CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- During CMS superintendent Clayton Wilox’s tenure, the district failed to fingerprint thousands of new hires.
- Thousands of new hires were not fingerprinted during the tenure of suspended CMS superintendent Clayton Wilcox.
- It is not known yet if this is the reason behind his suspension.
- As many as 2,500 were hired without having to submit fingerprints as part of their background checks.
CMS officials say that cannot discuss personnel matters, so we can't confirm if this is the reason behind superintendent Wilcox's suspension, but we do know during the past year as many as 2,500 were hired without having to submit fingerprints as part of their background checks.
Fingerprint checks are not mandated by the state, but a 2016 law encouraged districts to strengthen their background checks of school employees. It is also CMS policy.
North Carolina scored an F in a USA Today investigation on school background checks in 2016.
CMS chief communications office, Tracy Russ said they have already fingerprinted half of those 2,500 new hires in the past few weeks and should have all of them complete before the beginning of the school year.