Maryland school districts could be required to add another step to their hiring processes after a Baltimore County athletic director was hired for a job he wasn’t qualified for.

State Sen. Shelly Hettleman, who represents Baltimore County, has introduced legislation called the School Personnel Vetting and Hiring Transparency Act. If it passes, school systems would have to use a national database called the Educator Identification Clearinghouse to screen job applicants for disciplinary actions reported by school districts across the country.

The clearinghouse is run by the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, a nearly 100-year-old organization with over 300 members.

It could’ve come in handy for Baltimore County Public Schools if they had been members at the time.

Dazhon Darien, a former athletic director at Pikesville High School, applied to the school system using résumés riddled with claims that were questionable or untrue. A 2024 Baltimore Banner investigation found he’d done it at least four times and that Florida’s education department had flagged him in the clearinghouse eight years earlier for submitting fraudulent transcripts when he applied for a teaching license.

The Maryland State Department of Education found Florida’s warning when Darien applied for a teaching license here but not until nearly a year after he started working for Baltimore County schools.

He was hired in 2023, first as a social studies teacher at Randallstown High School, then as athletic director at Pikesville High, where students said he made them feel uncomfortable.

The following year, he was arrested after being accused of using artificial intelligence to make it sound as if his principal made racist and antisemitic comments. Last month, he was indicted by a federal grand jury after being charged with sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.

After Hettleman read about the principal of her alma mater allegedly being framed through AI audio, “it made me look more deeply in the vetting process for teachers and other school personnel. That is the impetus behind the bill.”

Del. David Moon, who represents Montgomery County, is sponsoring the bill on the House side. He said he’s supporting it because of the AI incident and Darien’s fraudulent applications.

Not only can this bill help school systems “do a better job rooting out teachers who may have had problematic backgrounds in other states, it’s also a huge liability issue for counties who aren’t doing additional screening,” Moon said.

He referenced the lawsuit against Baltimore County Public Schools filed by Eric Eiswert, the principal whom Darien allegedly framed. In the lawsuit, Eiswert said Darien was never qualified to work in the school system.

The House majority leader said he has “high hopes” of the bill passing. Anything with a fiscal note can be challenging to pass, Moon said, but the $30,000 it would cost for all school systems to join the association that runs the clearinghouse would be worth it.

The association has been tracking “adverse action” against licensed educators since 1985. Its executive director, Jimmy Adams, said he’s seen an increase in membership over the past year. He didn’t know the exact number but suspected nearly 150 new members.

Virginia is the only state that’s made it law for all its school districts to join. Like Maryland, Delaware also has a bill on the table require it, he said.

“Just because someone’s in the clearinghouse, that’s not a reason not to hire them,” Adams said. But it should tell districts to find out more information, he added.

Maryland’s education department doesn’t provide guidance on hiring, but it is supporting Hettleman’s bill.

Maryland school districts are required to conduct criminal background checks. However, those checks won’t reveal “administrative action” against an employee, Adams said. Records from Darien’s job at a Florida school showed administrators confronted him about texting a female student.

Free to clearinghouse and association members is a model code of ethics for educators. Adams said the group is having a symposium in Minneapolis in the fall to show how it can be implemented. Staff members can learn to comfortably confront a colleague if they notice something suspicious.

It “lets your peers know, ‘I’m watching out for you, but if you’re doing something wrong, I’m watching you,’” Adams said.

Adams said he will testify in support of Maryland’s bill at a hearing this week.

Anne Arundel, Caroline, Charles, Frederick and Montgomery County school systems have had access to the clearinghouse for at least a few years. Baltimore County joined in July, less than two months after The Banner’s investigation into Darien’s applications.

Myriam Rogers, Baltimore County’s superintendent, said Thursday that, on top of using the clearinghouse, the district also checks credentials through university clearinghouses.

Hettleman said she isn’t sure if the bill will pass. The upcoming hearing will give her a better idea. It doesn’t seem like implementing the extra layer of screening would be onerous on school systems, she said.

“I hope every LEA [local education agency] would want this in their hiring process,” Hettleman said.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.