Fingerprinting

  • Mission Statement

    "Our goal is to facilitate a safe and efficient pre-employment background process that ensures the safety and security of all employees and stakeholders in the organization through negligent hiring liability, increase new hire quality, and reduce company losses."

    The Law

    Florida Statute 1012.465 requires that all employees must meet Level 2 Screening requirements as described in Florida Statute 1012.32 (available online www.flsenate.gov/Statutes. Title: XLVIII, Chapter: 1012)

    All employees must be electronically fingerprinted specifically for and by Pinellas County Schools. Pinellas County Schools reserves the right to determine which applicants will be approved and which will be disqualified in accordance with Pinellas County Schools’ Hiring Guidelines.
     
    The digital fingerprint records created during the fingerprint process are forwarded to the FDLE and the FBI for analysis.  Combined results from both agencies are returned directly to Pinellas County Schools.  The digital fingerprint records are stored with FDLE as long as the employee continues employment with Pinellas County Schools.  Upon termination records are purged as part of monthly system maintenance.  Inquires and questions should be sent to fingerprinting@pcsb.org.
     
     

    General information

    Using an Internet Browser
    From a computer, go to: Fingerprinting Registration. As part of the registration process you will be required to create a user account based on your email address. If you do not have your own email account, you could consider asking a relative or close friend to assist you in this process and possibly using their email account, if you do not want to create one. Having an account will enable you to log back into the website to reschedule your appointment or reprint the confirmation if it is misplaced. Follow the simple on-screen instructions to complete your registration. Be sure to have a printer connected so that you will able to print the appointment confirmation you will be required to provide at the time of your fingerprinting.

    This website is a secure website. Secure data encryption methods similar to those banks use are designed into this website.

    Your Social Security Number will be required during the registration process. It is important that you provide your correct SSN due to the interface between the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)and the Florida Department of Education (DOE) Certification issuing/renewal process. Incorrect SSN’s will cause the DOE to be unable to issue a Teaching Certificate and you will be charged to correctly resubmit your prints.

    Method of Payment
    All new employees to Pinellas County Schools or Charter Schools, and student interns are required to pay online by major credit card, prepaid credit card or E-Check during registration.

    Submission Results
    Criminal Record History Information (CHRI) reports are securely delivered to the Human Resource Department electronically and are reviewed to determine that the applicant or employee meet Pinellas County Schools’ Hiring Guidelines.

    Rejected Fingerprints
    Although the fingerprint images are evaluated for quality by the scanning software before they are submitted to the FBI/FDLE, the possibility exists that some will be determined to be illegible by the FBI computer system. This occurs in a small percentage of cases and is usually resolved with a second attempt. In the rare case that the second submission also fails you will not need to be printed again, the district will request that the background screening be handled by Schools Police using an alternative method.

    Please note: We are required by the FBI to attempt a second submission before any other method can be requested.

    Mandated Employee Rescreening
    State statutes require employees to have an updated background screening every five years. The FDLE FALCON system provides the district with functionality that allows us to request that fingerprint images stored by the FDLE be resubmitted to fulfill this mandate. Employees meeting the five year requirement are selected and resubmitted through this automated process eliminating the need to physically fingerprint employees every five years.

    In most cases the employee’s stored digital fingerprints will be submitted, the results reviewed, and their personnel record updated without being notified. In some cases, due to the FBI updating their digital image requirements, the resubmission by the FDLE maybe found to be illegible. In these cases the employee will be contacted and a new set of fingerprints will need to be collected and submitted.
     

    Screening Procedures:

     
    PCS Fingerprinting Services Subgroups - PCS Fingerprinting Services are divided into six subgroups: PCS New hires, PCS College Student Interns, PCS Charter School Employees, PCS Volunteers, PCS Students in Health related fields, and Vendors/Contractors. Fees vary and the FDLE/FBI report results are group specific, so please choose the appropriate category carefully.
     

    Employees new to Pinellas County Schools - Administrators, Instructional Staff including Part-time Hourly and Substitutes, Supporting Services, Alternative Staff (coaches), Contracted Services Employees (CSE’s with the appropriate paperwork). CSE’s are not to be confused with a vendor/contractor or vice versa. CSE’s are PCS employees and receive a paycheck from Pinellas County Schools.
    Fieldprint, Inc. is the service provider for this group.

    Follow these procedures: New employees will be notified by HR staff when it is appropriate for them to log into the Pinellas County Schools district website to schedule their fingerprinting. Click on: PCS HR Fingerprinting Page · Follow the instructions found on this Web page. The department to contact with questions is Human Resources, 727-588-5011 and/or by email at fingerprinting@pcsb.org.

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    Vendor and Contractors for Pinellas County Schools
    Fieldprint is the service provider for this group. This vendor/contractor group includes individuals, companies and organizations that are directly or indirectly contracted to provide services and goods to the district. The staff of these companies and organizations are not paid as employees of Pinellas County Schools. Follow these procedures:

    Vendor/Contractors will be notified by their employers when it is appropriate for them to log into Fieldprint website to schedule their appointment for fingerprinting. Vendor/Contractors will follow these procedures for Contractor Badge Instructions.

    The department to contact is Pinellas County Schools Police - Patricia Cross - 727-547-7279

    College Student Interns – College Students who are beginning any practicum, internship, field experience, or any type of observations must be registered and Level 2 fingerprinted prior to completing any educational course requirements. Level 2 applies to all school levels.
     
    Please complete the Student Intern Security Check Form with a copy of your government issued identification. Faxed, emailed or scanned copies are not acceptable, only original forms will be accepted. Click on this link: PCS HR Fingerprinting Page and follow the instructions. The student intern MUST decide which location is most convenient to be fingerprinted because they will be prompted to enter a FIELDPRINT CODE which depends on the location chosen. For the PCS Administration Building, the Fieldprint code is FPPCSInterns. For one of the Fieldprint Network location choices, the Fieldprint code is FPPCSNetIntern. If you have questions regarding student internships contact Debra Cucchiara, 727-588-5136 or email: CUCCHIARAD@PCSB.ORG
     

    Charter School Employees - Fieldprint, Inc. is the service provider for this group. Follow these procedures: New charter school employees will be notified by their charter schools when it is appropriate for them to log into the Pinellas County Schools district website to schedule their fingerprinting. Click on: PCS HR Fingerprinting Page Follow the instructions found on this web page. The department to contact with questions is Human Resources, 727-588-5011 and/or by email at fingerprinting@pcsb.org.

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    Charter School Volunteers - Please contact the Charter School for the VECHS ORI Number before you go to get your Level II screening done.

    New Volunteers – Volunteer applicants must complete an online volunteer registration and upload a Government Issued photo ID. A Level 1 (National Background Screening at no cost to the volunteer) will be processed by the District Office of Strategic Partnerships. Please confirm with the Family & Community Liaison at the school if additional Level 2 screening is a requirement for volunteering. When the applicant has been Level 1 background checked approved they will receive an email with the volunteer's user ID and password to log their volunteer hours in the volunteer system.

    Please refer to the Volunteer Registration and Background Screening Procedures web page for additional information.