The District must assure that criminal history and criminal records checks ("criminal checks") have been conducted in accordance with State law before the District hires any individual (full- or part-time), including substitutes, or allows any individual to work "regularly and continuously under contract" in any of its programs, including any individual that is employed by an entity with whom the District has contracted to provide substitutes.

"Regularly and continuously under contract" means to work on more than an intermittent or sporadic basis either 1) as an owner or employee of an entity or 2) as an individual under contract to provide food, custodial, transportation, counseling, or administrative services; or to provide instructional services to students or related and auxiliary services to special education students.

The District shall require all individuals that work regularly and continuous under contract to submit the results of the criminal checks to the District for review.

In the event it is necessary to employ an individual or allow an individual to work regularly and continuously under contract in a program prior to receiving the results of the criminal checks in order to maintain the continuity of the program, the Superintendent may do so on a conditional basis until the results of the criminal checks are received as long as the following requirements have been met:

For individuals currently working as substitutes in another school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or non-public school within the State and who previously submitted to the criminal records checks, the Superintendent may use the results of the criminal checks received by the other school district, intermediate school district, public school academy or non-public school in lieu of conducting additional criminal checks to confirm that the individual has no criminal convictions. Absent such confirmation, the criminal checks must be conducted.

For individuals who have been continuously employed by another school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or non-public school within the State, with "no separation", and who previously submitted to the criminal records checks, the Superintendent may use the results of the criminal checks received by the other school district, intermediate school district, public school academy or non-public school in lieu of conducting additional criminal checks. However, the Superintendent must confirm that the record belongs to the individual and determined whether there has been any additional convictions by processing the individual’s name, gender, and date of birth through the Internet Criminal History Access Tool (ICHAT.)

"No separation" for purposes of the preceding paragraph means a layoff or leave of absence that is less than 12 months in duration with the same employer, or the employee transfers without a break-in-service to another school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or non-public school within the State.

The results of criminal checks obtained by the District on employees shall be maintained in the employee’s personnel file.

When the District receives a report that shows an individual has been convicted of either a listed offense in accordance with State law or any felony, the Superintendent shall take the proper steps to verify the information using public records in accordance with the procedures provided by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE.)

Verified convictions may result in termination of employment or services, or the rejection of an applicant for employment. The District will not hire or continue to employ any individual or continue to allow any individual to work "regularly and continuously under contract" in any of its programs, who has been convicted of a "listed offense" as defined in MCLA 28.722. Furthermore, the District will not hire or continue to employ any individual or continue to allow any individual to work "regularly and continuously under contract" in any of its programs, who has been convicted of a felony unless both the Superintendent and the Board provide their written approval.

The District shall report as directed by and to MDE verified information regarding convictions of listed offenses and felonies, as well as any action taken by the District with regard to said convictions.

The Superintendent shall establish an Administrative Guideline detailing the procedures necessary to comply with this Policy.

An applicant for employment must submit, at the applicant’s expense, a set of fingerprints by an entity approved by the State Police as part of the application process.

The results of criminal checks are considered confidential and shall be used only for the purpose of evaluating an applicant for employment’s qualifications. However, results involving either misdemeanor convictions for sexual or physical abuse or any felony are not subject to this restriction. Violation of confidentiality is considered a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.

Any notification received from MDE or the State Police regarding District employees with criminal convictions shall be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the first 15 days until the accuracy of the information can be verified. Thereafter, only information regarding either misdemeanor convictions for sexual or physical abuse or any felony may be disclosed in response to a FOIA request.

The results of criminal checks may be released if an individual has provided authorization for such release in writing.

M.C.L.A. 380.1230a; 380.1525a, 1535b; 380.1809; PA 97 of 1995

Adopted 3/9/94
Revised 11/8/95
Revised 1/10/96
Revised 2/20/08