Massachusetts school districts have started fingerprinting teachers, administrators, bus drivers, and other employees, and forwarding the information to the FBI for national background checks.
The effort officially began this month in a handful of districts, with all school systems to follow in the coming weeks.
The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts is the last state to fingerprint school employees to more fully search for past criminal activity.
The FBI will run the prints through its databases, enabling schools for the first time to receive criminal histories from outside Massachusetts and enhancing the chances of identifying staffers with criminal pasts. Previously, local districts only had access to Massachusetts criminal records.
The state has set up fingerprinting centers in Beverly, Boston, Bourne, and Pittsfield, and plans to open more.
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