Contractor Fingerprinting Requirements

School district contractors and subcontractors are required to complete fingerprint background checks if they provide continuing services and have direct contact with students.

Fingerprint background checks are those conducted through the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Fingerprint Application Clearinghouse of Texas (FACT) — a repository of state criminal history records collected by DPS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprint-based criminal history results. Authorized entities (e.g., school districts and charter schools) have access to results and a notification service for new arrest activity on subscribed persons.

Requirements

Applicants for employment and employees of contractors providing services to school districts or charter schools must be fingerprinted before beginning or continuing work.

Prior to 2021, schools and contractors relied on the Clearinghouse to access and assess criminal history. However, following an FBI audit, it was determined that contractors are private entities and, therefore, prohibited from accessing the national criminal history information. Access to the Clearinghouse fingerprint results is only granted to a school contractor if obtained under the federal National Child Protection Act (NCPA) and the contractor meets NCPA criteria. To qualify, the contractor must provide care or care placement services and be based in Texas.

For all other contractors, school districts must perform criminal background checks on those persons required to be checked. This applies to many service and public works contractors, including plumbers, pest control technicians, maintenance workers, and custodians.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the background check requirement apply if:

• The individual doesn’t provide continuing service and does not have direct, unsupervised interactions with students (e.g., addressing an assembly, officiating a sporting event, or judging an extracurricular competition).
• DPS has determined the contractor or subcontractor is a qualified school contractor that meets the criteria for the NCPA.
• Public work contractors on existing facilities do not work in an area used for teaching curriculum. Or, if work in an area used for teaching curriculum is required, sanitary facilities for the construction crew must be separated from areas used by students and secured by a barrier fence at least six feet high. The contractor must also enforce a policy prohibiting employees and subcontractors from interacting with students or entering areas used by students.
• New facilities construction will be completed at least seven days prior to the first date the facility will be used for instructional purposes.
• The contractor employee is a student enrolled in the district where services are performed.

For all other contractor employees, schools must conduct a fingerprint background check.

Clearinghouse Access

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) provides two options for schools to access the DPS Clearinghouse to ensure that contractors’ employee applicants and employees are fingerprinted when required by law:

• Option 1: Schools may fingerprint a contractor and/or a contractor’s employees using the Local Education Entity (LEE) Fast Pass option. In this situation, schools will have access to the fingerprint results. The contractor, however, will not be able to view the results through the DPS Clearinghouse. 
• Option 2: Texas-based contractors that provide care or care placement services may fingerprint their W-2 employees who have access to students. In this situation, a contractor must certify that they comply with Texas Education Code § 22.0834. However, schools will not have access to the same fingerprint results. Please be aware that a private contractor that does not meet the NCPA criteria to access criminal history will not be granted access to the DPS Clearinghouse. 

Resources

The TASB School Law eSource FAQ on Criminal History Reviews of Contractor Employees (member login required) answers frequently asked questions about state and federal laws requiring school districts to conduct criminal history background checks for contractor employees having contact with students.

Information is also available on the TEA Requirements for School District Contractors webpage. Additionally, this page provides information on Clearinghouse subscription verification requirements for school districts and charter schools.