GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- Every teacher in the State of Wisconsin goes through a mandatory background check before getting an educator license.
But Appleton-based private investigator Julie Russell says sometimes, that process isn't enough.
"We've done investigations where we've found something," Russell said. "We call the [teaching] applicant and their first response is 'well, I got my license. It can't be all bad.' My answer is 'but this…'"
Some local school districts also hire detective agencies to research the backgrounds of prospective teachers. Russell co-founded DIVERSIFIED investigations, the company Green Bay Area Public Schools uses. She says it's not always easy to find a person's criminal history.
"It truly is an investigation," she said. "We're going to compare and contrast the data that we get. And we're going to give a product back and say, in our best, reasonable due diligence, 'this is what we know about this person based on the background that we did.'"
Russell says the purpose of the check is to avoid negligent hiring. She says only around one percent of background investigations result in serious red flags.
"There's a level of indicators that say you should not be alone with children or you should not be responsible for arresting people with having handcuffs and a gun," Russell said.
But there's a challenge. It's impossible to know if a teacher or employee will commit a crime, regardless of the past.
"There is no way to predict future behavior if you don't have past behavior indicators," Russell said.
The former Appleton Police Department sergeant says investigators do everything they can, but there is the possibility of a crime going unnoticed.
Russell says some locations where crimes are committed can be difficult to track.
"We would have no reason or connection to say that they were there," Russell said. "And if it doesn't pull up on a national query... so yeah, there are gaps. Absolutely, there are gaps."
According to the veteran investigator, a person needs to be fingerprinted to be tracked in some cases. Russell says the first step in the process includes verifying personal information before researching local court records. Some crimes can take months to show up on a traceable database.
Baird Elementary School teacher David Villareal was arrested Wednesday and is facing possible sexual assault charges. The Department of Public Instruction regularly screens educators like Villareal before granting teaching licenses.
According to the DPI, these background checks do not include additional screening processes individual schools may have in place for new hires.
The state says the ‘primary purpose’ is to ensure each applicant does not pose a threat to the safety of young students across the state. The state requires each prospective teacher to complete a questionnaire and provide documentation of prior misconduct or criminal behavior.
Per the DPI, "The background check is individually conducted by the DPI at the time the application is submitted. Each decision is based on the unique facts associated with each application.”
Villareal’s arrest marks the second time in two years a Green Bay school staff member has been accused of sexually assaulting a student. In 2019, Courtney Roznowski was charged formisconduct as an employee at Southwest High School.
The Neenah School Board of Education passed an action in 2018 requiring any volunteer or chaperone to undergo a background check.
