A 8902: Relates to the fingerprinting and background checks of providers of contract services to covered schools.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8902 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY June 16, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to background checks and fingerprinting; and to amend the social services law, in relation to statewide central registry clearances by providers of contract services to covered schools The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 1125 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 363 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 3. "Employee" shall mean any person: (i) who is receiving compensation 5 from a school or (ii) whose duties involve direct student contact and 6 (a) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that 7 contracts with a school to provide transportation services to children, 8 or (b) who is an employee of a contracted service provider or worker 9 placed within the school under a public assistance employment program, 10 pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, or 11 (c) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that 12 contracts with a school to provide student support services, and 13 consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of 14 services to such school, its students or employees, directly or through 15 contract. 16 § 2. Paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education 17 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (v) to read as follows: 18 (v) (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, if a 19 school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational 20 services, or non-public and private elementary or secondary school has 21 engaged a contracted service provider of student support services, they 22 may opt to allow the contracted service provider to oversee the finger- 23 printing process of the contracted service provider's employees. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01580-03-5 
 A. 8902 2 1 (2) Any school district, charter school, board of cooperative educa- 2 tional services, or non-public and private elementary or secondary 3 school that opts in shall not be required to oversee the fingerprinting 4 process for employees of a contracted service provider of student 5 support services such as, but not limited to, substitute teachers, 6 substitute teacher aides, substitute nurses, educational consultants, 7 tutors, substitute school administrative support and other temporary 8 student services professionals, so long as they have engaged a 9 contracted service provider of student support services who has complied 10 with the fingerprinting requirements elsewhere in this chapter. 11 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 12 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 13 as follows: 14 (a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal 15 justice services and in accordance with all applicable provisions of 16 law, shall promulgate rules and regulations to require the fingerprint- 17 ing of prospective employees, as defined in section eleven hundred twen- 18 ty-five of this chapter, of school districts, charter schools [and], 19 boards of cooperative educational services and providers of contract 20 services to covered schools as such term is defined by 8 NYCRR 87.2(e) 21 and authorizing the fingerprinting of prospective employees of nonpublic 22 and private elementary and secondary schools, and for the use of infor- 23 mation derived from searches of the records of the division of criminal 24 justice services and the federal bureau of investigation based on the 25 use of such fingerprints. The commissioner shall also develop a form for 26 use by school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educa- 27 tional services, providers of contract services, and nonpublic and 28 private elementary and secondary schools in connection with the 29 submission of fingerprints that contains the specific job title sought 30 and any other information that may be relevant to consideration of the 31 applicant. The commissioner shall also establish a form for the recorda- 32 tion of allegations of child abuse in an educational setting, as 33 required pursuant to section eleven hundred twenty-six of this chapter. 34 No person who has been fingerprinted pursuant to section three thousand 35 four-b of this chapter or pursuant to section five hundred nine-cc or 36 twelve hundred twenty-nine-d of the vehicle and traffic law and whose 37 fingerprints remain on file with the division of criminal justice 38 services shall be required to undergo fingerprinting for purposes of a 39 new criminal history record check. This subdivision and the rules and 40 regulations promulgated pursuant thereto shall not apply to a school 41 district within a city with a population of one million or more. 42 § 4. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 43 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 44 as follows: 45 (d) The commissioner shall develop forms to be provided to all school 46 districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, 47 providers of contracted services and to all nonpublic and private 48 elementary and secondary schools that elect to fingerprint their 49 prospective employees, to be completed and signed by prospective employ- 50 ees when conditional appointment or emergency conditional appointment is 51 offered. 52 § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 53 chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 54 1. The commissioner shall submit to the division of criminal justice 55 services two sets of fingerprints of prospective employees as defined in 56 subdivision three of section eleven hundred twenty-five of this chapter 
 A. 8902 3 1 received from a school district, charter school or board of cooperative 2 educational services, providers of contract services and of prospective 3 employees received from nonpublic and private elementary and secondary 4 schools pursuant to title two of this chapter, and the division of crim- 5 inal justice services processing fee imposed pursuant to subdivision 6 eight-a of section eight hundred thirty-seven of the executive law and 7 any fee imposed by the federal bureau of investigation. The division of 8 criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation shall 9 forward such criminal history record to the commissioner in a timely 10 manner. For the purposes of this section, the term "criminal history 11 record" shall mean a record of all convictions of crimes and any pending 12 criminal charges maintained on an individual by the division of criminal 13 justice services and the federal bureau of investigation. All such crim- 14 inal history records sent to the commissioner pursuant to this subdivi- 15 sion shall be confidential pursuant to the applicable federal and state 16 laws, rules and regulations, and shall not be published or in any way 17 disclosed to persons other than the commissioner, unless otherwise 18 authorized by law. 19 § 6. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 20 chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 21 3. (a) Clearance. (i) After receipt of a criminal history record from 22 the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of 23 investigation the commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate 24 school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational 25 services, providers of contract services or nonpublic or private elemen- 26 tary or secondary school whether the prospective employee to which such 27 report relates is cleared for employment based upon [his or her] crimi- 28 nal history. All determinations to grant or deny clearance for employ- 29 ment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance with 30 subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the executive 31 law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. When the commis- 32 sioner denies a prospective employee clearance for employment, such 33 prospective employee shall be afforded notice and the right to be heard 34 and offer proof in opposition to such determination in accordance with 35 the regulations of the commissioner. 36 (ii) The commissioner shall promptly notify school district, charter 37 schools, boards of cooperative educational services, and providers of 38 contract services of any subsequent changes in clearance status, and 39 such entities shall be provided access to the department's secure elec- 40 tronic system in which fingerprinting and background clearance records 41 are maintained in order to verify the clearance status of prospective 42 and current employees as needed. 43 (b) Conditional clearance. When the commissioner receives a request 44 for a determination on the conditional clearance of a prospective 45 employee, the commissioner, after receipt of a criminal history record 46 from the division of criminal justice services, shall promptly notify 47 the prospective employee and the appropriate school district, charter 48 school, board of cooperative educational services, providers of 49 contracted services or nonpublic or private elementary or secondary 50 school that the prospective employee to which such report relates is 51 conditionally cleared for employment based upon [his or her] criminal 52 history or that more time is needed to make the determination. If the 53 commissioner determines that more time is needed, the notification shall 54 include a good faith estimate of the amount of additional time needed. 55 Such notification shall be made within fifteen business days after the 56 commissioner receives the prospective employee's fingerprints. All 
 A. 8902 4 1 determinations to grant or deny conditional clearance for employment 2 pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance with subdi- 3 vision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the executive law 4 and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. 5 (c) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a covered 6 school, as defined by 8 NYCRR 87.2(e), that utilizes temporary staff 7 from a provider of contract services may accept the written confirmation 8 of such provider of contract services as evidence that such temporary 9 staff have satisfied the fingerprinting and background check require- 10 ments required by applicable law. In such instances, the covered school 11 shall not be required to separately initiate the fingerprinting and 12 background check process for such temporary staff. 13 § 7. Subdivision 3 of section 424-a of the social services law, as 14 amended by chapter 611 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as 15 follows: 16 3. For purposes of this section, the term "provider" or "provider 17 agency" shall mean: an authorized agency; the office of children and 18 family services; a private, nonprofit incorporated agency that meets the 19 state office of children and family services program standards for child 20 advocacy centers; juvenile detention facilities subject to the certif- 21 ication of the office of children and family services; programs estab- 22 lished pursuant to article nineteen-H of the executive law; non-residen- 23 tial or residential programs or facilities licensed or operated by the 24 office of mental health or the office for people with developmental 25 disabilities except family care homes; including head start programs 26 which are funded pursuant to title V of the federal economic opportunity 27 act of nineteen hundred sixty-four, as amended; early intervention 28 service established pursuant to section twenty-five hundred forty of the 29 public health law; preschool services established pursuant to section 30 forty-four hundred ten of the education law; providers of contracted 31 services to covered schools as defined by 8 NYCRR 87.2(e); special act 32 school districts as enumerated in chapter five hundred sixty-six of the 33 laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, as amended; programs and facili- 34 ties licensed by the office of [alcoholism and substance abuse] 35 addiction services and supports; residential schools which are operated, 36 supervised or approved by the education department; health homes, or any 37 subcontractor of such health homes, who contracts with or is approved or 38 otherwise authorized by the department of health to provide health home 39 services to all those enrolled pursuant to a diagnosis of a develop- 40 mental disability as defined in subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 41 of the mental hygiene law and enrollees who are under twenty-one years 42 of age under section three hundred sixty-five-l of this chapter, or any 43 entity that provides home and community based services to enrollees who 44 are under twenty-one years of age under a demonstration program pursuant 45 to section eleven hundred fifteen of the federal social security act; 46 publicly-funded emergency shelters for families with children, provided, 47 however, for purposes of this section, when the provider or provider 48 agency is a publicly-funded emergency shelter for families with chil- 49 dren, then all references in this section to the "potential for regular 50 and substantial contact with individuals who are cared for by the agen- 51 cy" shall mean the potential for regular and substantial contact with 52 children who are served by such shelter; and any other facility or 53 provider agency, as defined in subdivision four of section four hundred 54 eighty-eight of this chapter, in regard to the employment of staff, or 55 use of providers of goods and services and staff of such providers, 56 consultants, interns and volunteers. 
 A. 8902 5 1 § 8. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 390-a of the social 2 services law, as amended by chapter 416 of the laws of 2000, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 (a) review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by 5 any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child 6 care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a 7 provider of family day care or group family day care, or a director of a 8 child day care center, head start day care center or school-age child 9 care program. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the 10 following requirements: that the applicant set forth [his or her] such 11 applicant's employment history, provide personal and employment refer- 12 ences; submit such information as is required for screening with the 13 statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment in accordance 14 with the provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this arti- 15 cle; sign a sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of [his or 16 her] such applicant's knowledge, [he or she] such applicant has ever 17 been convicted of a crime in this state or any other jurisdiction; and 18 provide [his or her] such applicant's fingerprints for submission to the 19 division of criminal justice services in accordance with the provisions 20 of section three hundred ninety-b of this title. Notwithstanding the 21 provisions of this paragraph, where a program has people working on 22 their premises through a contracted service provider of student support 23 services as defined in subdivision eleven of section eleven hundred 24 twenty-five of the education law, and such contracted services provider 25 of student support services has reviewed clearance statuses as a provid- 26 er or provider agency under section four hundred twenty-four-a of this 27 chapter, then such program does not need to run the check itself on the 28 contracted service provider employees working on their site; 29 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately.