ROUTINE CHECK FOUND BOLLWERK'S CRIMINAL RECORD

JEFFERSON CITY -- A couple of years ago state education officials might never have known about Dr. Richard Bollwerk's misdemeanor criminal convictions. But a recent Missouri law that broadened the state's authority to conduct background checks on educators brought the former Cape Girardeau School District official's misdeeds to light and cost him his teaching and school administrator's licenses.

In 1998, the Missouri General Assembly passed House Bill 1469, which took effect in August 1998. The bill established an investigative division within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that conducts annual background checks on the estimated 92,000 licensed educators in Missouri's public schools.

Teachers and school administrators who are found to have been convicted of felonies, misdemeanors or other crimes involving moral turpitude face revocation or suspension of their state certificates.

Prior to HB 1469, state sanctions primarily resulted only when a school district filed a complaint with the State Board of Education. The new law allows DESE officials to initiate action.

Because of the vast number of checks conducted, it has taken DESE investigators some time to discover criminal records of some educators.

"There was quite a backlog," said Gary Jones, DESE's director of professional conduct and investigations. "Some of these cases went back 10 years. Plus, it takes time to investigate these cases to make sure there are grounds for action."

Such was the case with Bollwerk, a former Cape Girardeau assistant superintendent who for a time served as the district's acting superintendent.

Bollwerk resigned his post in July 1997 after being passed over for a permanent appointment to the district's top job. In August 1997 he sent thousands of faxes consisting of sheets of solid black paper to 12 district fax machines. So many faxes were sent that some of the machines shut down.

The district pressed criminal charges, and Bollwerk pleaded guilty to misdemeanor property damage and a later misdemeanor harassment charge stemming from the incident.

On Thursday the State Board of Education voted to revoke Bollwerk's professional licenses.

Bollwerk currently is assistant superintendent of the Winfield School District in Lincoln County, a post he has held since July 1998. Winfield Superintendent Lyle Laughman said Tuesday the district has received no official notification of the state board's action and Bollwerk remains on the job. Bollwerk's future, however, is uncertain. Laughman said Bollwerk has done an excellent job for the district, and the Winfield Board of Education will discuss the matter at its next meeting.

"This is a board-of-education decision," Laughman said. "I expect that by the next meeting we will have heard from the state and will know what options are available to us."

State officials became aware of the Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court convictions of Bollwerk in October 1999 during a routine background check. He was notified in November that an investigation was being conducted, and a hearing into the matter was held in January. The findings of the hearing led to the 6-1 board vote to revoke his certifications. The Cape Girardeau School District played no role in the state action against Bollwerk.

The legislation requiring background checks came about as a result of a 1997 series of investigative reports by the Kansas City Star. The newspaper reports revealed a number of people with criminal backgrounds were working in Kansas City-area schools.

Following the series, Gov. Mel Carnahan issued an executive order directing DESE to step up background investigations. HB 1469 further enhanced the department's investigative role.

"Our goal was to ensure that unfit teachers are not in the classroom," said Chris Sifford, the governor's chief of staff. "That was the purpose of the order, and that was the purpose of the legislation. I think we've reached that.

"I think the legislation has been effective and worked the way we wanted it to. I think we've made good strides in terms of getting unfit teachers out of the classroom."

A number of different avenues are available for conducting background checks.

The names of all certified people working in Missouri schools are checked annually against Missouri Highway Patrol records. Also, DESE runs checks on all substitute teacher applicants -- 28,567 since 1998.

Those who hold teaching certificates in another state who seek a license in Missouri must also submit to fingerprinting. The state Board of Education is in the process of adopting new rules that would require all new certificate applicants to be fingerprinted. The rule would not apply to current Missouri certificate holders.

Also, local districts can request DESE to run background checks and fingerprint their current faculties, other staff and even parent volunteers.

"We've had some instances where parent volunteers have had criminal records and unfortunately were involved in some situations involving kids," said DESE's Jones.

Since 1998, the department has checked more than 3,000 sets of prints with the Highway Patrol and the FBI. Forty school districts and teacher colleges currently require fingerprinting.

DESE also conducted a one-time check on approximately 200,000 other people who have been issued certificates but who either never went into teaching or no longer teach.

"We wanted to run checks on every certificate holder to see if any of those folks committed a crime that would require disciplinary action by the state school board," Jones said.

Conviction of any of 37 serious felonies leads to automatic revocation of certificates without requiring State Board of Education action.

"Anything that falls outside those 37 felonies, an administrative hearing is held first, and then the board members make a decision," Jones said. The board judges the individual facts of each such case, he said.

There have been 52 hearings and 32 automatic revocations. Jones did not know how many revocations or suspensions resulted from board action, as in Bollwerk's case.

Those who have had their certificates revoked may ask the board to reconsider its decision, but their status may change.

Bollwerk, for example, held lifetime certificates as an elementary schoolteacher, elementary school principal and district superintendent. However, the state no longer issues lifetime certificates.

If he were to seek and be granted reinstatement, he would have to meet current department licensing requirements. If he qualified, DESE officials would determine what level of certificate to give him. Although he has 26 years of experience in education, he could be reinstated with a beginner's certificate.

Jones said that prior to 1998 "there was not much checking done." DESE, he said, is better equipped today to ensure that those working in public schools are not a threat to students.

"Looking at where we are today compared to where we were in 1997, it's light years different," Jones said. "Nothing is foolproof, but we are doing a much better job today in looking at a person's background prior to employment and prior to certification."

Jones estimated that problems are found in fewer than 1 percent of the cases.

"Ninety-nine percent of classroom teachers and educators in this state are of high moral quality and do an excellent jobs each day," Jones said. "For the most part, the education community in this state meets a very high standard."

Jones said the background checks are unfortunate but necessary, and the public demands accountability. "If it protects one kid, this whole process is certainly worth the effort," Jones said.

Marc Powers may be contacted in Jefferson City at (573) 635-4608 or by e-mail at mppowers@socket.net.