Giarrusso to file bus background-check bill

PROVIDENCE – Rep. Anthony Giarrusso, R-East Greenwich, last week said he will file legislation requiring local and national criminal background checks for all individuals engaged in, or applying for employment in, school-transportation services in Rhode Island.
In a news release Giarrusso said the stimulus for this new legislation was the arrest of 11 individuals by the state police Oct. 31 for the possession and transfer of child pornography.
One of the 11 charged was an East Greenwich resident and school-bus monitor employed by Ocean State Transit, the company providing student transportation for the East Greenwich School District. Giarrusso’s fifth-grade son was a rider on the school bus to which the accused was assigned. •