RSA 189:13-a · School Employee and Designated School Volunteer Criminal History Records Check

189:13-a School Employee and Designated School Volunteer Criminal History Records Check. –

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I.

(a) The employing school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school shall complete a criminal history records check on every selected applicant for employment in any position in the school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school prior to a final offer of employment. A public academy approved by the New Hampshire state board of education shall submit a criminal history records check on applicants for employment pursuant to this section to the division of state police. The superintendent of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy may extend a conditional offer of employment to a selected applicant, with a final offer of employment subject to a successfully completed criminal history records check. No selected applicant may be extended a final offer of employment unless the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy has completed a criminal history records check. The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall not be held liable in any lawsuit alleging that the extension of a conditional or final offer of employment to an applicant, or the acceptance of volunteer services from a designated volunteer, with a criminal history was in any way negligent or deficient, if the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy fulfilled the requirements of this section.

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(b)

A nonpublic school may elect to require a criminal history records check on selected applicants for employment or selected volunteers. A nonpublic school that elects to conduct a criminal history records check shall comply with the procedures and requirements set forth in this section.

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(c)

A school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or nonpublic school shall not hire any individual whose credential issued by the department of education is currently suspended or revoked, except:

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(1)

Currently suspended educators may be hired for prospective employment that would begin after the educator's credential is no longer suspended; and

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(2)

Educators whose credential was suspended or revoked in a particular endorsement area, but who maintains an active endorsement in another area, may be employed solely in the endorsement area which is not suspended or revoked.

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II.

The selected applicant for employment or designated volunteer with a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall submit to the employer a criminal history records release form, as provided by the division of state police, which authorizes the division of state police to conduct a criminal history records check through its state records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to release, for the purposes of paragraph V, a report of the applicant's criminal history and record information, including confidential criminal history record information, to the superintendent or designee of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy. For the purposes of this section, a designee may be the assistant superintendent, the head of human resources, the personnel director, the business administrator, or the finance director. The applicant shall submit with the release form a complete set of fingerprints taken by a qualified law enforcement agency or an authorized employee of the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy. In the event that the first set of fingerprints is invalid due to insufficient pattern and a second set of fingerprints is necessary in order to complete the criminal history records check, the conditional offer of employment shall remain in effect. If, after 2 attempts, a set of fingerprints is invalid due to insufficient pattern, the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy may, in lieu of the criminal history records check, accept police clearances from every city, town, or county where an applicant has lived during the past 5 years.

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III.

The department of education shall conduct training concerning the reading and interpretation of criminal history records. The superintendent or designee of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall complete such training and maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history records information received pursuant to this paragraph. The superintendent of the school administrative unit, or chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall review the criminal history records information in accordance with paragraph V. If the criminal history records information indicates that the applicant has been convicted of any crime or has been charged pending disposition for or convicted of a crime listed in paragraph V, the superintendent or designee of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall review the information for a hiring decision If the applicant's criminal history records information indicates that the applicant has been charged pending disposition for or has been convicted of a crime listed in paragraph V, the superintendent of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall notify the department of education. III-a. The superintendent of the school administrative unit or chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall destroy any criminal history record information within 60 days of receipt. The superintendent of the school administrative unit or chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall destroy any criminal history record information that indicates a criminal record within 60 days of receiving said information.

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IV.

The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy may require the selected applicant for employment or designated volunteer to pay the actual costs of the criminal history records check.

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V.

Any person who has been charged pending disposition for or convicted of any violation or attempted violation of RSA 318-B:2 for possession of a controlled drug with the intent to sell, felony level, within the last 10 years; RSA 630:1; 630:1-a; 630:1-b; 630:2; 631:1; 632-A:2; 632-A:3; 632-A:4; 633:1; 633:7; 639:2; 639:3; 645:1, II or III; 645:2; 649-A:3; 649-A:3-a; 649-A:3-b; 649-B:3; or 649-B:4; or any violation or any attempted violation of RSA 650:2 where the act involves a child in material deemed obscene; in this state, or under any statute prohibiting the same conduct in another state, territory, or possession of the United States, shall not be hired by a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy. The superintendent of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy may deny a selected applicant a final offer of employment if such person has been convicted of any crime, misdemeanor or felony, in addition to those listed above. The governing body of a school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall adopt a policy relative to hiring practices based on the results of the criminal history records check and report of misdemeanors and felonies received under paragraph II. Such policy may include language stating that any person who has been convicted of any misdemeanor, or any of a list of misdemeanors, may not be hired. Such policy may also include language stating that any person who has been convicted of any felony, or any of a list of felonies, shall not be hired.

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VI.

In accordance with paragraphs I-V, this section shall apply to any employee, including substitute teachers, selected applicant for employment, designated volunteer, volunteer organization, or individual or entity which contracts with a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy to provide services, including but not limited to cafeteria workers, school bus drivers, transportation monitors, custodial personnel, or any other service where the contractor or employees of the contractor provide services directly to students of the district, chartered public school, or public academy. Substitute teachers who have undergone a criminal history records check under this section for a school administrative unit shall not be required to undergo an additional criminal history records check, if working for a school district within the same school administrative unit, unless required by the superintendent or by policies of the other school districts within that same school administrative unit. Criminal history records checks for substitute teachers within the same school administrative unit, shall be valid for a period of 3 years. The employing school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school shall be responsible for completing the criminal history records check on the people identified in this paragraph, except for school bus drivers, as provided in RSA 189:13-b. The cost for criminal history records checks for employees or selected applicants for employment with such contractors shall be borne by the contractor.

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VII.

The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall not be required to complete a criminal history records check on volunteers, provided that the governing body of a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall adopt a policy designating certain categories of volunteers as "designated volunteers" who shall be required to undergo a criminal history records check. VII-a. A school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or nonpublic school shall not allow any individual whose credential issued by the department of education is currently suspended or revoked to serve as a volunteer except:

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(a)

Currently suspended or revoked educators shall maintain the rights afforded all members of the public to enter onto school grounds and attend school events in accordance with the law and school district policy; and

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(b)

Currently suspended or revoked educators who are parents and guardians of students shall maintain all the rights afforded all parents and guardians under law and school district policy.

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VIII.

A school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, public academy, or school official acting pursuant to a policy establishing procedures for certain volunteers shall be immune from civil or criminal liability, provided the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, public academy, or school official has in good faith acted in accordance with said policy. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to grant immunity to any person for that person's reckless or wanton conduct.

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IX.

(a) Upon placement of a candidate, as defined in RSA 189:13-c, as a student teacher, the receiving school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school shall conduct a criminal history records check of the candidate and shall follow the same procedures for assessing the candidate's criminal history background as for applicants for employment.

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(b)

A receiving school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school may conduct a criminal history records check upon a candidate, as defined in RSA 189:13-c.

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X.

Violations of this section shall be jointly investigated by the state police and the department of education. Information obtained through such investigations shall remain confidential and shall not be subject to RSA 91-A.

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XI.

In this section, "public academy" shall have the same meaning as in RSA 194:23, II.

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XII.

The employing school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school shall provide every school employee whose position requires a criminal background check under this section with informational materials, training, or other education, either online or in person, concerning child sexual abuse prevention, sexual assault and harassment policy training, warning signs of child abuse, and reporting mandates. For the purposes of this paragraph, school employees include coaches and those enumerated in RSA 189:13-a, I(a), VI, and IX(a). Such training shall be completed within 30 days of employment and renewed every 2 years for all employees. Source. 1993, 324:1. 1995, 260:5. 1997, 77:2. 1998, 256:6; 314:6. 2000, 214:1, 2. 2007, 319:1, 4. 2008, 323:8, 12; 354:1. 2010, 138:1; 318:1. 2013, 250:7. 2014, 55:1. 2016, 117:1. 2017, 245:2, eff. Sept. 16, 2017. 2018, 318:12, eff. Aug. 24, 2018. 2020, 38:17, 31, 32, eff. Jan. 1, 2021. 2021, 71:1, eff. July 1, 2021; 142:1, eff. Sept. 21, 2021; 206:2, Pt. VII, Secs. 1-3, eff. Jan. 1, 2022. 2022, 170:1, eff. Aug. 6, 2022; 259:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2023. 2023, 55:1, eff. July 31, 2023; 164:1, 2, eff. Sept. 26, 2023.

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