The Florida Senate

231.02  Qualifications of personnel.--

(1)  To be eligible for appointment in any position in any district school system, a person shall be of good moral character; shall have attained the age of 18 years, if he or she is to be employed in an instructional capacity; and shall, when required by law, hold a certificate or license issued under rules of the State Board of Education or the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, except when employed pursuant to s. 231.15 or under the emergency provisions of s. 236.0711. Previous residence in this state shall not be required in any school of the state as a prerequisite for any person holding a valid Florida certificate or license to serve in an instructional capacity.

(2)

(a)  Instructional and noninstructional personnel who are hired to fill positions requiring direct contact with students in any district school system or laboratory school shall, upon employment, file a complete set of fingerprints taken by an authorized law enforcement officer or an employee of the school or district who is trained to take fingerprints. These fingerprints shall be submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement for state processing and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for federal processing. School districts which have authorized terminal access to the Florida Crimes Information Telecommunications Network or the National Crime Information Center may use this equipment for the background check required by this subsection. Such new employees shall be on probationary status pending fingerprint processing and determination of compliance with standards of good moral character. Employees found through fingerprint processing to have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude shall not be employed in any position requiring direct contact with students. Probationary employees terminated because of their criminal record shall have the right to appeal such decisions. The cost of the fingerprint processing may be borne by the school board or the employee.

(b)  Any provision of law notwithstanding, by January 1, 1997, for personnel currently required to be certified under s. 231.17, and January 1, 1998, for all other personnel currently employed by any district school system or any other public school who have not been fingerprinted and screened in the same manner outlined in paragraph (a) shall submit a complete set of fingerprints taken by an authorized law enforcement officer or an employee of the school or district who is trained to take fingerprints. The fingerprints shall be submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement for state processing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for federal processing. School districts which have authorized terminal access to the Florida Crimes Telecommunications Network or the National Crime Information Center may use that equipment for the background check required by this paragraph. Employees found through fingerprint processing to have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude shall not be employed in any position requiring direct contact with students. The cost of the fingerprint processing may be borne by the school district or the individual employee at a cost not to exceed $24.00. Any additional cost shall be borne by the Department of Education. Each local school board and laboratory school shall develop policies necessary for the implementation of this subsection. The Commissioner of Education shall provide guidelines regarding standards of good moral character for use in the development of these policies. Within these standards, the lack of good moral character shall be defined as having been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.

(c)  Personnel who have been fingerprinted or screened pursuant to this subsection and who have not been unemployed for more than 90 days shall not be required to be refingerprinted or rescreened in order to comply with the requirements of this subsection.

History.--s. 502, ch. 19355, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 892(108); s. 14, ch. 23726, 1947; ss. 19, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 1, ch. 79-12; s. 11, ch. 80-190; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 4, 28, 31, ch. 82-242; s. 94, ch. 83-217; s. 5, ch. 84-94; s. 1, ch. 89-144; s. 5, ch. 89-261; s. 16, ch. 89-302; s. 17, ch. 91-105; s. 7, ch. 92-67; s. 1240, ch. 95-147; s. 12, ch. 96-369.

¹Note.--The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was redesignated as the Department of Children and Family Services by s. 5, ch. 96-403, and the Department of Health was created by s. 8, ch. 96-403.