Special Policy Update

• Employment of School Mental Health Professionals
• Job Application Fairness Act
• Optional School Mental Health Assessments
• Youth Involvement Education Standards Review
• Criminal History Record Information
• Technical Edits - Use of Shall
• What to do with an SPU?

To access the sample policies distributed with this Special Policy Update, click here.

Employment of School Mental Health Professionals

During the 2023 legislative session, SB23-004, Employment of Certain School-Based Therapists, was passed. This bill authorizes a school or school district, the state charter school institute, a board of cooperative services that operates a school, or the division of youth services to employ school-based therapists who are not licensed by the department, but hold a Colorado license for their profession to work in coordination with licensed special service providers to coordinate mental health supports for students.

Before being employed, the school-based therapists must satisfy certain requirements for non-licensed school employees, including a fingerprint-based criminal background check. Any school-based therapist may be supervised by a mentor special services provider or a licensed administrator. If an eligible school-based therapist provides services to a student related to the student's individualized education program, the eligible school-based therapist must have qualifications consistent with the student's individualized education program.

As a result, CASB sample policy GCE/GCF, Professional Staff Recruiting/Hiring, have been updated to include a note about this change in licensure requirements. Additionally, sections of the policy that referenced a “name-based criminal history record check” were modified to align with current statute. H.B. 22-1270 changed the terminology from “name-based criminal history record check” to “name-based judicial record check.” “Fingerprint-based criminal history record check” remains the same. 

Other resources

• CDE Licensing Requirements
• Employment of School Mental Health Professionals | Colorado General Assembly
• H.B. 22-1270

Job Application Fairness Act

During the 2023 legislative session, SB23-058, the Job Application Fairness Act, was passed. This bill prohibits employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s age, which includes inquiring about their date of birth and dates of attendance or graduation from an educational institute, on an initial employment application. A potential employer can request proof of graduation or licensure, but must inform the applicant that they may redact the dates from these documents. Districts must comply with this bill beginning July 1, 2024.

The bill allows potential employers to request an individual to verify compliance with age requirements imposed pursuant to—

• A bona fide occupational qualification pertaining to public or occupational safety; 

• A federal law or regulation; or

• A state or local law or regulation based on a bona fide occupational qualification.

A bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) is a narrow exception to discrimination laws. It allows an employer to make a hiring decision based on age, religion, sex, national origin, or other protected classes, if necessary to the operation of the business, based on the needs that the job is intended to fulfill. One example of a BFOQ is that religious organizations may require employees to hold certain religious beliefs: i.e, a Catholic church only would hire a practicing Catholic as a priest.

Under the Job Application Fairness Age, an age-based BFOQ must be related to public safety. Additionally, Colorado employers need to show that an age-based qualification is necessary and also show the impracticality of alternatives. For school districts, BFOQs might involve an age requirement due to a job’s physical demands, such as for maintenance staff or bus drivers. However, though a BFOQ could be appropriate in some cases, proving it is complex, and CASB advises legal consultation if considering one.

As a result, CASB sample policy GCE/GCF and the accompanying regulation GCE/GCF-R, Professional Staff Recruiting/Hiring, has been updated to include the legal reference and a note about bona fide occupational qualifications. Sample policy GDE/GDF and the accompanying regulation GDE/GDF-R, Support Staff Recruiting/Hiring, have also been updated to include the legal reference and a note about bona fide occupational qualifications. Additionally, sections of the policies and regulations that referenced a “name-based criminal history record check” were modified to align with current statute. H.B. 22-1270 changed the terminology from “name-based criminal history record check” to “name-based judicial record check.” “Fingerprint-based criminal history record check” remains the same. 

Furthermore, in reviewing these policies, it came to CASB’s attention there were no sample BOCES policies for GCE/GCF-R or GDE/GDF-R. As such, new BOCES policies for both were drafted and are included in this SPU. 

Optional School Mental Health Assessments

During the 2023 legislative session, HB23-1003, Sixth Through Twelfth Grade Mental Health Screening Act, was passed. The Act is administered by the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) and tasks the BHA with identifying risks and providing resources and referrals related to student mental and emotional health needs through a grant program that provides mental health screening. The act allows any public school that serves any of grades six through twelve and meets certain requirements to participate in the program. To participate in the program, a public school must notify the BHA before May 1 in the year before the school year that the public school wants to begin participation.

The Act requires participating schools to provide written notice to the parents of students, within the first two weeks of the start of the school year, in order to allow parents to opt their child out of the program. Mental health screenings will be conducted on participating students by a qualified screener. A screener is required to notify a student’s parent if the screener determines that additional mental health services are needed based on the student’s mental health screening results. Home-schooled students who participate in extracurricular or athletic programs at participating schools are exempt from the program.

Other resources

• School Mental Health Assessment | Colorado General Assembly

Youth Involvement Education Standards Review

During the 2023 legislative session, SB23-008, Youth Involvement Education Standards Review, passed. This bill creates opportunities for youth to be involved in the review of Colorado’s education standards by appointing youth representatives in specific scenarios. The scenarios include responsibilities for CDE as well as for local districts. For CDE, the commissioner is required to appoint youth to participate in the state standards development process, as well as regional educator meetings organized by CDE. 

As a result, CASB sample policy AEA, Standards Based Education, has been updated to include the requirement for youth involvement in a district’s education standards review.

Criminal History Recordkeeping

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is legally required to periodically audit noncriminal justice agencies (NCJAs) who request state and federal fingerprint-based criminal history record information (CHRI) background checks for the purpose of employment determination and/or volunteer placement to ensure compliance with the use, maintenance, dissemination, confidentiality, and security of this information.

CASB’s sample policy GBI* aligns with the Criminal Justice Information Services security requirements. In recent collaboration with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, CASB learned that many districts were found to be out of compliance because they did not designate a specific amount of time to retain criminal history record information. The previous version of the policy included an informational note instructing districts to designate a specific amount of time to retain criminal history record information. As statute does require districts to designate a specific amount of time to retain these records, CASB has updated the policy to include a specific amount of time within the policy language, rather than within an informational note. CASB recommends a three-year period because three years is consistent with the length of time personnel records must be retained, and keeping the retention period the same will allow for a more seamless process in purging records. However, districts do not need to retain the three-year retention period, and may select a timeline that works best for their specific needs.

Other resources

• Colorado Bureau of Investigation Background Checks
• CASB’s Criminal History Record Information FAQ

Technical Edits - Use of Shall

Throughout the updates in this SPU, you will notice that the word “shall” has been replaced with the words “will” or “must.” This change is only for clarity so that policies are more clear and less ambiguous. The meaning will remain the same: to indicate a requirement or obligation, something that the district or another party is required to do. The reason for the change is because the word “shall” can be ambiguous, and rarely occurs in everyday conversation. As such, CASB is beginning a transition from the word “shall” to indicate a requirement, to the words “will” or “must.” In our policies, both “will” and “must” mean an obligation. If your district prefers to continue to use “shall”, you are welcome to do so. The use of “will” or “must” is CASB’s recommendation for clarity and consistency moving forward - to the benefit of the general public as well as staff. 

What to do with an SPU?

Whether you are a seasoned policy veteran or new to policy work, below are some tips for reviewing the information contained in the CASB SPU. CASB sample policies cannot simply be adopted “as is,” so please consider the following as you plan to update your district’s local policies: 

• Review the new or updated sample policies;
• Make decisions on optional language included in the sample policies;
• Add district-specific information;
• Consider local needs and circumstances;
• Engage in board and community conversations;
• Remove CASB note boxes after the board has considered the information contained in the note box;
• Remove the CASB copyright information;
• Consult with legal counsel;
• Present the policies to the board for review and adoption; and
• Call the CASB policy team with any questions!