Fingerprint Checks for School Contractors

Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 1125 of the education law, as amended by chapter 363 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:

3. "Employee" shall mean any person: (i) who is receiving compensation from a school or (ii) whose duties involve direct student contact and (a) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that contracts with a school to provide transportation services to children, or (b) who is an employee of a contracted service provider or worker placed within the school under a public assistance employment program, pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, or (c) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that contracts with a school to provide student support services, and consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of services to such school, its students or employees, directly or through contract.

§ 2. Paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (v) to read as follows:

(v) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, the board of trustees of a charter school shall not be required to oversee the fingerprinting process for employees of a contracted service provid-

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD07679-01-9

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er of student support services such as, but not limited to, substitute teachers, substitute teacher aides, substitute nurses, educational consultants, tutors, substitute school administrative support and other temporary student services professionals, so long as they have engaged a contracted service provider of student support services who has complied with the fingerprinting requirements elsewhere in this chapter.

§ 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal justice services and in accordance with all applicable provisions of law, shall promulgate rules and regulations to require the fingerprinting of prospective employees, as defined in section eleven hundred twenty-five of this chapter, of school districts, charter schools [and], boards of cooperative educational services and contracted service providers of student support services and authorizing the fingerprinting of prospective employees of nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools, and for the use of information derived from searches of the records of the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation based on the use of such fingerprints. The commissioner shall also develop a form for use by school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, contracted service providers of student support services, and nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools in connection with the submission of fingerprints that contains the specific job title sought and any other information that may be relevant to consideration of the applicant. The commissioner shall also create or expand the functionality of internet based systems to provide access to contracted service providers of student support services upon application of the contracted service provider of student support services to the commissioner to enable them to be able to review fingerprint results and subsequent arrest notifications based on the fingerprint and background check data by logging into a protected web portal, entering in the employee name and social security number, which would provide access to see the fingerprint results. The commissioner shall also establish a form for the recordation of allegations of child abuse in an educational setting, as required pursuant to section eleven hundred twenty-six of this chapter. No person who has been fingerprinted pursuant to section three thousand four-b of this chapter or pursuant to section five hundred nine-cc or twelve hundred twenty-nine-d of the vehicle and traffic law and whose fingerprints remain on file with the division of criminal justice services shall be required to undergo fingerprinting for purposes of a new criminal history record check. This subdivision and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto shall not apply to a school district within a city with a population of one million or more.

§ 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph (b) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal justice services, shall promulgate a form to be provided to all such prospective employees of school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, contracted service providers of student support services and nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that elect to fingerprint and seek clearance for prospective employees that shall:

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§ 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

(d) The commissioner shall develop forms to be provided to all school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, contracted service providers of student support services and to all nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools that elect to fingerprint their prospective employees, to be completed and signed by prospective employees when conditional appointment or emergency conditional appointment is offered.

§ 6. Subdivision 31 of section 305 of the education law, as added by chapter 380 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:

31. The commissioner shall direct that each school district, charter school, [and] private elementary and secondary school, and contracted service provider of student support services appoint a designated educational official for the purposes set forth in section 380.90 of the criminal procedure law, subdivision seventeen of section 301.2 and subdivision three of section 380.1 of the family court act. In addition, the commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations, in consultation with the office of court administration, to facilitate electronic access by the courts to the names and addresses of such designated educational officials.

§ 7. Subdivision 1 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

1. The commissioner shall submit to the division of criminal justice services two sets of fingerprints of prospective employees as defined in subdivision three of section eleven hundred twenty-five of this chapter received from a school district, charter school or board of cooperative educational services, contracted service providers of student support services and of prospective employees received from nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools pursuant to title two of this chapter, and the division of criminal justice services processing fee imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section eight hundred thirty-seven of the executive law and any fee imposed by the federal bureau of investigation. The division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation shall forward such criminal history record to the commissioner in a timely manner. For the purposes of this section, 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 and the federal bureau of investigation. All such criminal history records sent to the commissioner pursuant to this subdivision shall be confidential pursuant to the applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations, and shall not be published or in any way disclosed to persons other than the commissioner, unless otherwise authorized by law.

§ 8. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by section 7 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

3. (a) Clearance. (i) After receipt of a criminal history record from the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation the commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted service providers of student support services or nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school whether the prospective employee to which such report relates is cleared for employment based upon his or her criminal history. All determinations to grant or

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deny clearance for employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. When the commissioner denies a prospective employee clearance for employment, such prospective employee shall be afforded notice and the right to be heard and offer proof in opposition to such determination in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner.

(ii) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, information regarding the results of the investigation of current or prospective employees of contracted service providers of student support services and subsequent changes in status related to such employees shall be transmitted via an internet-based system made available to contracted service providers of student support services upon application of the contracted service provider of student support services to the commissioner where, by logging into a protected web portal and entering in the employee name and social security number, contracted service providers of student support services would be able to access fingerprint results, whether the employee first completed a form provided to them by the contracted service provider of student support services, or received a form previously from a school district, charter school or board of cooperative educational services. Nothing in this section shall require an employee who has already submitted their fingerprints to the commissioner to have to submit them again, so long as they were not destroyed.

(b) Conditional clearance. When the commissioner receives a request for a determination on the conditional clearance of a prospective employee, the commissioner, after receipt of a criminal history record from the division of criminal justice services, shall promptly notify the prospective employee and the appropriate school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted service providers of student support services or nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school that the prospective employee to which such report relates is conditionally cleared for employment based upon his or her criminal history or that more time is needed to make the determination. If the commissioner determines that more time is needed, the notification shall include a good faith estimate of the amount of additional time needed. Such notification shall be made within fifteen business days after the commissioner receives the prospective employee's fingerprints. All determinations to grant or deny conditional clearance for employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law.

§ 9. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by section 8 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

3. After receipt of a criminal history record from the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation the commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational services, contracted service providers of student support services or nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school whether the prospective employee to which such report relates is cleared for employment based upon his or her criminal history. All determinations to grant or deny clearance for employment pursuant to this subdivision shall be performed in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. When the

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commissioner denies a prospective employee clearance for employment, such prospective employee shall be afforded notice and the right to be heard and offer proof in opposition to such determination in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner.

§ 10. Section 1125 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 11 to read as follows:

11. "Contracted service provider of student support services" shall mean any individual or entity that contracts with, but not limited to, a school district, a charter school, a board of cooperative educational services, or a nonpublic school for the provision of substitute teachers, substitute teacher assistants, substitute nurses, educational professional, tutors, substitute school administrative support, and other temporary student service personnel.

§ 11. Subdivision 3 of section 424-a of the social services law, as amended by section 6 of part C of chapter 57 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows: