Office of Independent Education & Parental Choice
Criminal Background Screening Requirement
Participating private schools must register with the Volunteer & Employee Criminal History System (VECHS) at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) in order to receive the required criminal background screening results for employees and contracted personnel.
After receiving the screening results, it is the private school's responsibility to ensure each employee and contracted personnel meets the standards under Section 1002.421, Florida Statutes Participating private schools must not employ anyone who fails to meet screening standards.
FDLE is required to retain the fingerprints of employees and contracted personnel submitted through VECHS and enter them into a statewide automated fingerprint identification system. The private school will be notified of any arrests that may occur of personnel with fingerprints on file. Each year, registered VECHS schools will receive invoices from FDLE requesting the annual fee authorized by s. 1002.421, F.S., for the retention of employees' fingerprints. Private schools must submit payment to FDLE for fingerprint retention in order to remain in compliance with scholarship participation requirements.
Every 5 years following employment, personnel must again meet the screening standards established in statute. The private school must request FDLE to forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national processing and must pay the associated fee.
Florida law addresses three categories of private school personnel and describes screening standards for each. An individual may fall into more than one category.
Owner/Chief Administrative Officer
Section 1002.421(1)(p)., Florida Statutes, requires private schools that intend to participate in state scholarship programs to have each owner/chief administrator and operator undergo a level 2 background screening regardless of direct contact with scholarship students.
Each owner/chief administrator and operator MUST submit fingerprints electronically through the Volunteer and Employee Criminal History System (VECHS) for a level 2 background check. Further information on the VECHS program can be obtained at http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Background-Checks/VECHS-Home.aspx or by calling 850-410-8324.
Employee/Contracted Personnel
An "employee or contracted personnel with direct student contact" means any employee or contracted personnel who has unsupervised access to a scholarship student for whom the private school is responsible. In addition to teachers, employees with direct student contact could include bus drivers, after school program leaders, or coaches.
Section 1002.421, F.S. requires employees and contracted personnel with direct student contact to electronically submit their fingerprints to FDLE via VECHS for criminal background screening. Schools must compare screening results against the list of disqualifying offenses found in s. 435.04, F.S.
Instructor/Administrative Personnel
Section 1002.421, F.S. also requires that teachers, certain support staff and school administrators meet the screening requirements listed in s. 1012.315, F.S. Private schools should review the criminal history report received for each employee (through the VECHS program) and disqualify any instructor or administrative personnel convicted of an offense listed in s. 1012.315, F.S. Examples of employees in this category in addition to teachers are librarians, counselors, and therapists. [Instructors and administrative personnel are defined in ss. 1012.01(2) and(3), F.S.]
Please note that private schools must also screen these employees for the offenses listed in s. 435.04, F.S. Therapists, for example, who are employed or contracted by a participating private school, must meet the requirements in both s. 435.04, F.S. and s. 1012.315, F.S.
FAQs
- Who must be fingerprinted?
- How can the requirement to electronically submit fingerprints be met?
- Do volunteers have to be fingerprinted?
- Do certified teachers need to be fingerprinted?
- If employees or contracted personnel only participate in before or after school programs, is a state and national (level 2) background screening required?
- Q: Is the person an employee or contracted personnel of the private school?
- Q: Does the person have unsupervised access (i.e. direct student contact) to a scholarship student?
- Q: Is the private school responsible for the scholarship student?
- What does the school do when it receives background screening results?
- How are fingerprints retained?
- When do employees need to be fingerprinted again?
- Will certified teachers ever need to be refingerprinted?
- If a teacher resigns during the school year and a replacement is put in place, is there any grace period on the criminal history check?
- If an individual has had a level 2 background screening processed through another agency for participation in a program other than the McKay or Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, could the participating private school review these level 2 background screening results instead of the results obtained through the VECHS program?
All private school employees and contracted personnel who have unsupervised access to a scholarship student for whom the private school is responsible must undergo a state and national background screening.
Private schools must enroll in the FDLE VECHS program. After a private school is registered as a VECHS entity, employees and contracted personnel must be fingerprinted electronically.
No, fingerprinting of volunteers is not required by statute, but private schools may require it if they choose.
Teachers with a valid Florida Teacher Certification already meet the fingerprinting requirement (s. 1002.421(2)(i)4., F.S.). However, private schools are strongly encouraged to electronically fingerprint a certified teacher who does not come directly from a district public school.
A level 2 background screening is required only if ALL of the answers to the questions below are "Yes."
Once the criminal history report has been sent to the participating private school, it is the private school's responsibility to ensure each employee and contracted personnel meets the background screening standards under s. 1002.421, F.S. Participating private schools must deny employment to or terminate any employee who fails to meet the screening standards under s. 435.04, F.S. Participating private schools must also disqualify instructional personnel and school administrators, as defined in s. 1012.01, F.S., from employment in any position that requires direct contact with students if the personnel or administrators are ineligible for employment under s. 1012.315, F.S.
After initial processing, the electronic fingerprint submissions for employees and contracted personnel will be retained in the Applicant Fingerprint Retention and Notification Program. (If the private school submits fingerprints electronically for volunteers, these will NOT be retained). The retained fingerprints are searched against all incoming arrest fingerprint submissions, and any matches will be reported to the private school. Private schools will be invoiced for the annual fee of $6 charged per fingerprint submission retained.
Once an employee or contracted personnel has been fingerprinted, the FDLE is required to retain the fingerprints and enter them into a statewide automated fingerprint identification system. The private school will then be notified of any arrests of employees or contracted personnel with their fingerprints on file. In addition, the private school is required to instruct the FDLE to run the FBI screening every five (5) years.
For a certified teacher, the private school should verify that he or she possesses a valid Florida teaching certificate upon employment. The school should note the date that the teaching certificate expires. If the certificate expires and is not renewed, the employee will need to be fingerprinted through the VECHS program.
Fingerprinting is required in order to obtain a valid Florida Teacher Certification. As long as a teacher has a current Florida Teacher Certification, the private school will be in compliance with fingerprinting requirements for these employees.
The statute does not provide for a grace period. Section 1002.421(4)(c), F.S., requires the criminal history screening and employment history screening through the employment screening tools to be completed "before employing instructional personnel or school administrators in any position that requires direct contact with students." The private school is responsible for reviewing the results and disqualifying or terminating employees as described in s. 435.04, F.S. and s. 1012.315, F.S.
No. If a private school is participating in the McKay or FTC Scholarship Programs, the school must screen all employees and contracted personnel with direct student contact through the VECHS program.
*** Please note that the Department shall immediately suspend the payment of scholarship funds to a participating private school that knowingly fails to comply with these requirements. In certain cases, Florida law also requires the Department to prohibit the school from enrolling new scholarship students for one fiscal year and until the school complies. ***
Tutorial
Video Transcript (TXT, 3KB)