Louisiana Voice

The St. Tammany Parish School Board, while refusing to reveal when – or even if – background checks had been carried out on key employees, nevertheless may have found itself in violation of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by allowing third parties to see teachers’ responses to questions about Covid vaccinations.

Meanwhile, LouisianaVoice has learned that following the board’s KILLING THE MICROPHONE of Justin Bleker last month as he attempted to speak about his 2007 rape by an elementary school custodian, more parents have come forward to claim that their children were molested while attending St. Tammany Parish public schools.

LouisianaVoice has obtained information that the entire St. Tammany school system is in a state of disarray with several schools sitting on half-million-dollar student activity accounts while issuing multiple credit cards to employees, giving them unchecked access to the funds.

After Abney Elementary School custodian DINO SCHWERTZ was convicted in 2009 of raping Bleker and after Bleker was awarded more than $450,000 by the 22^nd Judicial District Court, it was learned that Schwertz was never properly vetted for employment by the school board. Despite having been on probation for bank fraud and with a second criminal conviction for violation of a protective order on his record, he nevertheless checked “NO” on his job application when it asked “Have you ever plead [sic] guilty or no contest or been convicted of a criminal offense?

The school board is required to conduct criminal background checks on all employees but Schwertz’s background check wasn’t completed for three months. That same law allows temporary employment until the results of the background checks are received. Even after it did come back, however, the principal at Abney was never given his background check to review.

That law was expanded to include contractors and vendors in August 2017. It says:

“The St. Tammany Parish School Board shall require all contractors and vendors doing business with the School Board to maintain adequate insurance coverage. The contractor or vendor may not appear at the facility either to unload materials or to begin work until a valid insurance certificate requested by the Superintendent or his/her designee has been provided to the Superintendent or his/her designee. If the contractor or vendor cannot provide requested coverages, another contractor or vendor may be secured.

• No contract shall be countersigned by the Superintendent or authorized School Board representative unless a valid insurance certificate has been provided. 
• Once a valid insurance certificate has been received, the Superintendent or his/her designee shall assure that the certificate is valid and meets the limits prescribed in the specifications and/or contract agreement.”

Schwertz’s conviction was nearly 12 years ago but the school board may still be negligent in running background checks on its employees, LouisianaVoice has learned. School Superintendent Frank Jabbia has refused to comply with several public records requests seeking dates that background checks were requested and when the results were received by the board. All such requests specifically noted that nothing contained in the background reports themselves was being sought.

Jabbia cited applicants’ privacy rights in refusing the records requests.

At the same time, LouisianaVoice learned on Tuesday that Jabbia was circulating a questionnaire sheet asking teachers to check Yes or No by their names as to whether they intended to obtain Covid vaccinations.

Because the names of all teachers at a given school are on each of the forms, it would enable respondents to see how other teachers who received the form before them responded. That would be a violation of HIPAA, but Jabbia apparently wasn’t as concerned over privacy when it was information school board officials desired.

He did respond to one person who expressed concern over the apparent HIPAA violation that the problem was “already being dealt with.” He didn’t specify what steps were taken to “deal with” the problem.

But Rebecca Bleker, mother of rape victim Justin Bleker, was not placated. She sent an email to Jabbia that said “Retaliation has [been] what I see as a normal occurrence within [the] St. Tammany Parish school system.” But now, she said, the board has moved into an area that she said was “a specialty of mine. I am a nurse and for you to display a piece of paper and expect people to express their medical information for everyone to see is a violation of HIPAA Laws.”

She also said she was aware of retaliation by the school board against one of her son’s teachers who was seen talking to her. 

“You can allow personal information [to be] spread that clearly is a violation of HIPAA but a simple date of hire and date of a completed background check is an issue,” she said, adding that she felt the board would take any measure it could to deny her access to records.

“I know I requested documentation of rules and guidelines for Janitors now and even that has not been given to me. Just like the background check on Schwertz, STPSB makes their own rules [on] how to handle things.

“Mr. Jabbia you need to clean house and start doing your job or you very well might be out of a job. The board can clearly fire you for you not getting rid of those who have not done their jobs. I think at this point that may have to be the option.”

“We are learning there were many more [victims] than we knew,” said one former board employee. “Now, one mother of an autistic, nonverbal child is also coming forward after all these years saying she suspected [her child was molested] but could never confirm because her child was nonverbal.

“This Board and administration [have] failed to protect children, and continue to obstruct parents’ rights to information regarding the systemic failures of this Board and administration,” the former employee said.

Another unconfirmed report said that a second class-action lawsuit had been filed against the board for sexual abuse of children in parish schools. 

“You can call anyone any name you wish, but if it was your child that was protected by someone who had skin thick enough to handle your insults, you would be on your hands and knees thanking God that He gave them the courage to take a stand,” the former employee said, apparently referring to personal insults directed her way by school board officials.      

“Are you allowing these individuals to walk onto school grounds without a background check?” Mrs. Bleker asked of the entire school board. “You have got to be nuts. I know that many contractors and vendors hire child molesters and you are not even putting this within your policies?

“Someone needs to respond to me and not ignore this.”