Law Professional Staff

BOARD OF EDUCATION ____________________ SCHOOL DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL STAFF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECK Before the District hires any employee (full or part-time) or allows any individual under contract to continuously and regularly work in the schools, a criminal history records check shall be conducted in accordance with State law. "Under contract" shall apply to individuals, as well as owners and employees of entities, who contract directly with the District or with a third party vendor, management company, or similar contracting entity to provide food, custodial, transportation, counseling or administrative services on more than an intermittent or sporadic basis. It shall also apply to individuals or entities providing instructional services to students or related auxiliary services to special education students. Prior to allowing an individual, who is subject to the criminal history record check requirement, to work in the District, the District shall submit a fingerprint-based check on the individual, using Michigan State Police (MSP) Form RI-030 (7/2012), regardless of whether the individual will work directly for the District or be contracted through a third-party vendor, management company or similar contracting entity ("Private Contractors"). Except as provided below, the report from the MSP must be received, reviewed and approved by the District prior to the individual commencing work. BOARD OF EDUCATION ____________________ SCHOOL DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL STAFF Such Private Contractors cannot receive or retain criminal history record information ("CHRI").1 Where the District will contract with a Private Contractor for the services of an individual, the District will notify the Private Contractor(s), after review of the MSP report, whether the individual has been approved to work within the District. The District may not give any details, including the fact that a criminal history check was run. Notice for approval to work in the District should use the Affidavit of Assignment or similar "red light/green light" procedure. Should it be necessary to employ a person or contract for a person to maintain continuity of the program prior to receipt of the criminal history report, the Superintendent may contract on a provisional basis until the report is received. Any such provisional hire requires that: A. the record check has been requested; B. the applicant has signed a disclosure of all convictions and acknowledges that employment may be terminated if there are discrepancies; and C. the hiring occurs during the school year or not more than thirty (30) days before the beginning of the school year. For substitute teachers or substitute bus drivers currently working in another district, public school academy or non-public school in the State, the Superintendent may use a report received from the State Police by such school to confirm the individual has no criminal history. Absent such confirmation, a criminal history record check shall be performed. Individuals working in multiple districts may authorize the release of a prior criminal history records check with another district in lieu of an additional check for either direct employment or working regularly and consistently under contract in the schools. BOARD OF EDUCATION ____________________ SCHOOL DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL STAFF Individuals who previously received a statutorily required criminal background check and who have been continuously employed by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy or non-public school within the State, with no separation, may have their previous record check sent to the District in lieu of submitting to a new criminal background check. If this method is used, the Superintendent must confirm that the record belongs to that individual and whether there have been any additional convictions by processing the individual's name, sex and date of birth through the Internet Criminal History Access Tool (ICHAT). "No separation," for purposes of the preceding paragraph, means a lay off or leave of absence of less than twelve (12) months with the same employer; or the employee transfers without a break in service to another school district, intermediate school district, public school academy or non-public school within the State. All criminal history record check reports received from the State Police or produced by the State Police and received by the District from another proper source, will be maintained in the individual's confidential file, which must be maintained in compliance with Policy 8321 and AG 8321. All CHRI received from the State Police, or produced by the State Police and received by the District from another proper source, will be maintained pursuant to Policy 8321. When the District receives a report that shows an individual has been convicted of a listed offense under State statutes or any felony, the Superintendent shall take steps to verify that information using public records, in accordance with the procedures provided by the State Department of Education. Verified convictions may result in termination of employment or rejection of an application. The District will not hire or continue to employ any individual, either directly or as a contracted employee to work regularly and continuously in the schools, who has been convicted of a "listed" offense as defined in M.C.L. 28.722. The District will not hire or continue to employ any individual, either directly or as a contracted employee to work regularly and continuously in the schools, who has been convicted of any felony unless both the Superintendent and the Board provide written approval. BOARD OF EDUCATION ____________________ SCHOOL DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL STAFF The District must report as directed by and to the State Department of Education the verified information regarding conviction for any listed offense or conviction for any felony and the action taken by the District with regard to such conviction. Such report shall be filed within sixty (60) days of receipt of the original report of the conviction. The Superintendent shall establish the necessary procedures for obtaining from the Criminal Records Division of the State Police any criminal history on the applicant maintained by the State Police. In addition, the Superintendent shall request the State Police to obtain a criminal history records check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An applicant must () submit, at no expense to the District, or () provide, at the District's expense, a set of fingerprints, prepared by an entity approved by the Michigan State Police, as part of his/her employment application or as required by State law for continued employment. Confidentiality All information and records obtained from such criminal background inquiries and disclosures are to be considered confidential and shall not be released or disseminated to those who have not been given access to CHRI by the Superintendent Violation of confidentiality is considered a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $10,000. Any notification received from the Michigan Department of Education or Michigan State Police regarding District employees with criminal convictions shall be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the first fifteen (15) days until the accuracy of the information can be verified. Thereafter, only information about felony convictions or misdemeanor convictions involving physical or sexual abuse may be disclosed in reference to a FOIA request. BOARD OF EDUCATION ____________________ SCHOOL DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL STAFF CHRIriminal history reports may be released with the written authorization of the individual. Records may also be released, in accordance with statute, upon the request of a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy or non-public school when the individual is an applicant for employment at such school and there has been no separation from service, as defined in this policy and by statute. ______________________ 1 Individuals who submit and receive such criminal history record checks on behalf of the District must be direct employees of the District. Notwithstanding this, Information Technology contractors and vendors may be granted access to CHRI subject to successful completion of a national fingerprint-based criminal history record check as detailed in Policy 8321. OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT _________________________ SCHOOL DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL STAFF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECK Prior to making any offer of employment to a new applicant, the following procedure is to be used for electronic fingerprinting services for applicant background checks: A. The applicant will be asked to arrange for fingerprinting with the entity or agency which uses fingerprinting procedures acceptable to the Michigan State Police. B. The fingerprinting agency will provide the applicant with a date and location of the procedure. C. The applicant will be expected to bring payment and the form provided by the District, designating the purpose for which a background check is needed. The criminal background checks required by State law must be performed. D. Cost of the criminal background record check is determined by the Michigan State Police (MSP). The fingerprinting agency will notify the applicant of the current cost, plus any processing fee, at the time s/he is requested to submit to the criminal background check. Each request must be accompanied by a check, payable to the entity or agency, to cover the full cost of the fees. E. The fingerprinting agency will capture the fingerprints and personal information and transmit the data to the MSP. F. MSP will perform the check on the State data base and forward the criminal history check to the FBI, if required by statute for the position. MSP will mail the record directly to the District, not the applicant. OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT _________________________ SCHOOL DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL STAFF G. All information received from the criminal history check shall be handled and stored pursuant to Policy 8321. kept confidential by the person(s) receiving the report and is to be shared only with the Superintendent or other persons authorized by the Superintendent to view criminal history record information ("CHRI"). If the applicant is subsequently employed, the record check shall be kept in his/her confidential file. H. The Superintendent shall determine whether or not to consider disqualification of an applicant based on the records check. An applicant who has a confirmed conviction for a "listed offense" (as defined in M.C.L. 28.722) may not be employed.