NJ school districts kept dozens of criminals on their payrolls, explosive audit reveals

🚨 Dozens of NJ school, bus staff convicted of crimes still got paid after being banned

⏳ 36 remained on payroll — an average of 18 months— after disqualification

⚖️ Audit finds gaps in enforcement, raising concerns about oversight

TRENTON — Three dozen convicted New Jersey school district employees remained on payrolls after being found guilty of serious crimes, according to a recent state audit.

Auditors looked at state Education Department records from July 2021 through June 2025, as first reported by NJ.com.

NJ audit reveals convicted school employees stayed on payroll

During that four-year span, the Office of Student Safety and School Preparedness processed 518,277 criminal history background checks for job applicants and disqualified just half a percent — or 2,761 individuals.

The audit found that of those permanently banned, 36 had been paid by a school district or bus company for anywhere from seven months to four years after the person was notified of their permanent disqualification.

Read More: New Jersey education crisis: teacher layoffs and school closures

Serious crimes and delayed removals raise safety concerns

This included teachers, teacher aides, bus drivers, bus aides, custodians, security officers, health professionals, and administrators.

In all 36 cases, the disqualifying offense happened after the person had been hired.

While no specifics were given in the audit on any of the 36 cases, crimes that could disqualify employees include serious felonies, such as sexual assault, child abuse and certain drug offenses.

Oversight gaps and reporting failures cited

Employers are responsible for confirming disqualified individuals with the state.

But in 20 of these 36 cases, that wasn’t done — on average more than 18 months following the disqualification letter, according to the audit.

The report found that by state education officials not following up with employers in these cases, it may help allow disqualified individuals to remain employed by nonresponsive employers, “posing a significant threat to the safety of children.”

Auditors recommend that the state should follow up, “repeatedly if necessary,” to ensure that banned ex-employees are removed from payrolls

State pushes back as auditors demand stricter enforcement

The state education department countered the audit, as the process allows, writing “Employees who are undergoing the required due process, appeal, or other administrative procedures may remain on payroll even though they have been removed from duty and are prohibited from having contact with students.”

Auditors doubled down on their findings, saying that the issue of student contact didn’t matter in the case of payroll — and that the report only included ex-employees convicted and permanently banned from future employment.

“Convicted individuals may only appeal the accuracy of the criminal history information and must do so within 14 days. We tested only disqualified individuals who had remained on the payroll at least six months.”

The department also said it “welcomed” legislative changes to give clearer reporting requirements to avoid convicted individuals from receiving unearned paychecks.

Auditors suggested that new state law did not seem necessary.

“Current procedures have resulted in a 99 percent compliance rate. The department should strive to achieve 100 percent compliance by following up with non-responsive districts,” the audit team responded.

The audit report did not disclose any estimated amounts of the unearned paychecks that went out.

As of Wednesday afternoon, state education officials were working to answer whether any of the extra pay to disqualified workers had been clawed back.

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