At the February 12, 2001 State Board of Education (SBE) meeting, the SBE directed me to issue a Director's Memo to all current Arkansas public school superintendents informing you of the law and the rules and regulations concerning your responsibilities for reporting criminal convictions of licensed teachers to the SBE. Especially, given what seems to be a flurry of criminal convictions against licensed public school teachers these past few months, the SBE wanted to remind all superintendents of their legal responsibilities to report such convictions to the SBE by way of the Arkansas Department of Education's Office of Professional Licensure.
The SBE is currently in the process of reviewing possible modifications to the Arkansas Department of Education's Rules and Regulations Governing the Requirement of a Criminal Background Check. If and when there are changes to current rules and regulations in this area, the Department will make you aware of these changes through a director's memo.
Attached please find a copy of Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-405 (c) and Section 6.00 of the Rules and Regulations Governing the Requirement of a Criminal Background Check, as well as a list of the offenses referenced in § 6-17-405 (c). If you have any questions, please contact my office at 501-682-4227.