Susan Wagoner
The recent discovery of a convicted sex offender working as a volunteer at a small private school has called into question the volunteer policies of school both public and private.
Warren Scott Mills was invited to volunteer as a cook for the Ketchum Adventist Academy, a small school run by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church nearby. Mills is a member of the congregation.
Principal Wes McWilliams said that there were policies in place for background checks regarding school volunteers and that one was conducted soon after Mills began.
However, according to parent Sarah Reeves, Mills worked on the campus, in direct contact with the children, for several months before a background check was done.
Reeves said she and her husband were so wary of Mills at their first meeting that they approached the principal to inquire about a background check. Reeves’ husband, who has worked with the Department of Corrections, recognized that many of Mills’ responses in their initial conversation contained prison lingo, raising a red flag immediately.
When the background check was finally conducted, the results revealed that Mills was a Level 3 convicted sex offender, defined as “a high risk to the community with a history of predatory sex crimes.” He was convicted in the late 1980s of lewd or indecent proposals/acts to a child in Phoenix, Ariz. His victim was a seven-year-old girl. He had not registered as a sex offender in the state of Oklahoma.
While many schools have policies detailing background checks on paid staff as well as volunteers, the lines can be somewhat blurry on enforcement of the policy, for both public and private schools.
Don Raleigh, superintendent of Pryor Public Schools, said that anyone who is employed in the school system, or receives pay such as substitute teaching, is subjected to a background check before employment.
“As far as volunteers, we really look to the building principal for guidance,” Raleigh said. “It is something we always worry about.”
Relationships built between potential volunteers and principals are key in the screening process, according to Raleigh. Also included are other relationships with other organizations within the school, such as the Parents/Teachers organization.
“Most of our volunteers are long standing residents of the area or have a long relationship with the school already,” he said. “However, if a volunteer wants to become a substitute teacher, they are then screened in a background check.”
With some of the schools undergoing building projects, questions are raised as to the safety of the workers who are involved in the construction. Raleigh said, however, that the issue is addressed with the builders and architects before ground is ever turned.
“They have to sign an affidavit stating that every person affiliated with the project on school grounds has been checked and that no sex offenders are among their crews on site,” he said. “That’s the only way we can handle something like that.”
Bradford Christian School, a private school also located in Pryor, also has policies in place. According to acting Administrator Marilyn Mauck, there is a strictly enforced policy on their volunteers.
“We have a background check on file for every volunteer who assists at the school,” she said. “You can’t take a chance.”
That wasn’t always the case, she said, adding that 17 years ago, when she first came to the school, there were no policies in place addressing that particular issue.
“Part of the change came with our accreditation,” she said. “It is a requirement that we have a background check on file. But it’s also because times have changed. It’s too scary. Even the nicest people, you just never know.”
Background checks have a price tag on them for every one run, a tough thing for schools facing so many budget cuts, but it’s money well spent, according to Mauck.
“It’s worth the cost to counter the risk,” she said.
Mayes County Sheriff’s Investigator Chuck Ward said registered sex offenders have clearly defined rules when it comes to the law, but agrees that more change is needed.
“Currently, it is a felony for a sex offender to live within 2,000 feet of a school,” he said, adding that the law applies to schools, licensed daycares, playgrounds or parks.
Certain sex offenders are even subject to a loitering law, which states that a sex offender cannot loiter within 300 feet of any of those areas either.
“They just can’t hang around those places either,” Ward said, but added that there are exceptions, such as a registered sex offender on site to drop off or pick up their child. Even then, he said, they have to do what they’re there to do, then go.
What is surprising is that it is just a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to work on school premises.
“They can’t live near a school or its a felony, but they can work there and the most we can do is slap them with a misdemeanor,” Ward said.
The 2,000 feet law doesn’t apply to churches however. In the recent incident at the Ketchum Adventist Academy, Mills was a member of the church. The school is located on the same grounds. Both facilities share a gymnasium/cafeteria building, which is adjoined to the school.
After Mills was arrested for not registering as a sex offender and was let go from the school, there was an additional incident about a month ago that upset concerned parent, Reeves.
A funeral dinner was scheduled at the church cafeteria during school hours. Once again, Mills volunteered as a member of the congregation to assist with the dinner.
“My nine-year-old daughter called me on her cell phone to tell me that he was at the school again,” Reeves said. Extremely upset, she called Principal McWilliams. “I asked him about it and he responded that the guy wasn’t near the children. The cafeteria is attached to the school. He had to be close enough to the kids for my daughter to see him there.”
She threatened to call law enforcement. McWilliams did handle the situation. He locked the doors that would grant access to the school from the cafeteria.
“I placed a volunteer in the area, called the superintendent and then the district attorney’s office,” McWilliams said. After that incident, it was made clear to Mills that he could not be at the church or other buildings while school was in session, he said.
Regardless of school policy, the key to safety will continue to be enforcement of those policies as well as good old fashioned “looking out for one another.” Investigator Ward agrees.
“I would like for there to be stiffer penalties on sex offenders, but until then, we will work with what we’ve got,” Ward said.
