Following an Inspector General investigation that revealed long-standing process flaws, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPD) Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor reassured families on Monday, August 4, that all current MCPS workers have passed the necessary background checks. With an emphasis on responsibility and openness, he underlined that students are safe and provided a list of urgent steps to enhance CPS clearances, ongoing monitoring, and screening practices in general.
To the Families and Community of MCPS,I’m writing to let you know of a crucial procedural problem in our school system that ought to have been resolved years ago.Significant concerns regarding our school district’s background screening procedure were brought up in a report issued today by the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General. These problems are caused by flaws in our systems that have existed since at least 2019 and were not adequately fixed by previous administrations. Now that the entire scope of these problems has been revealed, we are acting quickly and seriously to address them.
This is the main point:
Yes, your kids are secure. Here’s what you should know.
1. Is every MCPS employee required to complete a background check?
Indeed.A fingerprint-based criminal background check is a requirement for employment with MCPS. Until the check is finished and cleared in accordance with applicable law and policy, no employee may start working.
2. Has every MCPS employee had a criminal background check?
Indeed.Every MCPS employee currently employed has undergone a criminal background investigation. This has always been a prerequisite for starting work at MCPS.
3. So what s the big deal?
There are two major issues.
First: In order to improve continuous monitoring, we are making sure that all personnel employed prior to 2019 are rechecked and included to the FBI’s RapBack continuous monitoring system.This job will proceed using a thorough plan to quickly and regularly recheck every employee.
Second, in order to make sure that staff members have no documented histories of child abuse or neglect, MCPS policy mandates an extra screening procedure: a Child Protective Services (CPS) clearance. The procedure for finishing these checks, which are handled by Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services, has not kept up with MCPS hiring, despite the fact that this clearance has long been necessary. We’re working to address issue as well, but it will take continued cooperation between our two agencies.
Not implementing the state’s online portal for CPS checks after being informed in March 2024 and ceasing re-fingerprinting and RapBack enrollments in 2020 due to the pandemic are two of the major failures in recent years. These issues are now being thoroughly addressed with transparency and urgency.
The important thing is that we are making the necessary corrections to what was not done fully or consistently in the past, and we are doing so with urgency, openness, and a focus on doing it correctly.
Here Are the Other Necessary Actions Underway:
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Real-Time Clearance Tracking
A new system launched in July 2025 enables schools to instantly verify that no contractor or volunteer begins work without proper clearance. -
Modernizing CPS Submissions
We worked with Montgomery County Child Welfare Services to replace the old paper process with a digital system that allows faster, more coordinated CPS background checks. This has led to dramatic reductions in CPS processing times from 4-6 weeks down to just a few business days. -
Training and Oversight
We are training staff and putting stronger accountability systems in place for anyone managing background clearances. -
Partnering for Screening That Meets Hiring Demand
Since another agency conducts CPS checks, we ve worked with county and state officials to increase capacity and reduce the backlog.
We do not and legally cannot perform these checks ourselves, but we are pushing for improvements at every level.
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Rebadging All Staff
All employees will receive new ID badges once they are re-cleared. The new badges will include more visual information to strengthen school-level safety and ensure up-to-date screening.
The whole action plan and the letter I wrote to the Inspector General are available here.
As we move forward with these initiatives—some of which are immediate and others that will take time—my staff and I will keep you informed. We are fully dedicated to carrying out the proper work to improve and repair our systems, and we are aware that the only way we can gain your trust is by proving our progress with concrete examples and sound deeds. This school year will be fantastic, and we will overcome this and come out stronger. Together, we are creating a more robust and secure MCPS.
Regards,Thomas W. Taylor, Superintendent of Schools, Ed.D, MBA
