Killing ‘Pass The Trash’ Helps Keep Sex Offenders Out Of Schools

By Evan Grossman | PA Independent

A proposal pushed by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey and based on a state law enacted last year puts “pass the trash” in the dumpster.

The recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaces No Child Left Behind and governs federal aid for K-12 education, carried along with it Toomey’s amendment to prevent schools from helping a known child molester get a job elsewhere. Remarkably, this was legal until now.

The practice is known as “passing the trash.” A similar bill was enacted last year in Pennsylvania, aimed at stopping sex offenders from finding safe harbor in other schools without informing the new school of their past crimes.

“For the first time, Congress has acted to protect our children from pedophiles infiltrating America’s classrooms,” Toomey said. “It is hard to imagine that this appalling practice ever occurs — much less occurs so frequently as to have its own moniker, ‘passing the trash.’ Congress’s ban is long overdue. This is a victory for children in Pennsylvania and across the country.”

The legislation was inspired by the case of Jeremy Bell, a 12-year-old who was murdered in 1997 in West Virginia by his elementary school principal.

In 2005, Edgar Friedrichs, 63, was convicted of felony murder after Bell died from ingesting chloroform, or a similar substance, Friedrichs used while sexually assaulting him.

Friedrichs was previously fired for molesting several children while working in Delaware County, Pa., but the school there sent letters of recommendation that helped him get a new job in West Virginia. Friedrichs was essentially allowed to roam free and hurt more children in a new state, eventually abducting Bell and taking him to a remote cabin where the boy died.

In 2006, Bell’s family won a $2.5 million settlement from West Virginia’s Fayette County Board of Education when it was accused of ignoring complaints about Friedrichs’ behavior by parents and other teachers.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said adding the amendment would not have happened without Toomey’s “tireless advocacy for vulnerable children.”

The measure bars any school district receiving federal funds from assisting a school employee in obtaining a new job — for example, by writing a positive reference letter — if the district is aware of or recklessly disregards information that the employee engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor. The penalty for a violation is loss of federal money.