TITLE 6                 PRIMARY

AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

CHAPTER 60       SCHOOL

PERSONNEL - GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART 8                 BACKGROUND

CHECKS FOR EDUCATOR LICENSURE

 

6.60.8.1                 ISSUING

AGENCY:  Public Education Department

[06-15-98, 07-30-99; 6.60.8.1

NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.1, 03-31-01; A, 06-15-06]

 

6.60.8.2                 SCOPE:  All persons

applying for initial standard, alternative or substitute licensure.

[06-15-98; 6.60.8.2 NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.2 & A, 03-31-01]

 

6.60.8.3                 STATUTORY

AUTHORITY:  Sections 22-2-1, 22-2-2, 22-10A-5 NMSA 1978.

[06-15-98, 11-15-99; 6.60.8.3

NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.3, 03-31-01; A, 06-15-06]

 

6.60.8.4                 DURATION:  Permanent

[06-15-98; 6.60.8.4 NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.4, 03-31-01]

 

6.60.8.5                 EFFECTIVE

DATE: 

June 15, 1998, unless a later date is cited in the history note at the

end of a section.

[06-15-98; 6.60.8.5 NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.5 & A, 03-31-01]

 

6.60.8.6                 OBJECTIVE:  This rule

establishes the requirements for background checks on all initial applicants

for licensure and for sharing information from employment background checks

between school districts and the New Mexico public education department

("PED").

[06-15-98, 11-15-99; 6.60.8.6

NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.6 & A, 03-31-01; A,

06-15-06]

 

6.60.8.7                 DEFINITIONS:  “Criminal

history” means convictions of felonies or misdemeanors of moral turpitude, or

other information concerning a person's arrests, indictments, other formal

criminal charges and any dispositions arising therefrom,

including convictions, dismissals, acquittals, sentencing, and correctional

supervision, collected by criminal justice agencies and stored in the

computerized databases of the federal bureau of investigation (“FBI”), the

national law enforcement telecommunications system, the New Mexico department

of public safety (“DPS”), or the repositories of criminal history information

of other states.

[06-15-98, 11-15-99; 6.60.8.7

NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.7 & A, 03-31-01]

 

6.60.8.8                 REQUIREMENTS:

                A.            An

applicant for initial educator licensure shall be fingerprinted using

fingerprint cards supplied by the PED or the equivalent electronic

fingerprints.  The applicant will submit

the two completed fingerprint cards or equivalent electronic fingerprints to the

PED either prior to or with the initial application for educator

licensure.  A criminal history background

record issued by either the DPS or the FBI shall be valid and may be

disseminated by the PED pursuant to FBI and DPS guidelines for twenty-four months

from the date of issuance entered on the criminal history background record.

                B.            The

PED shall not disseminate a DPS or FBI criminal history background record more

than twenty-four months from the date of issuance, regardless of when an

applicant for initial employment already possessing current New Mexico educator

licensure is offered employment or commences employment duties for any new

employer.

                C.            The

applicant shall pay by certified check, money order, or credit card, if

authorized by the PED, a background check fee in an amount established by that

agency sufficient to cover the agency's actual costs of obtaining criminal

history background reports from the DPS and the FBI.

[06-15-98, 11-15-99; 6.60.8.8

NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.8 & A, 03-31-01; A,

06-15-06]

 

6.60.8.9                 IMPLEMENTATION:

                A.            The

PED will not issue an educator license until the applicant’s background check

has been successfully completed.

                B.            An

applicant will be notified of any information in the background check reports

that could result in licensure denial, suspension, or revocation prior to the

initiation of any such action by the PED.

                C.            If

requested by a local school board, a DPS or FBI criminal history report that is

not more than twenty-four months old may be provided by the PED to the

applicant's school employer.  The PED may

inform a licensure applicant's school employer, if known, of any background

check information that reveals a conviction of a felony or misdemeanor of moral

turpitude at the same time that the information is reported to the applicant.

                D.            School

district officials, who in the course of their background checks of employment

applicants, discover that a licensed applicant or applicant pending a license

has a conviction of a felony or misdemeanor of moral turpitude that results in

any kind of action against that individual, shall share that information with

the professional licensure or educator ethics bureaus of the PED.  If the applicant has education licensure, the

PED will notify the license holder, and his/her current school employer, if

known, of the conviction(s) following the procedures in Subsections B and C of

6.60.8.9 NMAC.

                E.             Applicants

will be given the opportunity on the application form to disclose, explain, and

provide information, including rehabilitation, related to their criminal history.

[06-15-98, 11-15-99; 6.60.8.9

NMAC - Rn, 6 NMAC 4.2.4.8.9 & A, 03-31-01; A,

06-15-06]

 

HISTORY OF 6.60.8 NMAC:  [RESERVED]