What's happening
This bill requires all nonpublic and private schools in New York to conduct criminal history record checks on prospective employees.
Why it matters
Expands mandatory criminal background checks. By changing the law from allowing (“authorizing”) to requiring fingerprinting and criminal history checks, the bill would ensure all nonpublic and private schools, not just those that choose to, must screen prospective employees for past criminal activity, potentially creating a safer environment for students.
Closes gaps in school safety policy. The previous law allowed some private and nonpublic schools to skip background checks, creating inconsistency in student protection. This bill removes that discretion, aiming to make safety standards uniform across all school types in New York.
Increases administrative responsibilities for schools. Nonpublic and private schools will need to establish or update procedures for fingerprinting, background checks, and related paperwork for all new hires, which could require additional resources or staff training.
Applies to contractors and emergency hires. The bill clarifies that not only direct employees but also contract workers and those hired in emergencies must undergo these checks, reducing loopholes where individuals with direct student contact might otherwise avoid screening.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Fingerprint Checks for School Hires
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to education
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to education
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.855
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Fingerprint Checks for School Hires
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Nily Rozic
Full text
4 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
S. 3335 A. 4652
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
February 5, 2019
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools to apply to the commissioner of education for criminal history record checks on prospective employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. 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 [authorizing] requiring 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, 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 establish a form for the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05085-01-9
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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.
§ 2. The opening paragraph and subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, are 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, and nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools [that elect to fingerprint and seek clearance for prospective employees] that shall:
(i) inform the prospective employee that the commissioner is required [or authorized] to request his or her criminal history information from the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation and review such information pursuant to this section, and provide a description of the manner in which his or her fingerprint cards will be used upon submission to the division of criminal justice services;
§ 3. 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, 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.
§ 4. Subdivision 20 of section 2590-h of the education law, as amended by chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
20. Ensure compliance with qualifications established for all personnel employed in the city district, including requiring the taking of fingerprints as a prerequisite for licensure and/or employment of such personnel. Every set of fingerprints taken pursuant to this subdivision shall be promptly submitted to the division of criminal justice services where it shall be appropriately processed. Furthermore, the division of criminal justice services is authorized to submit the fingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation for a national criminal history record check.
§ 5. Subdivision 20 of section 2590-h of the education law, as amended by chapter 100 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
20. Ensure compliance with qualifications established for all personnel employed in the city district, including requiring the taking of fingerprints as a prerequisite for licensure and/or employment of such personnel. Every set of fingerprints taken pursuant to this subdivision shall be promptly submitted to the division of criminal justice services where it shall be appropriately processed. Furthermore, the division of criminal justice services is authorized to submit the fingerprints to
S. 3335 3 A. 4652
the federal bureau of investigation for a national criminal history record check.
§ 6. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 3001-d of the education law, as added by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, are amended to read as follows:
1. a. "Employee" shall mean any prospective employee of a nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school [which requires the fingerprinting of prospective employees pursuant to this section], or employee of a contracted service provider or worker placed within such school under a public assistance employment program, pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, and consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of services to such school, its students or employees, directly or through contract, whereby such services performed by such person involve direct student contact. [Any] Every nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school [which elects to] shall submit for review criminal history information concerning prospective employees [must do so with respect to each such prospective employee], as defined in this paragraph, in accordance with this section.
b. "Volunteer" shall mean any person, other than an employee, who provides services to a nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school [which elects to require the fingerprinting of prospective employees pursuant to this section], which involve direct student contact.
2. [Any] Every nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school [may] shall require, for the purposes of a criminal history record check, the fingerprinting of all prospective employees pursuant to section three thousand thirty-five of this article, who do not hold valid clearance pursuant to such section or pursuant to section three thousand four-b of this article or section five hundred nine-cc or twelve hundred twenty-nine-d of the vehicle and traffic law. Prior to initiating the fingerprinting process, the prospective employer shall furnish the applicant with the form described in paragraph (c) of subdivision thirty of section three hundred five of this chapter and shall obtain the applicant's consent to the criminal history record search. Every set of fingerprints taken pursuant to this section shall be promptly submitted to the commissioner for the purposes of clearance for employment.
3. (a) Any nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school may conditionally appoint a prospective employee. A request for conditional clearance [may] shall be forwarded to the commissioner along with the prospective employee's fingerprints. Such appointment may be delayed until notification by the commissioner that the prospective employee has been conditionally cleared for employment and shall terminate when the prospective employer is notified of a determination by the commissioner to grant or deny clearance, provided that if clearance is granted, the appointment shall continue and the conditional status shall be removed. Prior to commencement of such conditional appointment, the prospective employer shall obtain a signed statement for conditional appointment from the prospective employee, indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, he or she has a pending criminal charge or criminal conviction in any jurisdiction outside the state.
(b) Any nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school may make an emergency conditional appointment when an unforeseen emergency vacancy has occurred. When such appointment is made, the process for conditional appointment pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision [may] shall also be initiated. Emergency conditional appointment may commence
S. 3335 4 A. 4652
prior to notification from the commissioner on conditional clearance and shall terminate when the prospective employer is notified by the commissioner regarding conditional clearance, provided that if conditional clearance is granted, the appointment may continue as a conditional appointment. Prior to the commencement of such appointment, the prospective employer must obtain a signed statement for emergency conditional appointment from the prospective employee, indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, he or she has a pending criminal charge or criminal conviction in any jurisdiction. An "unforeseen emergency vacancy" shall be defined as: (i) a vacancy that occurred less than ten business days before the start of any school session, including summer school, or during any school session, including summer school, without sufficient notice to allow for clearance or conditional clearance; (ii) when no other qualified person is available to fill the vacancy temporarily; and (iii) when emergency conditional appointment is necessary to maintain services which the school is legally required to provide or services necessary to protect the health, education or safety of students or staff.
(c) Each nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school[, which elects to fingerprint prospective employees pursuant to subdivision two of this section,] shall develop a policy for the safety of the children who have contact with an employee holding conditional appointment or emergency conditional appointment.
§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education law made by section three of this act shall not affect the expiration and repeal of such paragraph and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith; provided further, however, that the amendments to subdivision 20 of section 2590-h of the education law made by section four of this act shall not affect the expiration and repeal of such section and shall expire therewith, when upon such date section five of this act shall take effect.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools to apply to the commission- er of education for criminal history record checks on prospective employees
Purpose
This bill requires nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools to require prospective employees to submit fingerprints for a criminal history background check.
Summary of provisions
Section one amends subdivision 30(a) of section 305 of the Education Law. Section 30(a) authorizes the Commissioner of Education and the Division of Criminal Justice Services to require the fingerprinting of prospective employees of nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools.
Section 2 amends section 30(b) of section 305 of the Education Law to enumerate requirements for the form to be provided to all prospective employees of nonpublic and private elementary and secondary schools.
Section 3 amends paragraph d of subdivision 30 of Section 305 to provide that the Commissioner develop forms for the nonpublic and private schools.
Section 4 amends 3001-d of the Education Law to provide that nonpublic and private schools require a criminal history record check.
Justification
In 2006, a private high school in New Orleans hired a teacher without knowing he was a registered sex offender. The teacher had two convictions for indecent exposure and had previously been stripped of his license to teach in Texas. The private high school was unaware of his sex offender status because they had failed to fingerprint and prop- erly check his background.
In New York, there are almost 2,000 nonpublic schools. Under current law, nonpublic or private schools are not required to have prospective employees submit fingerprints and be cleared by the Commissioner of Education prior to employment. Additionally, recent data shows that only 93 nonpublic schools have submitted prospective employees' fingerprints for criminal history background checks since 2007. Out of the 93 submit- ted, 21 applicants were denied clearance.
This bill includes nonpublic and private schools within the current mandatory law public schools have had since 2001, and would thereby extend the same protection to all students.
Fingerprinting has been mandatory at public schools since 2001, and most applicants pay the cost. All fingerprinting required by the Education Department for employment in schools costs a total fee of $99. In NYC, fingerprinting at a New York City Department of Education walk-in center it is $135. However, if the applicant was already fingerprinted at the NYS Education Department, the cost is $20 for NYC candidates to have their criminal history record forwarded.
Legislative history
2010: S.3109 (Skelos) died in Education 2009: S.3109 (Skelos) died in Education 2008: S4707-A (Skelos) died in Education 2007: S4707-A (Skelos) passed Senate 60-1, died in Assembly
Fiscal implications
Administrative expenses.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education law, made by section three of this act shall not affect the expiration and repeal of such paragraph, and shall expire and be deemed repealed there- with.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.