Commitment to Student Safety

• Every employee must pass a fingerprint-based CBI/FBI background check before hiring.
• All employees must complete annual training on identifying and reporting child abuse and recognizing indicators of grooming behavior.
• All Jeffco principals and central leaders are required to complete training on adult sexual misconduct.
• Our schools and facilities follow visitor management protocols.
• Over 145 safety and security team members work 24 hours a day to protect Jeffco students, staff and families.
• Jeffco Public Schools partners with area law enforcement agencies, including the School Resource Officer (SRO) program.
• Jeffco Public Schools provides Safe2Tell and an online Title IX reporting system.
• Each school designates an administrator to serve as a Title IX lead. More than half of Jeffco schools have this in place today with the rest scheduled for later this year.
• Jeffco’s internet network firewalls block access to inappropriate or harmful content and prevent unauthorized access.
• Policy GBEB and GBEB-R, updated in consultation with the Colorado School Safety Resource Center, sets expectations for safe and healthy boundaries between staff and students.

All Jeffco employees are required by state law to have a fingerprint-based background check.

Licensed employees

Licensed employees must be fingerprinted as part of the licensing application process with the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). CDE reviews the background check from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to determine if the applicant’s criminal history meets the standards of licensure in accordance with Colorado law.

• CBI flags the individual with CDE and subsequent arrest notifications are shared with all school districts in the state via their online tracking portal that Jeffco Human Resources checks daily.

Non-Licensed employees 

Non-Licensed employees are fingerprinted through Colorado Fingerprinting, which is a third-party vendor. Jeffco Human Resources reviews the CBI and FBI records to determine suitability for employment.

• CBI flags the individual as a Jeffco employee and Jeffco Human Resources receives any subsequent arrest notifications.

The Colorado Educator Licensing Act 

The Colorado Educator Licensing Act requires the Colorado Department of Education to deny or revoke a teacher or administrator license when the applicant or license-holder has been convicted of:

• Felony child abuse
• A crime of violence as defined in C.R.S. 18-1.3-406
• A felony involving unlawful sexual behavior
• Felony domestic violence
• A felony drug offense
• Indecent exposure

These same minimum thresholds are also applied to applicants seeking non-licensed positions in Jeffco. The district applies a higher standard than the CDE licensing minimums to determine eligibility for employment. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The EEOC provides guidance for considerations in determining when criminal history should be used in evaluating a candidate for employment. This includes:

• The nature of the conviction and its relatedness to the job
• Any information regarding rehabilitation
• The time that has elapsed since the conviction

• If an employee is arrested, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation promptly notifies Jeffco as the employer of record for the fingerprinted employee. 
• Human Resources, Legal Services, and Senior Leadership consider the nature and severity of the offense and its job-relatedness to evaluate what options are appropriate for the arrested employee (i.e. termination, administrative leave, corrective action, transfer, demotion, etc).

• Policy GBEB and GBEB-R – Staff Conduct
• Policy GCE/GCF and GCE/GCF-R – Professional Staff Recruiting/Hiring
• Policy JLF and JLF-R – Reporting Child Abuse
• Policy JLI – Student Safety
• Policy JICDE – Bullying Prevention and Education
• Policy JK, JK-R and JK-2 – Student Discipline
• Policy JKA and JKA-R – Use of Physical Intervention and Restraint
• Policy JKBA and JKBA-R – Disciplinary Removal from Classroom
• Policy JKDA/JKEA – Grounds for Suspension/Expulsion
• Policy JKD/JKE and JKD/JKE-R – Student Suspension/Expulsion
• Policy JKF and JKF-R – Educational Alternatives for Expelled Students
• Policy JKG – Expulsion Prevention