  
 
 
By Council Member Greenfield, the Speaker (Council Member Quinn), Chin, Comrie, Dromm, Ferreras, Fidler, Gonzalez, James, Koo, Koppell, Koslowitz, Lander, Mendez, Rose, Van Bramer, Vann, Williams, Wills and Ulrich
Whereas, According to a recent story in The New York Times, a number of students at the Horace Mann School, located in the Bronx, were sexually assaulted by faculty members during the 1980s and 1990s; and
Whereas, The New York Times also reported that in April 2012, a teacher at Riverdale County School, located in the Bronx, was arrested for sexual misconduct with a student;  and
Whereas, The New York Daily News reported that in March 2012, a pastor was arrested for the rape of student attending the school run by his church; and
Whereas, According to the pleadings of a lawsuit filed in federal court in 2009, a football coach at Poly Prep Country Day School, located in Brooklyn, was alleged to have sexually abused a number of students between 1966 and 1991; and
Whereas, New York State Education Law mandates the fingerprinting of prospective employees of public schools for the purposes of a criminal history record check, but allows non-public and private schools the choice whether or not to fingerprint and perform background checks on prospective employees; and
Whereas, Mandatory background checks and fingerprinting of prospective employees would allow non-public and private schools to identify those with criminal histories that suggest they pose a danger to students; and
Whereas, Students at non-public and private schools deserve the same protection from those that would seek to prey upon them afforded to students at public schools; and
Whereas, Many states, including California, Washington, Maryland, and Michigan, require fingerprinting of private school employees; and
Whereas, A requirement that non-public and private schools perform full background checks on prospective employees would help to ensure a safe learning environment for all elementary and secondary students in New York City; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York urges the New York State Legislature and the Governor to require full background checks, including fingerprinting, of private school employees either by order of the State Department of Education, or by law, or both.
LS #3778
6/21/12
4:00pm
AES/KET