Do Not Hire List
Know how the student safety laws affect you
Laws that took effect on September 1st, 2019 have a private school reporting requirement for private school administrators. In these bills are two mandates for the head administrator in a private school:
Pre-Employment Affidavit–the New Rules:
Private schools must use the non-notarized pre-employment affidavit for all candidates for teaching positions. This one may be found here.
It is recommended that schools have the notarized affidavit on file for those who are offered employment.
A digital notary may also be used.
A new clarification is that schools may re-key these affidavits in order to have them as part of an electronic application package. This is allowed as long as the language is exactly the same as the TEA-approved affidavits found in the links above.
Logging in to the Do Not Hire List
- Please check your school’s entry at www.tepsac.org under “search schools” and make sure that the person requesting access to the list is the person listed in the contact email. If this information needs to be changed, please email Laura@TexasPrivateSchools.org.
- Once this is complete, you may want to print the process document outlines the following procedure.
- Login to TEAL, which is an application found on the TEA website.
- After getting a TEAL login, you must apply to be the approver for your school. This is the main contact who will approve any other people from your school who want to get access to the list.
- You will get confirmation of approver status, and THEN you must apply to get access to the Do Not Hire list.
- Once you are approved with access to the list, then you will upload Last Name, First Name, Social Security Number, and Date of Birth of employees to see if any matches come up with a person on the list.
- The list will be public. Schools will want to make sure that they have checked all current employees by this time.
- A TEA help desk is standing by. Please contact them between the hours of 8am and 1pm at 512-936-8400.
Misconduct Reporting
Private school heads must report if a teacher, teacher intern or trainee, educational aide, administrator, educational diagnostician, or school counselor is fired or allowed to resign for inappropriate relationships with students. The reporting process is as follows and may be found on the TEA website:
As of March 12, 2020, schools may submit misconduct reports through the Misconduct Reporting Portal, which is accessed through the TEAL application. For help with this process, submit a Help Desk ticket.
Written misconduct reports must be submitted on official school letterhead to the attention of the Director of Educator Investigations via fax to 512-936-8404 or by mail to 1701 N. Congress Ave., 5th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. Do not email.
The report must contain the following:
- A summary of the factual circumstances underlying the report.
- The name of the individual reported and any aliases.
- The reported individual’s certificate number, if any, or social security number and date of birth.
- The reported individual’s last known mailing address and home and daytime phone numbers.
- The names and any available contact information of any alleged victims.
- The names and any available contact information of any relevant witnesses to the circumstances requiring the report.
- The employment status of the individual, including any information about termination or notice of resignation.
- The name and contact information of the law enforcement or other agency involved in the review of allegations.
TEA Video
There is a video on the TEA website that describes this new legislation and how it relates to public AND private schools. Watch here.
Process Document
This step-by-step document gives information on how to login to the Do Not Hire List. Download here.
