Under current law, school bus drivers and licensed educators in Ohio submit their fingerprints to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) as part of a background check that is a condition of their initial employment or licensure. In addition to submitting to these background checks, these employees are also enrolled in a system called the Retained Applicant Fingerprint Database (RAPBACK). This system stores the fingerprints captured as part of the background check process and searches those prints against new criminal prints and prints submitted to BCI as part of a court disposition process. When a match is found, BCI provides rap sheet information back to the Department of Education (ODE). ODE then provides notifications about criminal arrests or convictions of licensed educators to the school districts where they are employed.
The 2024-2025 biennial budget bill, Am. Sub. House Bill 33 (HB 33), made changes in this area. First, instead of providing rap sheet information to ODE (or the new Department of Education and Workforce), BCI will provide this information to the State Board of Education, who will become the entity responsible for providing this information to school districts.
Second, language in HB 33 will require the State Board of Education to enroll the following new individuals in RAPBACK:
- Any nonlicensed employee who is employed by a school district.
- Any contractor or person hired by a contractor who is engaged in providing services to a school district in a position that does not require a license or registration issued by the State Board of Education.
BCI will make the initial criminal records check requested for these new individuals available to the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education will use that information to enroll the person in RAPBACK in the same manner as school bus drivers and licensed educators. Upon receiving notification of an arrest, guilty plea or conviction, the State Board of Education must promptly transmit that information back to the employing district.
Third, new language in HB 33 will require districts to request a new criminal records check for a person subject to RAPBACK if the most recent criminal records check request for the individual:
- Was completed more than one year prior to Oct. 3, 2023; or
- Does not include information gathered pursuant to RC 109.57(A).
If a new criminal records check is required, the district must request the check by a date that will be determined by the State Board of Education.
Finally, HB 33 specifically excludes from RAPBACK enrollment any individuals who volunteer at a school building within a district, ESC or chartered nonpublic school, including a parent volunteer in a student’s classroom.
Prior to the bill’s effective date on Oct. 3, 2023, OSBA will be updating its Employee background checks fact sheet to reflect these changes. If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please reach out to OSBA’s legal services division at 855-OSBA-LAW.