                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CERTAIN PRIVATE SCHOOL EMPLOYEES SUBJECT TO FINGERPRINTING AND CRIMINAL RECORDS
CHECKS (§ 22.1-296.3)

A. As a condition of employment, the governing boards or administrators of
private elementary or secondary schools that are accredited pursuant to &#xA7;
22.1-19 shall require any applicant who accepts employment, whether full time or
part time or permanent or temporary, to submit to fingerprinting and to provide
personal descriptive information to be forwarded along with the
applicant&#8217;s fingerprints through the Central Criminal Records Exchange to
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of obtaining criminal
history record information regarding such applicant.
			The Central Criminal Records Exchange, upon receipt of an applicant&#8217;s
record or notification that no record exists, shall report to the governing
board or administrator, or to a private organization coordinating such records
on behalf of such governing board or administrator pursuant to a written
agreement with the Department of State Police, that the applicant meets the
criteria or does not meet the criteria for employment based on whether or not
the applicant has ever been convicted of any barrier crime as defined in &#xA7;
19.2-392.02.

B. The Central Criminal Records Exchange shall not disclose information to such
governing board, administrator, or private organization coordinating such
records regarding charges or convictions of any crimes. If any applicant is
denied employment because of information appearing on the criminal history
record and the applicant disputes the information upon which the denial was
based, the Central Criminal Records Exchange shall, upon request, furnish the
applicant the procedures for obtaining a copy of the criminal history record
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The information provided to the
governing board, administrator, or private organization coordinating such
records shall not be disseminated except as provided in this section. A
governing board or administrator employing or previously employing a temporary
teacher or a private organization coordinating such records on behalf of such
governing board or administrator pursuant to a written agreement with the
Department of State Police may disseminate, at the written request of such
temporary teacher, whether such teacher meets the criteria or does not meet the
criteria for employment pursuant to subsection A to the governing board or
administrator of another accredited private elementary or secondary school in
which such teacher has accepted employment. Such governing board, administrator,
or private organization transferring criminal records information pursuant to
this section shall be immune from civil liability for any official act,
decision, or omission done or made in the performance of such transfer, when
such acts or omissions are taken in good faith and are not the result of gross
negligence or willful misconduct.
			Fees charged for the processing and administration of background checks
pursuant to this section shall not exceed the actual cost to the state of such
processing and administration.

C. The governing board or administrator of a private elementary or secondary
school may disclose information in records received pursuant to subsection A to
the Virginia Council for Private Education (the Council) or its authorized
designee for purposes of seeking or maintaining accreditation by the Council as
permitted pursuant to &#xA7; 22.1-19.

D. The governing board or administrator of a private elementary or secondary
school that is accredited pursuant to &#xA7; 22.1-19 that operates a child day
program or family day system regulated by the Department pursuant to Chapter
14.1 (&#xA7; 22.1-289.02 et seq.) shall accept evidence of a background check in
accordance with &#xA7; 22.1-289.035 for individuals who are required to undergo
a background check in accordance with that section as a condition of employment
in lieu of the background check required by subsection A.

E. The governing boards or administrators of private elementary and secondary
schools that are accredited pursuant to &#xA7; 22.1-19 shall adopt and implement
policies prohibiting any individual who is a governing board member,
administrator, employee, contractor, or agent of a private elementary or
secondary school to assist a governing board member, administrator, employee,
contractor, or agent of such private elementary or secondary school in obtaining
a new job if such individual knows or has probable cause to believe that the
individual seeking new employment engaged in sexual misconduct regarding a minor
or student in violation of law.

F. For purposes of this section, &#8220;governing board&#8221; or
&#8220;administrator&#8221; means the unit or board or person designated to
supervise operations of a system of private schools or a private school
accredited pursuant to &#xA7; 22.1-19.
			Nothing in this section or &#xA7; 19.2-389 shall be construed to require any
private or religious school that is not so accredited to comply with this
section.

HISTORY: 1996, c. 944; 1998, c. 113; 2002, c. 528; 2005, c. 928; 2016, c. 454;
2017, c. 809; 2020, cc. 779, 860, 861; 2022, c. 355; 2023, c. 253.