SB 18-229

SB 18-229, a Colorado bill that has been signed into law, allows students enrolled in teacher preparation programs to undergo criminal background checks before they start their field experiences in schools. This means these students will submit their fingerprints for a check by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the results will be shared with the Department of Education, which then shares them with the school districts and charter schools where the students will do their training. The bill also allows schools to accept these background checks when considering student teachers for placements. This ensures that all future educators have undergone a criminal history check before they begin teaching in Colorado classrooms.

Official Summary

The bill permits a student in an educator preparation program who is seeking field experiences in a school (student) to submit his or her fingerprints to the Colorado bureau of investigation (bureau) for the purpose of performing a fingerprint-based criminal history record check for the student. Upon completion of the fingerprint-based criminal history record check, the bureau must forward the results to the department of education (department). If the fingerprint-based criminal history record check of a student performed pursuant to this section reveals a record of arrest without a disposition, the department is required to perform a name-based criminal history record check of that student. The department must provide the results of the background checks to the educator preparation program in which the student is enrolled and make the results available to schools and school districts. When the department receives an update from the bureau, the department must provide that update to each education preparation program, school district, and charter school in which the student has been placed for field experiences. The department may charge a fee to cover the actual costs of administering a student's criminal history record check. School districts or charter schools that require a criminal history record check for students are required to accept the results of a criminal history record check performed by the bureau or department. If the student has continuously resided in Colorado, the fingerprints may be used by the student to satisfy the existing fingerprint submission requirements for teacher licensure. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

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