You wanted to know if teachers must be fingerprinted every time they change schools, if there are different fingerprinting requirements for substitute teachers, and why entities charge different prices for fingerprinting services.

Pursuant to state statute, any person who is employed by a local board of education must submit to a state and national criminal history record check within the first 30 days of employment. The only exception to this rule is adult education teachers that do not require certification. If a teacher switches schools within a district, he would not need to submit to another criminal history record check. However, if a teacher changes school districts, he would need to submit to another criminal history record check within 30 days of employment (C. G. S. §10-221d(a)).

For substitute teachers, state and national criminal history records checks completed up to one year before the date of employment and submitted to the employing board meet the statutory requirements. Additionally, substitute teachers do not have to submit to criminal history background checks if they are continuously employed by a board of education. The statute defines continuous employment for a substitute teacher as one day of service each school year (C. G. S. §10-221d(c)).

A person may have their fingerprints taken by a local board of education, a Regional Education Service Center (RESC), police department, or the State Police Bureau of Identification. According to a fact sheet on the SDE web site, there are processing fees associated with RESC fingerprinting services. According to the SDE, the difference in processing fees might be related to the volume of requests received.