Woman With Criminal Record Teaches For 5 Years

DICKSON, Tenn. - A Dickson County kindergarten teacher with three DUIs and a theft conviction remains in the classroom, even after an additional shoplifting charge.

Video: Woman Continues Teaching With Criminal Record | Video: Dickson Teacher Has 6 Arrests On Record

When Tina Young was cited for shoplifting at the Dickson Walmart, her record was revealed: a theft conviction, three DUIs and driving on a suspended license for excessive speeding tickets.

Parents wondered how she could have been teaching for five years while her criminal record was either behind her or still going on.

"I think you need to get on the ball and really figure out who you're bringing and letting in the schools," said Dickson parent Melissa Tyler.

School board member Sue Story has been poring over Dickson County Schools policy and state law to see how this happened and how to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"I think it is on the border of being ridiculous, or is ridiculous. She should have been caught and could have been caught," Story said.

The state of Tennessee mandates that every teacher goes through a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation background check.

Channel 4 ran its own on Young and found she has used five different names in Tennessee, all with the same Social Security number, so the TBI background check did what it was supposed to -- turning up three DUIs and a suspended license. The only thing missing was a theft conviction at the east Nashville Kroger this past summer.

Dickson County Schools superintendent Johnny Chandler, who has not returned Channel 4's calls, said that he will allow someone to work with a criminal record if he thinks they are worth the risk.

Story said that there isn't a parent in Dickson who wants her 5-year-old taught by a woman with five names, three DUIs and a theft conviction.

"To me, it's morally wrong. It's ethically wrong," she said.

The TBI background check is required once, only at the point of hiring.

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