Category Archives: Fingerprint Background Check

• All Emails From 12/12/2014 to 02/27/2015

Email Chains

• Email – Clearly, I am being harassed (2/14/2015)
• Email – Request results sent directly to district (1/11/2015)
• Email – Concerned about your understanding  (12/30/2014)
• Email to Jester – Employees must be fingerprinted (12/22/2014)
• Email to Chair – OCGA and board policy (12/12/2014)
• Email chain with WSB
• WSB Report

DeKalb County Interim Chief of Police

• Memo from Interim Chief James Conroy
• GCIC Purpose Codes Used
• DeKalb PD Fingerprint Background Check

Requests For The GCIC Purpose Code

• Michael Thurmond – GCIC Purpose Code – Request (1/30/2015)
• Donald Smith – GCIC Purpose Code – Request (1/29/2015)
• Donald Smith – GCIC Purpose Code – Request (1/09/2015)

Related Documents

• FBI Departmental Order
• Dunwoody PD Background Check
• DeKalb PD Fingerprint Background Check
• GCIC Manual
• OCGA §20-2-51 – Persons ineligible to be on the board of education
• O.C.G.A. § 20-2-211.1(c) – Fingerprint & criminal background checks
• DCSD Policy GAHB(B.11) – Employee participation in politics
• DCSD Policy GAK(1) – Criminal background check

Let’s get the facts straight.  I completed a police background check before Christmas, sent the report to the board chair, and posted it on my website.  I think all the board members and administration should put their background checks online for all to see.
Regarding the inaccurate report this evening on WSB; I am dedicated to transparency and disclosure. As the parent of three precious children that go to public school in DeKalb County, I am as concerned about safety as any parent. So, I take great umbrage from the suggestion that I am doing something that might impede safety.
In preparation for my service on the Board of Education, I filled out paperwork and participated in board orientation. The administration asked their internal staff to fingerprint me in order to receive an ID badge. The administration insisted I be fingerprinted because they considered me an “employee” of the district. I researched this and found that both DeKalb BOE policy (GAHB) and state law (OCGA 20-2-51) explicitly state that BOE members are not employees.
After I emailed the Board Chair informing him of the DeKalb BOE policy and state law (OCGA), he emailed me with a new rationale that he was concerned about ensuring a safe environment for DeKalb’s students.
I am happy to submit to a background check, including fingerprinting. In fact, I have my police background check posted on my website. But let’s get two things perfectly clear:

1. There is no requirement in DeKalb policy or Georgia state law that I provide my fingerprints to the school district; and
2. It is a bold conflict of interest to be investigated by the agency I am elected to oversee.

I hope you will join me in understanding this is an attempt to quiet someone who will ask critical questions. If you are dedicated to fiscal stewardship and improving the educational lives of DeKalb’s children, I hope that you will join me in rejecting these bullying tactics.
I look forward to working collaboratively with all board members and staff that are dedicated to providing the most effective education to our children and conservative financial stewardship to our taxpayers. Together, we can improve the educational lives of our children.
All Emails From 12/12/2014 to 02/27/2015

Memo from Interim Chief James Conro