This NBC4 article is exactly why SEA keeps warning about released time laws.
This is not about blaming public schools.
We support public schools.
Our concern is with lawmakers and outside organizations creating systems that pull children off campus during the school day, away from the layered safety protections schools work so hard to maintain.
NBC4 reports that LifeWise confirmed Christopher Alan Riggs had been a teacher with LifeWise Tri-Valley and that he passed LifeWise’s screening process at the time.
That should alarm everyone.
Because background checks are not a complete safety system.
Public schools have strict procedures, supervision rules, visitor controls, documentation, mandatory reporting structures, and accountability systems for a reason.
But legislators in Ohio and MANY other states are tying districts’ hands and forcing them to accommodate programs that remove children from campus during school hours.
The question is not whether monsters exist everywhere.
They do.
The question is why lawmakers are building systems that pull children away from the layered safeguards public schools work tirelessly to maintain during the school day.
And why the same politicians screaming about “parental rights” are forcing districts to hand children off to outside religious programs while parents are left struggling to understand who has access to their kids, what oversight exists, and what protections are actually in place.
Public schools are expected to account for children every minute they are in their care.
But legislators in Ohio and other states are pushing laws that force schools to accommodate programs that remove students from campus during instructional hours and place them under the supervision of outside organizations.
Then, when serious questions arise, everyone suddenly wants to pretend the safety concerns belong to someone else.
They do not.
If lawmakers are going to force this system onto public schools and families, then the public has every right to demand accountability, transparency, and serious guardrails.
NBC4 report on Christopher Alan Riggs case
What people are saying:
- Facebook User: Pay attention.
- Facebook User: Parents who are allowing their children to go with these people who they do not know… I don’t know what they’re thinking.
- Facebook User: Facebook User I want my kid indoctrinated with my bigotry but I’m too lazy to do it myself
- Facebook User: Facebook User that’s a sad truth for the vast majority of people in Ohio.
- Facebook User: Since one of the crimes happened in November, and he resigned LW in November, maybe this has been under negotiation since then. Wonder what the higher, original charge was.
- Facebook User: Thank you for sharing! You mention that we should be concerned about the background check not being enough, what would a public school do that would flag them to not have hired him? Can you help me understand what public schools do to better vet?
- Facebook User: Wish they would shock us by not being sexual predators.
- Facebook User: There are lots of sorry parents out here! They send their kids to church on a bus and now life wise can take them out of school . It’s obvious many parents do not take the time to get involved in their children’s lives! I never trusted my kids with church people why would a child be allowed to leave school in a bus with a stranger?
- Facebook User: It’s always the Rape-ublicans
Leave a Reply