Adoption Date: 1/5/2010, Revised: ; 12/20/16
6000 - PERSONNEL
1-PERSONNEL
6191 SAFETY OF STUDENTS (FINGERPRINTING CLEARANCE OF NEW HIRES)
Unless
otherwise authorized in accordance with law and regulation, the
District shall not employ or utilize a prospective school employee,
define below unless such prospective school employee has been granted a
‘full’ clearance for employment by the State Education Department (SED).
The school district shall require a prospective school employee who is
not in the SED criminal history file to be fingerprinted for purposes of
a criminal history record check by authorized personnel of the
designated fingerprinting entity. For purposes of this provision of law,
the term “criminal history record” shall mean a record of all
convictions of crimes and any pending criminal charges maintained on an
individual by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The District shall utilize
SED’s Web-based application known as TEACH for instantaneous access to
important information about certification and fingerprinting. Through
TEACH, SED provides an individual with the ability to apply for
fingerprint clearance for certification and/or employment and view the
status of his/her fingerprint clearance request . Through TEACH, the
School District is able, among other applications, to submit an online
request for fingerprint clearance for a prospective employee, view the
status of a fingerprinting clearance request, and determine whether a
subsequent arrest letter has been issued.
Safety of Students
The
District will develop internal building and/or program procedures to
help ensure the safety of student who have contact with an employee
holding conditional appointment or emergency conditional appointment.
Such procedures will address the safety of students in the classroom,
students attending off-campus activities under the supervision of the
School District, and students participating in extracurricular and/or
co-curricular activities (including sports and athletic activities).
Safety
procedures to be addressed include, but are not limited to, the
following: supervision of the employee holding conditional
appointment/emergency conditional appointment as determined appropriate
by the applicable building/program administrator; and periodic
visitations by the building/program administrator to the classroom,
program and/or activity assigned to the employee holding conditional
appointment/emergency conditional appointment.
“Sunset” Provision for Conditional Appointments/Emergency Conditional Appointments
The
provisions in law which permit the conditional appointment and/or
emergency conditional appointment of employees spending full clearance
from SED shall terminate, in accordance with legislation, on July 1,
2010; and shall be rescinded as Board policy and procedures as of that
date (unless subsequent revisions to applicable law provide otherwise).
Access to TEACH
Information
regarding fingerprinting of new hires, including relevant laws and
regulations, frequently asked questions (FAQ’s), an up-to date chart for
“Who Must be Fingerprinted”, and instructions on the fingerprinting
process are found on www.highed.nysed.gov/tcert/ospra. To request access
to TEACH, email TEACHHELP@mail.nysed.gov