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The School Staff Clearance Checklist: 10 Documents to Approve Before Day One

The ten documents a district should approve before any contracted school employee starts — background and fingerprint clearances, child-abuse clearance, TB screening, licenses and more — and how to make the checklist enforce itself.

Robert Flom, Founder of FullbenchOctober 1, 2026 · 4 min read

Every district has a clearance list. The failures happen around it: a file promised "on the way," a start date set before the last document arrived, a TB result that expired in March and was found in October. Below are the ten documents to approve before day one, with Pennsylvania's requirements as the worked example because they are among the most specific in the country. Your state's list will differ in names and numbers, not in shape.

1. State criminal history clearance

The state police criminal record check. In Pennsylvania this is the Act 34 clearance from the Pennsylvania State Police.

2. FBI fingerprint-based background check

A national, fingerprint-based check. In Pennsylvania this is the Act 114 FBI clearance, required for school employees and contractors with direct contact with students.

3. Child-abuse history clearance

The state child-abuse registry check. In Pennsylvania this is the Act 151 clearance from the Department of Human Services.

4. Employment-history review and sexual-misconduct disclosure

A review of prior employers for abuse or sexual-misconduct findings. In Pennsylvania this is the Act 168 form, completed for prospective employees and contractors with direct contact.

5. Arrest and conviction self-report

A signed statement disclosing arrests or convictions — Pennsylvania's Act 24 form — with the obligation to report new ones.

6. Tuberculosis screening

A current TB test or screening result. Schools commonly require it before the first day and on a recurring schedule.

7. Professional license or certification

The credential the role is defined by: a teaching certificate or emergency permit for substitutes, a state license and ASHA certification for speech-language pathologists, OT and PT licenses, a nursing license for school nurses, BCBA certification for behavior analysts.

8. Identity and work authorization

Identity documents and employment eligibility, held by the employing agency and confirmed before placement.

9. Role-specific training and certifications

CPR and first aid for nurses and aides, mandated-reporter training, crisis-intervention certification for behavior roles, and any district-required trainings.

10. District-specific forms

Confidentiality agreements, technology-use agreements, and any forms your board policy requires.

The checklist on one page

Why checklists fail — and how to make this one hold

Districts rarely skip a clearance on purpose. The list fails operationally:

• Received is treated as approved. A file arrives on the Friday before a Monday start and nobody reads it.
• The start date comes first. A building is promised a person, and the paperwork has to catch up.
• Expiry is invisible. A clearance that was valid at hire lapses months later on someone already working.
• The agency approves its own file. The supplier of the worker is also the checker of the worker.

The fix is structural. In Fullbench, the district's required-document list is the rule: agencies upload each item, the district approves or returns them one at a time, and no start date can be set while any document is missing, unreviewed or expired. A daily check emails the district and the agency thirty days before a clearance lapses on anyone already placed. Read more on credential gates.