By Quinn O’Hara

A report from the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General found that nearly one-third of Kansas school employees who provide Medicaid services didn’t have proof of completed background checks.

As a result of these findings, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is recommending that school districts conduct fingerprint and criminal history investigations of all school employees every five years.

The report sought out to discover information on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s ability to provide effective school-based Medicaid programs. The report sampled 17 of Kansas’ 287 public schools and found that over 1,000 school medical providers may be working without a background check.

The report also found that there was no state-level requirement for background checks for many types of employees in public schools, such as therapists, bus drivers, cooks, or janitors. It also discovered that many teachers across the state of Kansas were only required to have a single background check, and that it would be safe to assume that there are teachers who have not had a background check in up to 20 years.