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May 12, 2008 9:50 pm US/Mountain
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Some Charter Employees Had Criminal Histories
Written by investigative reporter Brian Maass
DENVER (CBS4) ―
The assistant principal for a Denver charter school has been put on leave and the school is reevaluating how it screens prospective and current employees.
The moves come after a CBS4 investigation revealed the school has hired numerous employees with serious criminal histories including thefts, forgery and even a registered sex offender.
"I don't know what the answer is, but I think we need a much better way of evaluating," said Dr. Carolyn Jones, Founder and Principal of Challenges, Choices and Images Charter School, a Denver Public Schools charter school in Montbello.
Like other charter schools, CCI has complete autonomy on who it hires. The school is contractually obligated by DPS to run background checks on prospective employees, but that hasn't always happened, and the investigation found other gaps in the system.
CBS4 found assistant principal William Brown has been arrested in Denver ten times since 2001, with seven of the arrests for drug paraphernalia cases. School administrators say they were unaware of the arrests.
"I have never seen this before," said Jones when shown records of Brown's arrests.
In 2005, Denver police arrested Brown, 55, in an alley at 22nd and Arapahoe Street. According to police, Brown was involved in a drug buy and "admitted that he was buying crack, and furthermore admitted that he had a crack pipe in his pants pocket." Records indicate Brown pleaded no contest to possession of drug paraphernalia. However, Brown denied having a crack pipe, denied being involved in a drug deal and said the police report is wrong.
DPD again arrested Brown six months ago on a similar charge. Officers said they saw Brown at 5:25 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007 on the 500 block of East Colfax.
"He reached into his right front pocket and pulled out a crack pipe and a small baggie containing a small amount of suspected powder cocaine in an attempt to hide the items," wrote Officer Andre Pino.
No formal charges were filed and the case was ultimately dropped. Brown said the police report is wrong; that he did not have a crack pipe nor any cocaine.
Police also arrested Brown in 2001 for possession of drug paraphernalia resulting in a deferred judgment. He said he can't recall seven times he was arrested in the last seven years and noted that most of the cases were dismissed anyway.
While Brown acknowledged previous cocaine use, he said it came during a "difficult time in my life. I don't have the problems today. I don't do drugs." He said he never tried to hide his arrest history from the school, but pointed out he was under no obligation to reveal the arrests either since none were for felonies and most of the cases were dropped.
"I don't know anything about this," said Jones, referring to the multiple drug paraphernalia arrests. She said Brown was put on administrative leave after the arrests surfaced so the school could investigate.
The arrests did not show up on a check of Brown's criminal record with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, but were found through Denver County Court records.
"Well, I've been talking to DPS," said Jones. "And we need a better system."
But there have been others hired with easily accessible criminal records that Jones now acknowledges never should have been put on the payroll. The school hired Charles A. Hopkins in 2006 to work as a night custodian at the school.
"We hired him because his mother, Mrs. Hopkins, worked for us," said Jones.
He was hired in spite of his six-page rap sheet which school administrators knew about. It includes arrests for felony burglary, felony trespass, dangerous drugs, armed motor vehicle theft and multiple prison stretches. Jones said Hopkins was eventually fired because he "went back to doing drugs." After reviewing his record with CBS4, Jones said he never should have been hired. She said Hopkins worked at night so he did not come into contact with students and did not have access to sensitive data.
But the school hired others with even more serious criminal records. In recent years, CCI bought a large amount of furniture and books that Jones said needed to be moved quickly. She said laborers were hired without any checking, due to the urgency of the project. CBS4 found one of the men hired, Charles Johnson, is a registered sex offender. Jones said Johnson did not have contact with students, but she said in retrospect that DPS tax dollars should never have gone to pay a sex offender.
Nor she says now, should they have hired Dion Davis who spent time in prison for felony larceny and dangerous drugs. "I would not do it again," said Jones. "That's certainly my fault, I take full responsibility."
The school employs other educators and staff members who might not be hired at other schools: records show staff convictions for possession of drug paraphernalia, soliciting for prostitution, assault and theft. But Jones said having those kinds of backgrounds allows staff members to better relate to the student population.
"We've got people who have had experiences like the kids, so that they can say to the kids, 'That choice you're going to make is not a good choice. I've been there and walked those shoes,'" she said.
Jones said from now on, the school will be more cautious in who it hires and will likely do annual criminal checks on employees.
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