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TEA is committed to supporting school systems in their efforts to maintain safe educational environments for students and staff. This letter is to notify school systems that Chapter 22 Subchapter C, of the Texas Education Code (TEC), requires school entities to ensure that certain individuals are fingerprinted to undergo a national criminal history records review and that other individuals undergo a name-based criminal history record information review. In addition, superintendents of districts and chief operating officers of open-enrollment charter schools are required to certify annually that the district or charter school has complied with TEC, §22.085. The deadline for this submission is Friday, December 20, 2024.

If an educator knows or should have known, through a criminal history record information review, that an employee or applicant has been convicted of certain offenses, as set forth in TEC, §22.085(a), and the educator retains the employee or hires the applicant, the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) may impose a sanction on the educator.

Districts and charter schools that fail to certify and return the attached form by the deadline may be subject to the following:

1. Inclusion in a permanent public notice that lists all districts and open-enrollment charter schools that have failed to certify compliance with fingerprinting and background check requirements; Ìý
2. A special investigation as defined under TEC, §39.003 and §39.004; and Ìý
3. An investigation of the superintendent or chief operating officer who has violated TEC, §11.201(d)(13), or 19 Texas Administrative Code §249.15 by failing to complete the certification as required.

Accordingly, please sign, notarize, and submit your completed 2024-2025 Annual Fingerprinting Certification and Statement of Compliance via email to FingerprintingCompliance@tea.texas.gov ²ú²â Friday, December 20, 2024.

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