Convicted criminals from other states searching for jobs at local schools could have a tougher hunt ahead of them.

A new law signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich that allows private schools to do criminal background checks on prospective employers has given educators one more tool to protect children. The measure is not a requirement, but rather an open door through which private schools can choose to walk.

Dean of Faculty at Wheaton Academy Steve Bult praised the movement, but does not know whether Wheaton Academy, in West Chicago, will take advantage of it.

“Now that it’s available we just haven’t made a decision on (whether to use it),” said. “There are obviously advantages to using it.”

In May, Blagojevich implemented the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 across Illinois. The law allows private schools to access FBI-maintained criminal records previously available only to public schools, decreasing a school’s chances of missing vital information during background checks.

Glenn Steinbrenner, principal at Immanuel Lutheran School in Batavia, considers the move a step in the right direction.

“Things can happen in a non-public school just as easily as they can in a public school,” Steinbrenner said. “Sometimes I think, being connected with the church, we kind of let our guards down and think there are only good people that come into a church — but it’s not proven that way.”

Currently, Immanuel Lutheran has a policy which says any volunteer who works more than 20 hours with children must go through a background check.

Marcel Reid, of the Illinois State Police Bureau of Identification, said before the act was constituted, private schools only had access to state information through the Uniform Conviction Information Act. Through the UCIA, any private entity, corporation or member of the general public could access state criminal history records.

“Private schools were always at a disadvantage because they were unable to receive national criminal history information,” he said.

For instance, Reid said someone who committed an offense in a different state and moved to Illinois and has never been convicted in Illinois can slip through the cracks.

“The Adam Walsh Act closed the crack,” Reid said. “Any private schools that are not receiving federal criminal history or national criminal history information are basically shortchanging themselves.”

Illinois was the first state in the country to implement the law at private schools, allowing these institutions to go through federal background checks for potential employers.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on the 25th anniversary of the abduction of Adam Walsh from a shopping mall in Florida on July 27, 1981. Adam was found murdered 16 days after his abduction and the perpetrator of the crime has yet to be brought to justice.

Pressure put on the United States Congress by many different groups representing private schools pushed the law forward, Reid said.

“In essence, this act says that it doesn’t matter whether kids go to a public school or a private school — they should still be protected from sexual predators or people who would otherwise cause them harm,” he said.

The Illinois State Police has developed processing procedures, users’ agreements, informational brochures and training sessions as part of the Adam Walsh Act. Private schools seeking to conduct a FBI national criminal history records check pursuant to the act can contact the Illinois State Police Bureau of Identification at (815) 740-5175.