A four- to five-month wait for the results of background checks for Utah schoolteachers and other professionals isn't acceptable.

While the Utah Legislature's Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee has recommended that legislative leaders appropriate $31,000 to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation to cover employee overtime costs to keep pace with background checks, a one-time appropriation addresses only part of the problem. The Legislature should also provide funds so BCI can purchase digital technology to speed up fingerprint checks, the demand for which grew exponentially after the Sept. 11 attacks on America. New laws require that real estate agents and people with access to public water supplies undergo background checks. BCI attempted to keep up with the additional workload, but even with some overtime work, the checks fell months behind schedule.

Particularly troubling is the backlog of criminal background checks among new and student teachers. There are likewise delays in processing the fingerprint cards of school volunteers, non-teacher coaches, substitute teachers and other school district employees. While the vast majority of school employees pass the criminal background checks, any substantial delay is of concern because it opens up the possibility that people with criminal records could conceivably work in schools for several months before their backgrounds are fully investigated. Utah can't invite that sort of trouble.

BCI, like other state agencies, is in the position of attempting to play catch-up with its needs after a number of lean budget years. Pay increases are a high priority for the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the BCI. That's perfectly understandable. Seemingly, though, state legislators would have been receptive to address the fingerprint card backlog if only it had been brought to their attention sooner. Many legislators first learned about the backlog when they read their Saturday morning newspapers.

This backlog poses an unacceptable risk to students, teachers and other school employees. It is also a huge liability concern. Fortunately, nearly all people who apply to work in Utah schools have clean backgrounds. But the state can ill-afford to have even one predator slip through the cracks. The backlog of fingerprint checks opens the door to that possibility.

Overtime pay is a good first step to allay the backlog, but for the long term, legislators must commit to purchase technology that expedites fingerprint checks and can keep up with the growing demand.