22-2-119. Department of education - inquiries concerning prospective employees - background investigation fee.

Statute text

(1) When an inquiry is made by a board of education of a school district pursuant to the provisions of section 22-32-109.7 (1) or (1.5), by the governing board of a nonpublic school pursuant to the provisions of section 22-1-121, by the governing board of a charter school pursuant to the provisions of section 22-30.5-110.5, or by the governing board of an institute charter school pursuant to the provisions of section 22-30.5-511.5, concerning a prospective or current employee, the department shall provide the following information concerning such person:

(a) Whether according to the records of the department such person has been convicted of, has pled nolo contendere to, or has received a deferred sentence for:

(I) A felony; or

(II) A misdemeanor crime involving unlawful sexual behavior or unlawful behavior involving children; or

(III) A misdemeanor crime, the underlying factual basis of which has been found by the court on the record to involve domestic violence, as defined in section 18-6-800.3 (1), C.R.S.;

(b) (I) Whether such person has been dismissed by, or has resigned from, a school district as a result of an allegation of unlawful behavior involving a child, including unlawful sexual behavior, which was supported by a preponderance of the evidence according to information required to be provided to the department by the school district pursuant to the provisions of section 22-32-109.7 (3);

(II) The department of education shall not disclose to any prospective employer any information reported to the department from a school district pursuant to section 22-32-109.7 (3) unless and until the department confirms that the allegation resulted in a finding of a confirmed report of child abuse or neglect. The department shall request a check of the records and reports of child abuse or neglect maintained by the state department of human services pursuant to the provisions of section 19-1-307 (2)(l), C.R.S.

(III) If the department confirms that the allegation resulted in a finding of a confirmed report of child abuse or neglect and the report concerning such person is subsequently expunged pursuant to the provisions of section 19-3-313.5 (3)(f), C.R.S., such person may notify the department that the report has been expunged. If the department verifies that the report has been expunged, the department shall remove such information about the person from the files kept by the department.

(b.5) Whether the person's educator license or certification has ever been denied, suspended, revoked, or annulled in this state or in another state, including but not limited to any information gained as a result of an inquiry by the department to a national teacher information clearinghouse;

(c) If a holder of a license or authorization pursuant to the provisions of article 60.5 of this title, whether such person's certificate, letter of authorization, authorization, or license has ever been annulled, suspended, or revoked pursuant to the provisions of section 22-60-110 (2)(b) as said section existed prior to July 1, 1999, or pursuant to article 60.5 of this title following a conviction, a plea of nolo contendere, or a deferred sentence for a crime involving unlawful sexual behavior or unlawful behavior involving children.

(2) Except for authorized inquiries made by boards of education, governing boards of nonpublic schools, governing boards of charter schools, or governing boards of institute charter schools, the department shall consider information held by the department to be confidential information and not subject to the provisions of part 2 of article 72 of title 24, C.R.S. Any person who releases such information in violation of this subsection (2) shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 24-72-206, C.R.S.; except that any person who releases information received by the department concerning information contained in the records and reports of child abuse or neglect maintained by the state department of human services shall be deemed to have violated section 19-1-307 (4), C.R.S.

(3) (a) When providing the information required in subsection (1) of this section, the department shall provide the information within the following timelines:

(I) For information that the department possesses at the time of the request, the department shall provide the information no later than ten business days following the receipt of the inquiry;

(II) For information that the department must obtain by a background check, the department shall provide the information no later than ten business days following the receipt of the information.

(b) If provisions of this subsection (3) increase the costs for the department and the department increases educator licensing fees to address the increased costs, the increase shall be no greater than necessary and shall be included in the department's annual budget request to the joint budget committee.

(4) (a) A school district shall verify the results of a fingerprint-based criminal history record check performed for the department on a school employee or applicant, and the Colorado bureau of investigation shall share the information from the initial fingerprint-based criminal history record check with the requesting entity.

(b) When the Colorado bureau of investigation provides the department with an update regarding a school employee who was previously subject to a fingerprint-based criminal history record check, the department shall provide that update to each school district and charter school in the state. Each school district and charter school shall cross-check its employee list with the provided update and take appropriate action, if necessary.

(5) The department may collect a background investigation fee in responding to inquiries pursuant to this section submitted regarding a person who does not hold an educator license issued pursuant to article 60.5 of this title. The state board, by rule, shall establish the amount of the background investigation fee to generate an amount of revenue that approximates the direct and indirect costs incurred by the department in responding to inquiries pursuant to this section regarding unlicensed persons. The department shall transmit the fees collected pursuant to this section to the state treasurer who shall credit the fees to the educator licensure cash fund, created pursuant to section 22-60.5-112.

History

Source: L. 90: Entire section added, p. 1028, 17, effective July 1. L. 93: IP(1) amended, p. 611, 1, effective April 30; (1)(b) amended, p. 634, 2, effective July 1. L. 96: (1)(b)(II) amended, p. 1174, 11, effective January 1, 1997. L. 99: IP(1) and (1)(a) amended, p. 1102, 3, effective July 1. L. 2000: (1)(c) amended, p. 1849, 40, effective August 2. L. 2003: IP(1)(a) and (1)(a)(II) amended and (1)(a)(III) added, p. 2515, 4, effective June 5; (1)(b)(II), (1)(b)(III), and (2) amended, p. 1408, 15, effective January 1, 2004. L. 2008: IP(1) and (2) amended and (1)(b.5) and (5) added, pp. 1659, 1660, 1, 2, effective May 29; (3) and (4) added, p. 2224, 1, effective June 5.

Annotations

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2003 act amending subsections (1)(b)(II), (1)(b)(III), and (2), see section 1 of chapter 196, Session Laws of Colorado 2003.