Who:   If you are (1) applying for initial Montana educator licensure, (2) seeking emergency authorization of employment, or (3) seeking to reinstate a lapsed, revoked, or suspended educator license, Montana Board of Public Education policy requires you to provide information and material to obtain a fingerprint-based national criminal history background check (a "background check"). Admin. R. Mont. 10.57.201A(3).

    What:   Federal law authorizes the Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction to request a nationwide background check for the purpose of determining whether a person seeking to work in a school has been convicted of a crime that bears upon such person's fitness to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children. 42 U.S.C. 5119a. The background check is a report compiled from data held by the Montana Department of Justice and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. The report contains criminal convictions and it may influence your qualification for licensure. The Superintendent may not issue a license until the background check has been completed and the results of the background check have been delivered to and reviewed by the Office of Public Instruction. Also, prior to the completion of the background check, you may be denied unsupervised access to school children.

    Why:   One of the legal requirements for educator licensure in Montana is that you be of "good moral and professional character." Mont. Code Ann 20-4-104(1). The background check is a tool the Superintendent uses to evaluate a person's character. Conviction, including conviction following a plea of nolo contendere, a conviction in which the sentence is suspended or deferred, or any other adjudication treated by the court as a conviction, may be considered by the Superintendent in the licensure process if the conviction was for a sexual offense, a crime involving violence, the sale of drugs, or theft, or any other crime meeting the criteria of Title 37, chapter1 part 2, MCA. Admin. R. Mont. 10.57.201A(10).

    Your Rights:   You are entitled to: (a) obtain a copy of any background check report and (b)challenge the accuracy and completeness of any information contained in any such report and obtain a prompt determination as to the validity of such challenge before a final determination on your application is made by the Superintendent. 42 U.S.C. 5119a(b)(2) and Admin. R. Mont. 10.57.201A(8).