Background Clearances

All clearances must be submitted to the District Office

  • All school employees, active substitutes and volunteers are required by PA School Code to provide new clearances every five years.  IF you are a new hire, the clearances need to be within a year of hire.
  • Employees are responsible for obtaining and providing up to date clearances before the expiration of previous clearances.
  • Volunteer clearances are NOT acceptable for the purpose of employment
  • It is important to refer to the detailed instructions below when completing applications for clearance
  • Clearances must be obtained and paid for by the employee.

Required for Employees

FBI Background Check Clearance (Fingerprinting)

  • Required prior to hire
  • Use Employee Code: 1KG6XN
  • Cost: $26.20

Act 114 of 2006, Section 111 of the Public School Code was amended effective April 1, 2007.  All student teachers (participating in classroom teaching, internships, clinical or field experience) and prospective employees (including but not limited to administrators, teachers, substitutes, janitors, cafeteria workers, office employees) of public and private schools, Intermediate Units and area vocational-technical schools, including independent contractors and their employees and bus drivers, who have direct contact with children, must provide to their employer a copy of their Federal Criminal History Record that cannot be more than one (1) year old. 

PA Criminal History Clearance

  • Required prior to hire
  • Cost: $22.00

Effective January 1, 1986, all Pennsylvania residents must submit with their employment application a copy of a report of “Criminal History Record Information” from the Pennsylvania State Police or a statement from the Pennsylvania State Police that the State Police central repository contains no such information.  Out-of-State applicants must submit with their application for employment a copy of a federal criminal record report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The criminal record report must be no more than one (1) year old and upon hiring, the applicant must submit the original report. Click on the link below to access the Act 34 Criminal History application website.

Child Abuse History Clearance

  • Required prior to hire
  • Cost: $13.00

For purpose of clearance, you must check the box for “School Employee governed by the Public School Code”.  The section on agency/organization name and payment authorization code should not be completed.  Please skip to the section on Applicant Demographic Information and continue to complete all the remaining sections on both pages.  It is mandatory to complete the sections on previous addresses and household members, failure to do so will result in the application being returned to you and delays in processing. The child abuse report must be no more than one (1) year old and upon hiring, the applicant must submit the original report. 

Act 126 Requirement (Mandated Child Abuse Training)

  • Required after hire
  • Cost: Free

Act 168 Requirement

  • Required after hire
  • Cost: Free

A school entity or an independent contractor (collectively referred to herein as “hiring entity”) may not hire any applicant for a position in which the employee will have direct contact with children until the school entity has complied with the employment history review process delineated in Act 168. (24 P.S. § 1-111.1).

A  hiring entity must require an applicant for any position in which there is direct contact with children to complete Section 1 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Sexual Misconduct/Abuse Disclosure Release form for all employers that fall within the following categories:

  • The applicant’s current employer (regardless of whether the employer was a school entity and/or where the applicant had direct contact with children);
  • All former employers of the applicant that were school entities; and
  • All former employers where the applicant was employed in a position where he or she had direct contact with children.

Note that the applicant must fill out a separate Sexual Misconduct/Abuse Disclosure Release form for each employer that falls within the above-listed categories. The applicant is not required, however,  to disclose current or previous volunteer positions. Under Act 168, the hiring entity is prohibited from hiring an applicant for a position involving direct contact with children unless the applicant provides the required information on the form and consent.

Required for Volunteers

Volunteers are always needed and welcomed at Montoursville Area School District. The clearances listed below, as regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, are required to be on file with the district (at the building level) before an individual is permitted to volunteer. Volunteers can be in the classroom or attend field trips with the students.