Careful Hiring of Educational Personnel, Including Substitute Teachers
| To: | Superintendents of Schools, Charter School Leaders, Directors of Approved Day or Residential Schools, Educational Collaboratives and Other Interested Parties |
| From: | Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education |
| Date: | August 22, 2008 |
As educators, we are entrusted with the safety and well-being of the students who attend our schools. I would like to remind you of the importance of exercising due diligence whenever you hire staff. For example, we recommend that before making an offer of employment, each school district, school, or educational program should:Require candidates to list all previous employers on their job applications. Conduct thorough background and reference checks. This includes contacting a candidate's recent employers – particularly the superintendent or a senior level administrator in the school district(s) where the candidate worked previously – to ensure that all relevant information is provided. Use a checklist and keep documentation of your reference calls. Conduct criminal background (CORI) checks on current and prospective employees, volunteers, school transportation providers and others who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children, as required by Mass. General Laws c. 71, § 38R. For more information, please see our Advisory Opinion on the Massachusetts CORI Law at http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/cori.html. Please note that the CORI process relates only to Massachusetts; it does not check databases in other states and jurisdictions. - Always confirm electronically, through ELAR – the Department's online educator licensure service – that candidates for positions requiring an educator license (certification) hold the appropriate license or certificate for the position and that their licenses are active. In order to assist districts in determining which license may be appropriate for the assignment, the Department has developed a guide called "Matching Licenses" which can be found at http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=3542. To review the status of educator licenses, please use the Educator Licensure Status DropBox located at the Department's Security Portal at http://www4.doemass.org/. It is listed under the DropBox Central application and can be accessed by users who have the Directory Administrator security role. You can also use the DropBox to request expedited review of an educator's application.
For assistance regarding licensure, please contact Nancy Perkins through the Commissioner's Hotline at 781-338-3065. Schools and districts should exercise care in hiring substitute teachers (or unlicensed teachers for whom you would seek a waiver) as well as permanent staff. A school or district could, for example, terminate the employment of a substitute teacher for conduct that, while not criminal, is inappropriate and may put students at risk. Since substitute teachers are not required to hold an educator license (although some do), checking on a candidate for a substitute teaching position only through the CORI and ELAR systems is important but may not necessarily turn up critical information about the candidate. This underscores the need for school hiring authorities to require candidates to list all previous employers on their applications and to contact, at a minimum, one or two of the candidate's recent employers for a reference check. Care in hiring is a key factor in protecting students and continuing to improve our schools. For further guidance on the hiring process, I recommend that you and your human resources staff consult with your legal counsel as needed. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Last Updated: August 25, 2008
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