2023-2024 School Year
Prenda operates as a third-party partner to public education providers in multiple states across the United States. Prenda has an independent contractor relationship with its guides and as such, in accordance with each unique partnership, Prenda may be responsible for enforcing additional safety clearance requirements per each specific partnership and state regulation.
As an independent contractor, each guide is responsible for maintaining all required safety clearances. The required safety clearance must be active at the time of guide authorization or reauthorization and must be active for the following twelve (12) month calendar period to cover the entire academic year from July - June.* Should a guide’s safety clearance change at any time in the academic year, the guide must inform Prenda of this change. Prenda will audit guides’ safety clearance throughout the school year and a guide may be subject to termination if they lose safety clearance and fail to notify Prenda.
Additional safety clearance requirements are not a substitute for Prenda’s background check requirements, First Aid Certification, or CPR Certification requirements. State-specific safety clearance requirements are detailed below.
1. Colorado Safety Clearance Requirements
The Colorado Department of Public Safety policy requires Prenda guides to be fingerprinted for the purpose of completing a national criminal history background check. This requirement applies to any public or private, for-profit, not-for-profit, or volunteer organization that provides care or care placement services to any child, elderly person, or person with disabilities for whom the organization provides care.
As part of the background check process, Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will forward your fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). You have the right to challenge the information contained in either the CBI or the FBI identification record. This process can take up to six (6) weeks depending on your submission method, though it usually occurs much more quickly.
The fingerprint process only needs to be completed once during your time with Prenda and currently costs $39.50. The guide is responsible for covering this fee. Instructions on how to obtain the appropriate Colorado fingerprint clearance can be found here and in the Prenda Academy Course: Partner Requirements.
Throughout the school year, Prenda will audit criminal history status on a monthly basis.
Note: Substitute guides are only required to complete a Prenda-provided background check with Prenda’s third-party background check partner, free of charge, prior to having direct contact with students.
2. New Hampshire Clearance Requirements
Prenda does not enforce additional clearance requirements on behalf of our New Hampshire partners for New Hampshire guides at this time. Community Pod guides are subject to Prenda’s Background Check Policy and District Pod guides will complete all additional clearance requirements with the local school district partner independent of Prenda.
3. Other States
Prenda will add additional details for other states here as available.