An undisclosed number of teachers working at Great Hearts, a charter school with locations in San Antonio, have been placed on administrative leave after the Texas Education Agency found that background paperwork, including fingerprinting, had been improperly filed with the state.
In an email sent to parents earlier this week, interim superintendent of Great Hearts Texas Kurtis Indorf said the issues were discovered during a review of HR-related compliance measures by the agency, which is currently investigating the district.
“TEA conducted a review of HR-related compliance measures and, as a result, identified a list of current personnel as having incomplete records or submissions in the state’s system,” Indorf said in the email. “This was primarily related to fingerprints not being fully processed through the state’s system.”
The finding “triggered a mandatory directive by TEA to GH Texas requiring the affected employees to be placed on paid administrative leave while our leadership team resolves all inconsistencies,” Indorf said.
Great Hearts did not share how many teachers or schools were affected by the oversight.
Under the Texas Education Code, all certified educators, substitute teachers, educational aids, charter school employees and contracted employees who have direct contact with children are required to submit fingerprints and are subject to national background check prior to employment.
According to the Texas Classroom Teachers Association, individuals who have been convicted of “certain serious crimes are ineligible for employment by a public school and may be subject to suspension or revocation of their teaching credentials.”
Great Hearts Texas came under investigation by the TEA last year, shortly after filing a lawsuit against its parent company, which is based in Arizona. The suit was later dropped, but in an email to parents at the time, leaders cited what they called “significant legal and compliance issues.”
The TEA declined to comment on the matter, citing the ongoing investigation.
In a statement shared with the San Antonio Report Friday, Indorf said the charter school is fully cooperating with the TEA and that no known safety risks are present on any campuses.
“Great Hearts Texas is investigating how these errors in process and submission occurred and is implementing immediate corrective action, starting with bringing the employee onboarding and background check function in-house today for increased accountability, scrutiny, and safety,” Indorf said. “We do not believe any of the affected employees were ineligible for employment, and at no time were there any known safety risks to students.”
