Oklahoma Schools to fingerprint

[frawin]

In light of one of the recent topics on the Forum, I found this article interesting. Seems to me every state should do this.

Schools to fingerprint
By Abigail Hutchins E-E Staff Reporter
Saturday, September 11, 2010 10:54 PM CDT



Area school districts are preparing to meet a new statewide requirement that they fingerprint prospective employees — including substitute teachers — and run a national background check on them.

Senate Bill 2199 requires schools to submit fingerprints to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which will forward the information to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The fingerprints will be run through a national database to make sure no employees have convictions in another state.

Bartlesville Public School District is requiring the substitutes to cover the cost of the background check, Executive Director of Human Resources Chuck McCauley said. The school will pay the cost for its part-time and full-time employees.

The check with the OSSBI is $45 and to get the fingerprints done at Washington County is an additional $25.

Dewey Public Schools will partner with the Dewey Police Department, which has agreed to fingerprint the employees for the district.

"We are in the process of starting this," Dewey Superintendent Paul Smith said.

[Ms Bear]

That is really great.  Here in Texas if you are going to do anything on school grounds, even volunteering time to mentor or tutor you have to have a background check by the school police before you are given a name badge to wear.  They set up a week at the beginning of school for registering and submitting the forms and picture taken.  The form asked for every place you had lived since you were 18.

My daughter worked at a school in Arizona and the background check was very simple, now she is work at a casino and had to have a Federal Background check with every address she had lived at in the past 5 years.

[Janet Harrington]

Kansas has had this law for many years, but I believe that it only pertains to teachers.  It is possible that it has changed in the last five years.

[Roma Jean Turner]

I have to get a full set of fingerprints done and pay for a background check in order to get my physicians license in Kansas.

[frawin]

I would like to see every state adopt this., for anyone working in the schools and with children and young people.

[Diane Amberg]

Delaware  has done back ground checks on teachers, subs and resource teachers for many years, and UD now requires a federal back ground check before anyone can student teach. My fire company requires a back ground check and fingerprinting too for probie applications.