December 19, 2019
The Office of the Vermont State Auditor has recently concluded an audit of compliance with Act 1 of 2009 by the Agency of Education (AOE) and supervisory unions/districts (SU/SDs) and independent schools in Vermont. Among the findings, the audit discovered that eleven SU/SDs had not conducted any of the required checks of the Child Protection Registry in 2018. This memo is to remind Vermont’s SU/SDs and independent schools of their duties under the law.
Under 16 V.S.A. § 255(h), superintendents and headmasters are required to conduct checks of the Child Protection Registry and the Vulnerable Adult Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation Registry for any of the following individuals:
- full-time employees,
- part-time or temporary employees,
- persons directly under contract from an SU/SD who may have unsupervised contact with children,
- employees of persons directly under contract with an SU/SD who may have unsupervised contact with children,
- student teachers.