The Falls City ISD School Board met Feb. 20 for a regular meeting and were notified about future teacher fingerprinting requirements and background checks.

"Senate Bill 9 requires expanded criminal history background checks on school district employees," Superintendent Linda Bettin said. "The bill calls for national criminal history background checks based on fingerprints for all certified and currently employed teachers and substitutes by Sept. 1, 2011."

According to Bettin, Falls City has not gotten "the call" yet but will be notified.

The bill also requires fingerprinting and background check on all non-certified school employees after Jan. 1, 2008.

"So anybody that I hire, food service, somebody that does not have to have a certification to work at school must get the National Criminal History background check," Bettin said.

Bettin noted that failure to do so (fingerprinting and background check) will result in individual’s certificate being placed on inactive status causing the person to become ineligible in a Texas public school in a position that requires an educators certification.

"So when Falls City gets the call that… your employees, your certified teachers, and your certified employees… Administrators, you have 80 days to get this turned into TEA (Texas Education Agency) and if on the 81^st day they don’t have your fingerprint report, then you become inactive as an educator in Texas," Bettin said.

The state has hired a company that will do the fingerprinting.

The board also approved a revised color guard constitution. If a member has been on the squad from their 9^th-11^th grade they will not have to try out their senior year, following certain guidelines.

The cheerleaders already come under these guidelines.

The board renewed two, two-year administration contracts. Athletic Director Mark Kirchhoff, and K-12 Principal Christy Blocker received these two-year contracts.