Letter to the editor: Schools must work harder to protect children

Pennsylvania needs to issue a mandate for schools to pay for all required clearances with our taxpayer-funded safety grants. Protecting the children, families and communities of our commonwealth is not a political or business matter; it is a commonsense and safety precaution that really matters.

As a former Pennsylvania child care licensing representative for 18 years, I checked over 10,000 employee/volunteer clearances. Some clearances were forgeries, and the process of checking for compliance was considerably convoluted, but, overall, the child cares did a fairly good job with little resources. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for our school districts and after-school programs.

In my opinion, school districts need to exceed the minimum requirements for obtaining all clearances. The school districts should pay for and keep in their possession all three required clearances. The costs would be less than $60 per person and priceless for the safety and security of all children. I believe thoroughly and consistently checked child abuse, FBI and criminal record clearances could help protect against sex abuse, drug abuse and gun violence, if done the right way and for the right reasons.

Pennsylvania public schools have been receiving large taxpayer-funded Pennsylvania safety/security grants, large donations from companies, and large amounts of taxpayer money these past few years. Now is the time to spend some of this money more wisely on protecting children.

Dennis Smiddle

Canonsburg

The writer is a school safety and security assessor.