Dean was ‘clean’ at time of hire

Friday, Aug. 15, 1997 | 9:37 a.m.

A background check of a local high school dean charged with theft from the Chicago school system showed he was "clean" at the time he was hired here, a Clark County School District official said.

Eddie Washington, a dean at Eldorado High School who is in charge of student discipline, is charged in Illinois with six counts of forgery, four counts of official misconduct and two counts of theft under $100,000 -- all felonies.

"The stringent police and FBI background checks that are done for every person hired by the district showed that Mr. Washington was clean," CCSD spokesman Ray Willis said today of the dean who was hired in May 1996 and has worked at two area schools over the past year.

"You have to remember, he hasn't been found guilty of anything, and because of that, nothing would have turned up in those computer checks. He had no (criminal) record then and, other than the charges he now faces, he still has no record."

Washington, 46, was fired from Chicago Public Schools in late 1995 along with more than two dozen other employees in what school officials called one of its biggest house-cleaning operations in years.

It is alleged that money was missing from the Southside Chicago high school where Washington served as principal in 1994-95.

It also is alleged that some of the funds may have been used to, among other things, finance a trip to a Wisconsin dog track, pay a cellular phone bill, purchase a leather jacket and pay for bar tabs and gifts.

Willis said that as of today, Washington is "a full-time employee -- he's still a dean (at Eldorado)."

Washington began working for the school district last August, a month before the criminal indictment was handed down in Illinois. His first job here was at Cannon Middle School, district records show.

Washington was not at work early today. A woman answering the phone in the Eldorado dean's office said Washington would not be in today and that he was referring all media calls on the matter to Willis.

Willis said school district officials will monitor the case through the Chicago court system and will await a decision there before taking action.

A hearing in Cook County District Court has been set for Aug. 28.

Under Nevada law, the school district can fire an employee who is convicted of a felony.