TITUSVILLE, Fla. — 9 Investigates discovered the Brevard County school district said it’s working to make sure people with a criminal past don’t slip through the cracks again and get hired to work with children.
This comes after an assistant coach failed to disclose his criminal history years ago on his employment application, and was recently accused of running a multistate drug ring.
The district didn’t catch the issue until after assistant football coach Benjamin Jenkins was allowed on the field and in classrooms after failing to disclose a misdemeanor drug arrest on his 2014 application, and no background check was performed.
“The misdemeanor itself would not have prohibited him from employment, however, not self-disclosing so we can take a look at everything and do that extra background check would have prohibited him from employment,” said Assistant Superintendent Michelle Irwin.
The district completed a background check on Jenkins in 2011 when he applied to be a coach.
But he had to fill out another application in 2014 to work around more students, not just as a coach, but as a substitute teacher and instructional assistant.
“Why wasn’t an extra background check done when he filled out the application in 2014?” reporter Ty Russell asked Irwin.
“We follow state statute. Every five years, they have to do fingerprinting through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and we follow those guidelines,” said Irwin.
Irwin said the district will soon work to come up with plans to prevent anyone else from slipping through the cracks and getting a job they should not have had.
“This is an ongoing discussion with senior leadership,” Irwin said.
Irwin didn’t have an exact date on when leaders will discuss a different policy to catch employees who don’t disclose misdemeanors.
As of right now, only new applicants can immediately be caught if they don’t disclose their criminal history on an application.