CONCORD, NH – Governor Maggie Hassan issued the following statement after today signing Senate Bill 152, relative to criminal history records checks for school employees and designated school volunteers:
“Ensuring public safety, especially for our schools and our young people, is state government’s most important responsibility, and we must always work together to strengthen protections for our most vulnerable and to keep students and children safe from harm. By facilitating stronger criminal record checks on potential school employees and designated school volunteers, Senate Bill 152 will strengthen our efforts to protect students and help superintendents identify patterns of behavior that could impact the safety of our schools.
“I am thankful that legislators from both parties have taken this important step forward to protect the safety of young Granite Staters, and I am proud to sign this bipartisan bill that will help ensure that our students can continue to learn and thrive in a safe school environment.”
The legislation to expand background checks was filed following a case two years at Stevens High School that involved math teacher Christopher LeBlanc who was charged with sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old student. He later pled guilty to two charges of sexual assault and is serving a multi-year sentence at the state prison. He had a criminal record for theft and other charges that did not show up in the allowed background check when he was hired.
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