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Virginia lawmakers seek to improve reporting system after FCPS counselor remained on job after sex crime arrest, conviction

The Virginia Department of Education said it is always interested in hearing ideas in improving the system to provide more protection.

WASHINGTON — Virginia lawmakers will likely propose legislation to help improve how crimes are being reported across jurisdictions in the commonwealth after a school counselor remained on the job despite his conviction of soliciting sex from a minor. 

Senator Scott Surovell, D-District 36, who represents a part of Fairfax County, informed the Virginia Department of Education of temporary solutions to create a more systematic approach to sharing arrest information with school divisions.

"We ought to make the law clear that the Virginia Department of Education is to maintain a public list of where these notices are to go, what email address, what phone number, and then law enforcement is to notify the school division through both email and fax on that list."

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid dismissed 50-year-old Darren Thornton, a Glasgow Middle School counselor, nearly a month ago after she learned he had been arrested and convicted for the sex crime. 

The school system admitted Thornton should have been fired when he was first charged with the crime in November 2020. 

Police in Chesterfield County, just south of Richmond, where the crime happened said they tried to notify FCPS the day after the arrest but their emails bounced back. 

Thornton remained on the job even after he was arrested for the second time for allegedly soliciting prostitution in June.

The mishap highlighted a system Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay described as a breakdown and lack of oversight from the Commonwealth. 

In a letter sent this week to the delegation of Fairfax County, McKay urged a standardized reporting system to prevent a similar incident from happening again. 

"The state code is so unclear about what the requirements are for reporting that it puts our children in danger," McKay told WUSA9. "The fact that there's no better guidance from the state, accountability, paper trail or anything else seems nonsensical when you're dealing with our children's safety."

On Thursday, the same day Dr. Reid addressed any concerns and questions from Glasgow Middle School parents in person, Virginia State Police arrested Thornton for violations regarding registering as a sex offender. He was accused of lying about his job status which listed him as "self-employed."

Surovell recommended a centralized database for VDOE by having the superintendent of public instruction send a letter to all school systems and ask them to provide a designated email address and fax number for law enforcement to notify them.

He said they are interim solutions while the Virginia State Police undergo an overhaul to its background check database system. As part of approved legislation passed last year, there will be a new notification system in January 2025 that would alert school systems and other agencies of an arrest of someone after they passed a criminal background check.

It can also help notify of arrests across state lines. 

"You will get up to the minute information, and if that person gets arrested two days after, instead of missing it, that information would automatically be forwarded," Senator David Marsden, D-District 37, told WUSA9. "It's like anything with technology. It just takes time to do that."

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said his office is also investigating to see how the mistake involving Thornton happened in the first place.  

“This is part of our desire, my office, to make sure that there's both a sense of accountability, but also for entities to learn where there's been mistakes,” he said. 

RELATED: Fairfax Co. parents want answers after counselor arrested, investigation underway

RELATED: Fairfax leaders, AG Miyares call for changes after middle school counselor scandal

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