PI: Wake Schools Should Not Have Missed Criminal Charges Of Teacher's Assistant

Tony Allen was in court Thursday on New Jersey fraud charges -- charges a standard Wake County background check missed. Under that check, the school system only researches the areas where the potential employees say they lived, but private investigator Carlyle Poindexter says he can use his computer to do a complete, nationwide search in just minutes.

"They can get access to this as much as I can," he said. "They're the state. They're in position to get access to the database the same I am."

The school system fired Allen and reviewed its policy on background checks, but right now, it has no plans to make changes.

Liza Weidle, president of the Wake County PTA, supports the school system's decision.

"I trust the system. I do believe that they are attending to the details," she said.

Some school board members have said the system works and it does not need to be changed. They believe the latest incident was an isolated case.

However, School Board Chairwoman Susan Parry said it would not hurt to look at the issue to see if improvements can be made.

Reporter:

John Bachman