Safe trips: School board's decision on background checks prudent

Naivete sometimes creeps in, and complacency then leads to the intersection of cliches.

That's where "I never thought it would happen to me" generally collides with "hindsight is 20-20."

So after giving it some thought, and learning that it would come at no cost to taxpayers, we decided to throw our support behind a new measure proposed at the latest meeting of the Wayne County Board of Education.

Initially, requiring background checks of parents or guardians who wish to accompany their children's classes on field trips or off-campus excursions seemed like an overreach, an abundance of caution that amounted to little more than added red tape and unnecessary regulation.

But along with seat belts and bike helmets, there are a lot of safety measures we didn't grow up with that are now not only commonplace, they are looked at as common sense, foregone conclusions that, if were missing, we would be outraged over.

And while we hope some common sense will be applied to what will constitute a disqualifying factor in a parent's background that prevents them from attending their students trip to the planetarium, we surely don't want a convicted sex offender escorting our kids to the restroom, away from a teacher's or administrator's watchful eye.

Published in Editorials on October 22, 2017 9:47 PM