An undisclosed number of teachers working at Great Hearts Texas, a charter school with locations in San Antonio, returned to work on April 19 after being placed on administrative leave for several days.
The action was required after the Texas Education Agency found that background paperwork, including fingerprinting, had been improperly filed with the state, according to statements from the school at the time.
In a statement to the San Antonio Report Monday, the charter’s interim superintendent Kurtis Indorf said the network continues to cooperate with the TEA.
“Great Hearts Texas is investigating how these errors in process and submission occurred and is implementing immediate corrective action, starting with bringing the employee onboarding and background check function in-house for increased accountability, scrutiny, and safety,” he said. “As of April 19, all of the affected employees have been rectified in the state’s system and those employees have returned to work.”
Great Hearts Texas representatives did not immediately respond to questions Monday about which outside organization was handling onboarding and background checks before the mishap.
But the mistake could have happened in another state. In a lawsuit filed against the network’s Arizona-based parent company, Great Hearts America, last year, Great Hearts Texas alleged that the executive leadership was “applying undue pressure, influence, and attempted control over GHTX’s finances, human resources, record keeping, employee benefits … and overall operational authority and control.”
The lawsuit, which alleged that the parent company was exerting influence in violation of Texas law, was dropped before getting an official hearing, but the TEA opened an inquiry into the charter network shortly thereafter. The agency hasn’t shared details on what exactly is being investigated.
The superintendent leading the district when the suit was filed resigned last year after the suit was dropped.
Great Hearts America did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the compliance issues Monday afternoon.
The TEA declined to comment on the return of employees Monday, citing the ongoing investigation.
In an email sent to parents the week of April 8, Indorf said the fingerprint issues were discovered during a review of HR-related compliance measures by the agency.
Great Hearts Texas did not share how many teachers or schools were affected by the oversight.
Under the Texas Education Code, all certified educators, substitute teachers, educational aides, charter school employees and contracted employees who have direct contact with children are required to submit fingerprints and are subject to national background check prior to employment.
