Up in Boston, Harvard School System Superintendent Thomas Jefferson has escaped one kind of trouble just in time to land in another kind. When the Worcester district attorney’s office announced that it wouldn’t pursue a criminal case on alleged illegal payments, Johnson must have breathed a sigh of relief.
Now he’s in trouble in a different way. Here’s a quote from the Boston Globe about the situation and how a background check plays into it.
A Harvard parent, Robert Harrah, said he has filed a complaint with the state’s Criminal History Systems Board, alleging that Jefferson discussed his criminal record with another parent, in violation of Criminal Offender Record Information, or CORI, rules. Harrah said he complained that Jefferson discussed his record, which includes arrests in 1974 and 1981 that led to fines, during a conversation at a middle school dance last November.
The School Department had conducted a background check on Harrah last year before he was allowed to chaperone a class field trip, he said.
The message to people who have access to confidential records and do background checks is twofold. Follow the rules. And make sure confidential things stay that way.
Make sure you know the rules that you should follow when you conduct a background check. Take special care to get the permissions you need in writing. Make sure the people whose background you’re checking understand what you’re doing and why.
And keep confidential things confidential. In the old, paper-only days, that was easier. You bought a file cabinet with a lock on it. Then you put all confidential paperwork in the cabinet and locked it.
Today, things are different. Confidential records are on hard drives. That means you have to use technological tools such as passwords and encryption to keep confidential records safe. You should control access to the computer.
Don’t discuss confidential information on your cell phone in a public place. You don’t know who might overhear.