FCPS Increases Background Checks for Employees
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) announced increased background checks for employees in a continuing effort to provide safe schools and workplaces for all students and staff.
Starting in April 2023, all FCPS employees (including temporary employees, hourly staff and substitutes) will be reviewed through the National Sex Offender Registry. This is the beginning of a process that will expand over the coming school year.
Employees will be notified directly by the Office of Employee Relations if there is a concern that needs to be addressed. Employees will be notified once the initial review is complete.
New Regulation 4116 details the process. The regulation requires that employees disclose and notify the Office of Employee Relations (OER) of any arrests including misdemeanors, felonies, or acts that impact a person’s ability to work that happened after being hired and while employed at FCPS.
Employees will be asked to acknowledge this regulation. As a continuing condition of employment, the FCPS Department of Human Resources will submit all employees for criminal record background checks periodically to monitor for unreported criminal record activity. Additional types of background checks may also be used for periodic monitoring. Not every arrest would lead to action; however, a barrier crime, felony or a crime that impacts a person’s ability to work may have cause for dismissal.
Starting this summer, employee fingerprints will be resubmitted to the Virginia State Police and FBI for review. Digital fingerprint scans already on file for employees hired after August 1, 2006 and prior to July 1, 2022 will be automatically resubmitted.
