Background checks
Prior to hiring and in accordance with state law, the personnel office must:
- Conduct a background check through the Colorado Department of Education (the department) to determine the applicant’s fitness for employment.
The department’s records must indicate if the applicant has been convicted of, pled nolo contendere to, received a deferred sentence, or had their license or authorization denied, annulled, suspended, or revoked for a felony or misdemeanor crime involving unlawful sexual behavior, unlawful behavior involving children, or domestic violence. The department must provide any available information to indicate whether the applicant has been dismissed by or resigned from a school district as a result of an allegation of unlawful behavior involving a child, including unlawful sexual behavior, or an allegation of a sexual act involving a student who is eighteen years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act, which was supported by a preponderance of the evidence according to information provided to the department by a school district and confirmed by the department in accordance with state law. The department must also provide information regarding whether the applicant’s license or certification has ever been denied, suspended, revoked, or annulled in any state, including but not limited to any information gained as a result of an inquiry to a national teacher information clearinghouse.
Information of this type that is learned from a different source must be reported by the district to the department.
The department will not disclose any information reported by a school district unless and until the department confirms that the allegation resulted in the person’s name being placed on the state central registry of child protection.
- Contact previous employers of the applicant to obtain information or recommendations relevant to the applicant’s fitness for employment.
Fingerprinting
- All applicants selected for employment in a support staff position must submit a complete set of fingerprints taken by a qualified law enforcement agency, an authorized district or BOCES employee or any third party approved by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
- Applicants selected for employment must also submit a completed form, as required by state law, to certify, under penalty of perjury, either that they have never been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor charge, not including any misdemeanor traffic offense, or that they have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor charge (not including any misdemeanor traffic offense). The form must specify the felony or misdemeanor, the date of conviction and the court entering judgment.
- The school district will release the fingerprints to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of conducting a state and national fingerprint-based judicial record check utilizing the records of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. When the results of the fingerprint-based criminal history record check reveal a record of arrest without a disposition, the district must require the employee to submit to a name-based criminal history record check. Criminal history record information must be used solely for the purpose requested and cannot be disseminated outside the receiving departments, related agencies, or other authorized entities.
- Although an applicant may be conditionally employed prior to receiving the results, they may be terminated if the results are inconsistent with the information provided on the form. In accordance with state law, the employee or applicant must be terminated or disqualified from district employment if the results disclose a conviction for any of the following offenses:
- felony child abuse, as described in C.R.S. 18-6-401;
- a crime of violence, as defined in C.R.S. 18-1.3-406(2);
- a felony involving unlawful sexual behavior, as defined in C.R.S. 16-22-102(9);
- felony domestic violence, as defined in C.R.S. 18-6-800.3;
- a felony drug offense, as described in C.R.S. 18-18-401 et seq., committed on or after August 25, 2012;
- felony indecent exposure, as described in C.R.S. 18-7-302; or
- attempt, solicitation or conspiracy to commit any of the offenses described in items a-f; or
- an offense committed outside of this state, which if committed in this state would constitute an offense described in items a-g.
The district must notify the district attorney of inconsistent results for action or possible prosecution.
- The school district may charge the applicant a nonrefundable fee to be determined by the Board to cover the direct and indirect costs of fingerprint processing.
The applicant may pay the fee over a period of 60 days after employment. The fee will be credited to the fingerprint processing account.
Information report to state
1. In accordance with federal and state law, the personnel office will report the name, address, and social security number of every new employee to the Colorado State Directory of New Hires via the online portal at https://newhire.state.co.us/ or via mail to the Colorado State Directory of New Hires, P.O. Box 2920, Denver, Colorado 80201-2920
- This report, due within 20 days of the date of the hire or on the first payroll after the 20 days have expired, must be submitted even if the employee quits or is terminated before the report is due. Upon termination, the employee’s last known address, the fact of the termination, and the name and address of the employee’s new employer, if known, must be reported to the applicable court or agency.
- Upon receiving a Notice of Wage assignment, the district must remit the designated payment within seven days of withholding the income according to instructions contained in the Notice. Child support withholding takes priority over other legal actions against the same wages.
Approved: Prior to 2018
Revised: June 2018
Revised: September 2020
Revised: June 2022
Revised: May 2024
Revised: July 2026
Lake County School District R-1, Leadville, Colorado