CHAPTER 189 SCHOOL BOARDS, SUPERINTENDENTS, TEACHERS, AND TRUANT
OFFICERS; SCHOOL CENSUS
School Boards, Transportation and Instruction of Pupils
Section 189:13-a
189:13-a School Employee
and Volunteer Background Investigations. –
I. The employing school administrative unit, school district, or chartered
public school shall complete a background investigation and 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 school administrative unit, school district, or
chartered public school may extend a conditional offer of employment to a
selected applicant after completing a background investigation, with a final
offer of employment subject to a successfully completed criminal history records
check. No selected applicant may be extended a conditional offer of employment
unless the school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public
school has initiated a criminal history records check. The school administrative
unit, school district, or chartered public school 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, or chartered
public school fulfilled the requirements of this section.
II. The selected applicant for employment or designated volunteer with a school
administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school shall submit to
the employer a notarized criminal history records release form, as provided by
the division of state police, which authorizes the release of information
regarding the presence or absence of any record of convictions of the applicant
of felonies or of the crimes listed in paragraph V. 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, or chartered public school. 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, or chartered public school 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.
III. The school administrative unit, school district, or
chartered public school shall submit the criminal history records release form
to the New Hampshire state police which shall conduct a criminal history records
check through its records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon
completion of the background investigation, the state police shall examine the
list of crimes constituting grounds for non-approval of employment, or
non-acceptance of volunteer services in that school administrative unit, school
district, or chartered public school, and shall report the presence or absence
of any such crime to the school administrative unit, school district, or
chartered public school. Under no circumstances shall the criminal records be
released to the school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public
school. The school administrative unit, school district, or chartered public
school shall maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history records
information received pursuant to this paragraph. If the criminal history records
information indicates no criminal record, the school administrative unit, school
district, or chartered public school shall destroy the information received
immediately following its review of the information. If the criminal history
records information indicates that the applicant has been convicted of a felony
or of a crime listed in paragraph V, the school administrative unit, school
district, or chartered public school shall review the information for a hiring
decision, and the division of state police shall notify the department of
education of any such convictions. The school administrative unit, school
district, or chartered public school shall destroy any criminal history record
information that indicates a criminal record within 30 days of receiving such
information. IV. The school administrative unit, school
district, or charter school may require the selected applicant for employment or
designated volunteer to pay the actual costs of the background investigation and
a criminal history records check. V. Any person who has
been convicted of any violation or attempted violation of RSA 630:1; 630:1-a;
630:1-b; 630:2; 632-A:2; 632-A:3; 632-A:4; 633:1; 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, or
chartered public school. By decision of the appropriate governing body, a school
administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school may deny a
selected applicant a final offer of employment if such person has been convicted
of any felony in addition to those listed above. The governing body may adopt a
policy stating that any person who has been convicted of any felony, or any of a
list of felonies, shall not be hired. VI. This section
applies to any employee, selected applicant for employment, designated
volunteer, or volunteer organization which contracts with a school
administrative unit, school district, or chartered public school to provide
services, including but not limited to cafeteria workers, school bus drivers,
custodial personnel, or any other service where the contractor or employees of
the contractor provide services directly to students of the district or
chartered public school. The cost for background investigations, including
criminal history records checks, for employees or selected applicants for
employment with such contractors shall be borne by the contractor.
VII. The school administrative unit, school district, or
chartered public school shall not be required to complete a background
investigation or a criminal history records check on volunteers, provided that
the governing body of a school administrative unit, school district, or
chartered public school shall adopt a policy designating certain categories of
volunteers as ""designated volunteers'' who may be required to undergo a
background investigation and a criminal history records check.
VIII. A school administrative unit, school district,
chartered public school, 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, 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.