Teaching with an Class C Misdemeanor (Mart: fingerprints, school, Wal-mart)

[chocdiva82]

Hello all,

I'm currently pursuing my education to work as a school guidance counselor. I been doing quite a bit of research on the field . I've noticed that all districts except two require at least 2 years of classroom teaching experience to work as a counselor. With that being said I have an Class C Misdemeanor theft charge from over 10 years ago. Not too get too much into detail , I had a item under my purse in the child seat of the basket and forgot to pay for it. When approached by management I offered to pay for the $26.00 item but they refused and called HPD on me. The police let me go and pretty much laughed it off that they called them for something so small.Well fast forward 5 months later when I got a knock on my door to arrest me for the Wal-Mart theft charge . I was only in jail a day and was released on a PI bond since I've never been in trouble . With all that being said would that arrest/conviction make it hard to even be able to obtain the teachers certification ? Or do I need to consider another degree or career goals.

ETA : I have always worked in Finance and it don't seem to be a issue when getting employment.

[Denver303TJC]

Hi,

I think most background checks go back seven years in TX, so I don't think it would show up on a report. Not 100% sure, though. I think if you called the districts' HR Dept (perhaps from an anonymous number) and asked them in a roundabout way if it'd be a problem, you should get an idea where they stand.

Hopefully it works out, I'm considering being a guidance counselor too in the future :-).

[cbg19]

My background is finance and I also have a class c misdemeanor 10 years ago. It was fighting in public. It has not stopped me from getting hired as a substitute teacher this school year. I definitely would not tried to hide it. Just be upfront and document it and take your background check/fingerprints.