A bill requiring national background checks on contract employees and employees of third party contractors working with Rhode Island school districts was recently passed by the Rhode Island House chamber. According to the East Greenwich Patch, the bill was enacted to close a loophole that was discovered after an incident in November 2013, when a school bus monitor was charged with possessing and sharing child porn. The monitor worked for a third-party contractor, and state law only required national background checks on direct employees of public and private schools and school districts.


The bill is on its way to the state Senate.