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Fairfax County Public Schools will change some of its hiring practices following an internal review triggered by a middle school counselor who was able to keep his job after being charged with solicitation of a minor, officials said this week.
Darren Thornton started working at Glasgow Middle School in 2020. He was arrested in November of that year in an online chatting operation on charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor in Chesterfield County, according to court records. The former counselor would remain on the job in Fairfax County for almost two years before being fired last month.
In the fallout of the incident, school board members ordered an independent, external investigation that found Chesterfield County police failed to notify the district about the counselor’s arrest, FCPS officials said in a statement on Tuesday. The Chesterfield County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office did not tell the school system about the counselor’s conviction in September 2021, either, the officials said. Chesterfield officials have said in media statements that emails sent to Fairfax County leaders regarding the former counselor’s criminal record bounced back and didn’t go through to the school system.
Thornton was arrested again in June 2022 on charges of solicitation of prostitution and frequenting a bawdy place in another online chatting operation, reported on by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Chesterfield officials notified the school system by phone about the second arrest.
The Virginia Department of Corrections, which was to oversee Thornton’s probation after his conviction, also investigated the incident; staff in the agency’s Chesterfield district “have been disciplined and will receive additional training,” said spokesman Benjamin Jarvela. The agency is also reviewing its processes in other districts to prevent anything similar from happening in the future, he said.
Ahead of this school year, schools Superintendent Michelle Reid said she and the board fired Thornton when they were made aware of the conviction.
A person answered the phone at a number listed for Thornton on Wednesday, then hung up after a Washington Post reporter introduced herself. Additional attempts to reach Thornton were unsuccessful.
Following their investigation, school system leaders acknowledged there is “room for improvement” and identified several “systemic issues” in the way the district handles hiring, licensure, leave, dismissal and resignation of employees. “These have been exacerbated by factors such as significant leadership churn,” officials said.
In a summary of the report’s findings, district officials said the district’s hiring process has several gaps. The district declined to share the full report, citing attorney-client privilege, work product and personnel matters.
However, officials did outline several actions the district plans to implement. The school system will work with Virginia lawmakers — as well as federal, state and local law enforcement — to make sure information about employee arrests and convictions is shared in a timely fashion, officials said.
It will add more steps to its reference-check process for prospective employees, including requiring “more robust” documentation in support of applicants. District leaders are also exploring the possibility of enrolling in the FBI Rap Back program — under which employers are notified if an employee engages in a criminal activity where fingerprints are taken — once it becomes available to Fairfax County.
The school system will also change the way it verifies licensure for prospective employees and do more to make sure licenses are in good standing. And, to address issues around employee leave, it will develop ways to make sure absences and leaves are “timely documented, verified and monitored, and provide administrators and staff professional development for reporting leave and their obligations to ensure that payroll is accurate,” officials said.
Reid presented the findings to Glasgow parents during a meeting this week.
The report also found Fairfax County schools have a problem “consistently and promptly” firing employees convicted of felonies, rather than suspending them without pay. Moving forward, it will “initiate dismissal and license revocation petitions” for these employees, officials said.
The changes will be implemented “in the coming weeks,” officials said, and will come with “frequent accountability checks.”
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