Houston teachers next in line to be fingerprinted

Texas' largest school district, the Houston Independent School District, expects to be notified Dec. 7 that its 12,000 certified employees are on the clock to undergo state-mandated fingerprinting.

Senate Bill 9, approved in September 2007, requires all certified staff members and substitute teachers to be fingerprinted by Sept. 1, 2011. (New hires have been required to do this since Jan. 1, 2008.)

The process is pretty rigid. After the Texas Education Agency notifies the district, they'll have 80 days to fingerprint eligible employees. The fingerprinting is done through a state-selected vendor, and prints must be deemed acceptable by the FBI and Department of Public Safety by the district's March 5 deadline.

Any employee who does not meet the standard by the deadline will have their certificate deactivated. If the district discovers any felonies, the employee will be dismissed. (Houston Chronicle, 11.06.2009) http://blogs.chron.com/schoolzone/2009/11/houston_teachers_next_in_line.html

For more information, visit the Texas Education Agency's information page.

    

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