Section 1012.465, Florida Statutes, now states (amendments underlined):
- Noninstructional school district employees or contractual personnel who are permitted access on school grounds when students are present, who have direct contact with students or who have access to or control of school funds must meet Level 2 screening requirements as described in s. 1012.32, F.S. Contractual personnel shall include any vendor, individual, or entity under contract with the school board.
The statute, as amended, applies to three categories of either noninstructional or contractual personnel, all of whom must meet Level 2 background screening requirements, including those:
- Who are permitted access on school grounds when students are present,
- Who have direct contact with students, or
- Who have access to or control of school funds.
Guest Speakers / Fundraisers / Community Organizations / Career Day Speakers / College Sport Recruiters / Transportation to Private Facilities / Organizations Contracted by the PTA
Unless a contract exists with the School Board, individuals falling into these categories only require a Level 1 screening. Level 1 screening includes checking the name of the individual against the sexual predator and local criminal database. Steps for this process are as follows:
- All guest speakers not under contract with the School Board who volunteer their time at a school do not need to be fingerprinted. This includes Career Day speakers. The mechanism for district wide speaker clearance is under development. Schools will be informed of this process when it is completed.
- Individuals from community organizations (i.e. social service agencies) that are not under contract with the school board for services performed at schools do not need to be fingerprinted. However, if the person from the organization has one-on-one contact with a student, then they will need to be fingerprinted.
- Any fundraisers not under contract with the School Board who wish to sell/solicit items at any school do not have to be fingerprinted. Companies selling T-shirts to personnel do not need to be fingerprinted.
- Drivers from transportation companies who are hired by a parent to transport students to private facilities (i.e. ARC and TOPS) do not need to be fingerprinted.
- College Sport Recruiters do not need to be fingerprinted.
- Groups contracted by the PTA to perform an on-site program (e.g.; carnival, performing artist) do not need to be fingerprinted.
Steps for securing a Level 1 screening
- The school must have the individual in question complete a volunteer application and enter volunteer data into the electronic volunteer screening system. (For questions about accessing this system, please call Volunteer Services 754-321-2040.) Please note that volunteers that have completed the volunteer application can be approved by the principal and work in a supervised setting until final clearance from SIU has been issued.
- The above-mentioned groups do not need an official School Board badge and may not have unsupervised contact with students. They must obtain standard visitor badges given by the designated school where they will be stationed.
Overnight Volunteer Chaperones / Volunteers in School Clinics
- The District has determined that chaperones for overnight school trips and volunteers in school clinics should be fingerprinted at no cost to the individual. This is similar to the process in place for volunteer coaches. To avoid being charged, the volunteer must bring a request for fingerprinting to the Security Clearance Department. This request must be signed by the principal and written on school letterhead.
- You may check the clearance status of these volunteers the same way you now check new employees, by accessing the Security Fingerprint database through CAB.
- Overnight chaperones and clinic volunteers do not need an official School Board badge. They may obtain standard guest tags given by the designated school where they will be stationed.
Consultant / Trainers (Neither a contract nor bid with the District)
- Any consultant/trainer that will be compensated for their services by the school district or an individual school must be fingerprinted and issued an ID badge for a fee of $75.
Steps for securing a Level 2 screening
- The consultant/trainer must bring a request for fingerprinting to the Security Clearance Department. This request must be signed by the principal and written on school letterhead.
- Individuals will be required to purchase a money order for $75, payable to SBBC.
- You may check the clearance status of your consultant/trainer the same way you now check new employees, by accessing the Security Fingerprint database through CAB.
- Once the consultant/trainer has received clearance, they will be issued an official School Board ID badge with a one year expiration date. This ID badge will allow the consultant/trainer to offer services to various schools for one year.
- At the time of expiration, the consultant/trainer will have two weeks to renew the ID badge. The individual will be charged $5.00 to renew their badge. A request for renewal must be signed by the principal and written on school letterhead.
- Failure for the consultant/trainer to renew his or her ID badge will result in removal from the system and will require re-fingerprinting and issuing another ID badge for a fee of $75.00.
- All vendors who hold contracts with the School Board must have Level 2 security clearance. Please refer Vendors to the Supply Management & Logistics website.
Student Teachers / Observers / Field Placement /Retired Principals / Retired Teachers / University Supervisors
- Student Teachers/Observers/Field Placement will be charged $65 (money order only) to be fingerprinted and issued an ID badge valid for one year. (Renewals may be obtained within 2 weeks after the expiration date for a fee of $5.00.)
- Retired teachers/principals and university supervisors will be charged $75 (money order only) to be fingerprinted and issued an ID badge valid for one year. (Renewals may be obtained within 2 weeks after the expiration date for a fee of $5.00.) The individuals must bring a request for fingerprinting to the Security Clearance Department. This request must be signed by the requesting principal/university and written on letterhead.
Postal Workers / Organizations that lease a school facility
- Postal workers do not need to be fingerprinted, nor checked against the sexual predator database.
- Any group or entity, that leases a school facility, and their personnel, are subject to fingerprint and background screening if they are permitted access on school grounds when students are present or have direct contact with students.
Unannounced Visits by Grand Parents / Relatives
- The School Board encourages family involvement in our schools. Family members that are not already in the volunteer database should be escorted and supervised at all times. This will allow grandparents and other out-of-town family members to continue to visit with students. A background check is not required.
District Personnel
- District personnel who have district badges have already met Level 2 requirements.
Future Fingerprint Facility
- The district is looking to consolidate the off campus fingerprinting sites. Once a new location has been selected, notification will be distributed.
In case of an emergency or if there are circumstances beyond school control, and immediate clearance is needed, please contact my office at 754-321-0735 for assistance. In addition, we have also enclosed a copy of the traveling team’s fingerprinting schedule that was previously issued on August 9, 2005. Please try to assist the team as much as possible in order to ensure that we meet all state guidelines. For additional questions, please contact the Security Clearance Department at 754-321-2374.
