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Angrymother,

Here is a link to the law: http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText12/HouseText12/H7077.pdf

"16-2-18.1. Criminal records review. -- (a) Any person seeking employment with a private school or public school department who has not previously been employed by a private school or public school department in Rhode Island during the past twelve (12) months, as well as

any person who seeks to participate in any mentoring program whereby the individual shall be working with a student or students as a mentor or in a mentoring situation, shall undergo a national and state criminal background check"

No where in this law does it specify that if the mentoring takes place at a business or not on school grounds that the mentor is exempt from the law. Our lawyer is stating the law exactly as it was written. This is not a situation of passing the blame. It is a law, the law must be followed or Warwick will potentially lose $36+ Million of state funding, additionally without the state and federal background check, the schools can not be sure there is not a risk to the student. I believe the original intent of the law was to protect the students.

Feel free to email me, maloneyp@warwickschools.org. I have fielded 20+ phone calls and emails. I am aware of what is going on and have had discussions with the superintendent and Director of Secondary Ed regarding the situation and how it is being handled. Additional information is going out to the students. I have also asked that all updates be posted on the Warwick Schools website. www.warwickschools.org. If a student already completed the mentoring portion, they will be able to use it and will get credit for it. If a student has completed 1+ hours of mentoring time, they will be allow to present what they have. If a student has not yet begun any mentoring, they can not have a mentor for the project. This information will be posted on the Warwick Schools site as well.

I was told tonight that there are 13 districts with a Senior Project with a mentor component. We are not in this alone. We are working on getting the correct information and putting it out as quickly as possible.

Patrick Maloney

From: Schools ax mentor aspect of senior projects in response to background checks

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