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District Fingerprinting Procedures for Non-Certified Employees under Senate Bill 9

An introduction to Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) was outlined in a Texas Education Agency (TEA) letter to administrators dated October 5, 2007. Senate Bill 9 was passed by the 80th Legislature and mandates that TEA acquire criminal history reports on charter school employees, certified and currently employed educators, substitutes, and non-certified employees hired after January 1, 2008. This notice is to provide insight on how the process will follow for non-certified employees hired after January 1, 2008.

The process for non-certified employees offered employment after January 1, 2008 will proceed as follows:

  • The district will upload required information for applicants being considered for employment to SBEC Online. Districts will be able to check the progress of each applicant throughout the process via SBEC Online. TEA requires all districts to use the attached Excel spreadsheet for the Non-certified employee upload.
  • TEA will email a list to the district identifying those individuals who are subject to SB 9 fingerprinting, along with an individual FAST Fingerprint Pass form for each person. A district representative will be responsible for distributing the FAST Fingerprint Pass forms to the individual applicants.
  • The applicant will schedule an appointment online at www.iisfingerprint.com. When scheduling the appointment, the applicant must have the FAST Fingerprint Pass form in hand and must pay all required fees before the appointment can be finalized.
    • This fee must be paid online with a credit card or approved debit card; if the applicant does not have either card, a pre-paid/one-time use credit card can be obtained from any financial institution or certain retail outlets.
    • The applicant must take their FAST Fingerprint Pass form, receipt from their online payment and photo identification (driver’s license, state issued identification card, etc.) to their scheduled appointment.
    • It is recommended that the applicant keep possession of their FAST Fingerprint Pass until they are sure their prints have cleared and completed.
  • The district will automatically be subscribed to each applicant in the DPS clearinghouse after the applicant has been printed.
  • When the criminal history report is made available in the DPS Clearinghouse, DPS will notify the district by email of the individual’s criminal history activity. If criminal activity exists on the applicants report, the district may log in to the DPS clearinghouse to view the applicant’s record.
  • TEA will also review these records and determine non-employability under the guidelines stated in Senate Bill 9, with text of new Texas Education Code 22.0833 and 22.085.
    • The district may withdraw an employment offer at any time if there is activity on an applicant’s criminal history; the district does not have to wait until TEA renders a decision before withdrawing the offer of employment.
    • If the employee has a criminal history and resigns or is discharged by the district, the district must notify TEA immediately, and no further review will be conducted by TEA.
  • If employment is extended to the applicant, the district will continue their subscription to that applicant. The district will receive notification of any subsequent criminal activity after the review is completed. To view the subsequent activity, there will be a $1.00 fee included per applicant.
  • If the applicant is not extended employment, the district may unsubscribe from that applicant’s record in the clearinghouse.

The Texas Education Agency, Division of Fingerprinting has scheduled training sessions on this process for school districts and education service centers. The Texas Education Telecommunications Network (TETN) will broadcast “SBEC Non- Certified Process” on November 29, 2007 from 1:00 – 4:00pm. The information provided in the TETN broadcast will be repeated at training sessions held at the William B. Travis Building in Austin from 8:30 am to 11:30 am on December 3, 2007 and December 10, 2007. Seating for these sessions is limited, so please visit the SBEC website at www.sbec.state.tx.us for additional registration information for these events.


Contact Information
Texas Education Agency
Department of Educator Quality and Standards, Raymond F. Glynn, Ed.D., Associate Commissioner
Division of Investigations, Doug Phillips, Director
Jeannie Tomasek, Manager of Fingerprinting