Should Convicted Drug Offenders Be Able to Volunteer in Schools? Take the Poll.

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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Stephen Beale, GoLocalProv News Editor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cranston School District says that a prior drug conviction should bar someone from volunteering in a school. But the Rhode Island ACLU argues that this policy discriminates against parents like Jessica Gianfrocco—a former heroin addict who has been drug free for six years.

The Rhode Island ACLU yesterday filed a lawsuit in Superior Court charging that the policy—which was adopted about a year ago—is discriminatory and unfair. The ACLU says the policy automatically disqualified volunteers from serving if they have a prior drug conviction, but teachers and others who work in Cranston schools are not disqualified if they have a similar record. (Click here to read the policy—scroll down to pages 49 and 50 on the PDF.)

Gianfrocco applied to be a volunteer at the Arlington Elementary School where her daughter started kindergarten last year, but her application was turned down because she had been convicted of on two counts of felony possession of heroin. She said she appealed to both the superintendent and the school committee and was told there was nothing they could do.

She said children whose parents volunteer in their schools do better later in life—and she wanted to make sure her daughter had that opportunity. She said she felt “inadequate” and “embarrassed” when she was told she was not allowed. “Immediately I felt just like really embarrassed,”  Gianfrocco said. “Now all the teachers know. Now everyone knows I was denied. Are they wondering why I was denied?”

Gianfrocco previously had been allowed to volunteer at her daughter’s daycare and for her cheerleading team with no problem.

At a press conference yesterday she recalled the awkward moment her daughter asked her why she couldn’t volunteer at her school too. “I would say, ‘My boss won’t let me have the day off work,’” Gianfrocco said. "She knows my boss because I brought her to work with me and she would say, ‘Yes he does he will let you have the day off. Just say it’s for me.’” (Click here to watch the video.)

PTG President Says Policy Should Be Changed

Rhonda Moore, the president of the Arlington Elementary Parent Teacher Group and parent of a second-grader at the school, understands that the school district wants to keep child predators away from schools, but says the policy should be changed to accommodate parents like Gianfrocco (pictured right) who have recovered and paid their debt to society.

She described Gianfrocco as a person of good character who is a committed member of the PTG, serving as its correspondence coordinator. “She’s a trustworthy person. I would trust her to watch my kids,” I find her to be a very good person.”

Moore said many parents did not want to pay $5 for the background criminal check. As a result, she said the school only has about a dozen parents on its volunteer list.

She doubted that many parents would have a problem with Gianfrocco being one of those volunteers. “A lot of people know her character,” Moore said. “She’s a stable face at the school. She’s always there to pick up her daughter on time.”

ACLU Leader Says Ex-Offenders Mistreated

Steven Brown, the executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU (pictured left), said the group has heard that other school districts are considering policies similar to the one in Cranston.

“This policy puts an unnecessary and really cruel barrier in the way of people like Jessica … who want to be part of the school, be part of their children’s education and yet can’t get out of a past criminal record that has gone by, that’s she’s all she can to erase,” Brown said. “And we think that’s terribly unfair.”

He said Gianfrocco had done everything possible to fix her life and pay her debt. As part of her recovery, he said she had attended a 12-step program and now was taking classes to become a drug counselor for others struggling with dependency.

“Our society as a general rule has been extraordinarily hypocritical when it comes to ex-offenders,” Brown said. “We demand that they rehabilitate themselves which is perfectly appropriate. But then when they do so we continue to punish them and stigmatize them in various ways. And Jessica’s situation is a perfect example of that.”

Former School Principal Criticizes Policy

Neil Corkery, executive director of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island, applauded Gianfrocco for giving hope to other former drug addicts that they can turn their lives around. “For her to sit here in front of a host of cameras and confront this and be really a beacon of hope for a lot other young mothers and others who are in the same circumstances I think is a credit to her,” Corkery said.

Corkery, himself a past school principal, said he understood where the school district was coming from and wasn’t trying to “lay blame” on local administrators. “Sometimes there are unintended consequences to policies that people create that they didn’t anticipate,” Corkery said.

Cranston School Superintendent Peter Nero declined comment yesterday, as did school committee member Stephanie Culhane, who said she had yet to be served with the suit. 

Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Education, said state law mandates criminal background checks for anyone who works in a school district. He said the department encourages districts to do similar checks on volunteers, but, because it is not a requirement, he said the state does not track how many districts do it.

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• Mother Banned From Voluntering at Daughter’s School

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