Heading in the right direction on district hires
By JASON ELLIOTT
Staff writer
The wheels are indeed rolling in the right direction when it comes to finding a suitable hire for the Coeur d’Alene School District.
Coeur d’Alene Board Trustee Christa Hazel presented two companies to conduct background checks on prospective applicants, Hire Right (www.hireright.com/resources/fcra-compliance) and Good Hire (www.goodhire.com).
“These two companies have the kind of built-in infrastructure to reach into national jurisdictions that could support our needs,” Hazel said in a report to the board during a meeting Monday night at the Midtown City Center. “In my experience, the turnaround time is considerably shorter than the time we currently experience. Most likely, these two companies have international capability, but keeping searches within the United States is probably adequate for due-diligence purposes."
Both companies are Fair Credit Reporting Act compliant, with investigations — at minimum — including criminal history of misdemeanor and felonies.
“If you use the $1.99 searches for a background check, they’re very quick,” Hazel said. “You cannot use them for a determination for employment. If you are using them, you can really hit for bad things, and we don’t want that.”
The background check can cost anywhere from $15 to $20.
“That could change depending on volume,” Hazel said. “And we could trigger a discount if we use it for that purpose.”
Hazel also reached out to a retired FBI agent, who is a parent in the district, about the subject.
“He has offered to consult on this issue free of charge,” Hazel said. “He has a vested interest personally, as well as in the community’s safety. He said that often employers can also make simple changes to applications that facilitate this process and help weed out potential issues.”
“I’d like to see what the state is coming up with,” Coeur d’Alene School Board Trustee Tom Hearn said. “If they’re tightening things up there too in a way, then it’s not just us complaining. And I know they’re concerned with background checks throughout the state and how inaccurate they can be. But I think we’ve got the wheels turning the right direction here.”
Live scan fingerprint machines are being utilized by the Blaine School District, Idaho Falls School District and Bonneville School District. In a report from district human resources director Kelly Ostrom to interim superintendent Trina Caudle, Ostrom states the startup cost for the machines is $9,000.
“I still think Live Scan is a good option and would like to see us continue with that,” Coeur d’Alene School Board Chairman Casey Morrisroe said.
Ostrom added challenges include whenever a change comes from the state or district to the program’s filter, it can cause errors and need to be reconfigured.
The process takes about five minutes per person, with someone putting in a person’s information, rolling the prints, completing forms and verifying the process. Results are usually available in a week or two.