They will report their findings to the public, he said.
The review group will include a representative from both the School Committee and the Board of Aldermen, and more details will be ironed out by the next School Committee meeting on Feb. 13, Superintendent David Fleishman said after Friday’s session.
Peter Buchanan, an employee of the Newton Free Library’s audiovisual section, was charged last week with three counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of distribution of material depicting a child in a sexual act. He pleaded not guilty in Newton District Court.
Earlier this month, David Ettlinger, a second-grade teacher at Underwood Elementary School, was charged in West Roxbury District Court with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and posing a child in a state of nudity. He was also charged with possession of child pornography in Brighton District Court. Ettlinger has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In addition, federal investigators accuse Ettlinger of participating in an international website that trafficked in child pornography.
The city did a criminal history check on Buchanan before he was hired over 10 years ago, while Ettlinger was checked under the state’s Criminal Offender Record Information law every three years, most recently last year. Human resource officials found no problems during those checks, Newton officials said.
Geoff Epstein, a School Committee member whose son had Ettlinger as a teacher, said that a fresh look should be taken at the city’s policies. “I think we need to look at the past history . . . to see if there’s anything we could do better,’’ Epstein said.
Alderwoman Greer Tan Swiston said the city should look at ways to investigate an employee’s criminal background outside of the state. According to city officials, the CORI checks only report criminal history in Massachusetts. “That seems like a gaping hole,’’ she said.
However, it is unlikely that a nationwide check would have flagged either Buchanan or Ettlinger, according to authorities, because they didn’t have a criminal history.
