Dave Boucher

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

A few days before Scott Atchison was arrested on suspicion of videotaping a 17-year-old female student changing in a private room, the band director resigned from his position at Hanford High School in Hanford, Calif.

That was in October 2003. A jury found Atchison guilty of the misdemeanor in June 2004, sentencing him to 30 days in jail and three years’ probation, according to court records from Kings County, Calif. In 2006, the state of California denied a substitute permit application filed in 2003 due to "misconduct by an applicant."

Yet more than a decade later, after bouncing around from Tennessee — where he attended the University of Tennessee grad school and for a time directed the men’s basketball band — to Washington serving in various educational capacities, Atchison is now director of the University of Kentucky marching band.

"I did go through a legal process, and we came to a conclusion there, and the charges I was charged with was dropped," Atchison said.

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"I didn’t do anything wrong back when I was accused of it. My history in the profession has been nothing but above board."

That's incorrect, according to court documents. The documents show a jury unanimously deemed Atchison guilty "of unlawfully attempting to view by any means of any instrumentality, to wit a camcorder, the interior of an area in which the occupancy has a reasonable expectation of privacy ... ."

In addition to the 30-day jail sentence, Atchison was ordered to perform 40 hours of community service, avoid the victim and not set foot on the premises of a high school or elementary school.

After reading the verdict of the jury to Atchison, he said he still didn’t do anything wrong. Asked if the 30-day jail sentence and three years' probation sounded accurate, Atchison said “parts of that do, yes.”

He declined further comment when asked to confirm how much time he spent in jail.

When asked whether Atchison's past was relevant for any UK students, university spokesman Jay Blanton said, "We have no further comment."

Atchison’s case remains in a national clearinghouse of teacher disciplinary action run by a private organization that institutions can use to run background checks on possible job candidates.

'A tremendous problem'

A USA TODAY investigation found a raft of issues with teacher background check policies and procedures across the country. Although many districts share details about disciplined teachers with the NASDTEC Clearinghouse, operated by the nonprofit National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, many do not.

Although Atchison said he never applied for a teaching license in Tennessee, there is a profile for Atchison on the Tennessee Department of Education licensure website. That's because any time a name appears in the NASDTEC system, Tennessee automatically creates a profile for a person.

"This flag is created in case he ever applies with us," said McKenzie Manning, spokeswoman for the state Board of Education.

That might have happened in Atchison's case, but no other Tennessee profile exists for many other names, according to a Tennessean review of other teachers listed on the NASDTEC database for disciplinary action.

It can be hard to track teachers who've been disciplined, especially if they move across the country, said Terry Abbott, a former chief of staff with the U.S. Department of Education.

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"Unfortunately, too many school districts have for years allowed employees to resign in lieu of termination in these kinds of cases," said Abbott, who now leads a company called Drive West Communications and tracks teachers accused of wrongdoing.

"When these former employees move on to other districts with no criminal record, unless the human resources department at the new district calls and specifically asks to see personnel files, very often no information is received by the new school districts regarding any past problems. It’s a tremendous problem nationwide."

Parents must be vigilant

In November, The Tennessean found another example of a marching band director who admitted to inappropriate contact with a minor during a previous position.

J. Corey Francis left his post as director of the Vanderbilt Marching Band in October amid a Tennessean investigation into documents that showed Francis had hugged and kissed a ninth-grade student while Francis worked at a high school in Kentucky in 2004.

In a phone interview with The Tennessean, Francis acknowledged he had made a "mistake" and was "trying to rebuild myself."

Without districts sharing information about problem teachers, Abbott said it's vital for parents to talk to their kids often about their teachers' behavior.

"Parents need to talk regularly with their children about appropriate interactions with teachers, and they should be vigilant in monitoring their children’s social media interactions. I’m a parent of a 16-year-old high school junior. If my son received a private electronic message from any teacher, I would be very concerned about that and would immediately raise the issue with the school leadership," Abbott said, arguing social media is facilitating more inappropriate relationships.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.