New York State law requires that the Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability conduct fingerprint-supported criminal history background checks for applicants for certification and all prospective employees of school districts, charter schools and BOCES. As a result, applicants for employment, including substitutes and coaches, are required to register, schedule, apply for fingerprinting clearance, and make payments online through IdentoGO by MorphoTrust USA. You must also register and create a TEACH account in order for your fingerprints to be accessible to the school district.
STEP 1 – FINGERPRINTING
Please go to: www.identogo.com
Please note: If you do not have Internet access, call toll-free (877) 472-6915.
Select New York under “Search for services by state”
Click: Go
Scroll down and click on Digital Fingerprinting under “Services”
You are applying for Employment
Enter the Service Code: 14ZGR7
Click on Schedule or Manage Appointment Schedule an in-person appointment or change an existing appointment.
Application:
Enter the requested information, then click Next.
Follow the website’s instructions to continue.
Fingerprint Application Fee & Enrollment (Fingerprinting) Centers
Total Fee: $100.25 ($75 DCJS / $13.25 FBI / $12 MorphoTrust)
Please note: The enrollment (fingerprinting) centers cannot take credit/debit cards. You must enter credit/debit card information online or over the phone. The centers will accept personal checks, money orders and cashier checks. We do not recommend cash as some centers will not accept cash.
Closest Enrollment Center:
Race Printing, 111 Barnerville Rd., Cobleskill
Wednesday and Thursday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Friday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
After your fingerprints are scanned, they will be sent to the Department of Criminal Justice. It can take 10-14 days for them to be processed and sent to the NYS TEACH system.
If you have any questions, please contact the NYSED Fingerprint Helpdesk at: ospra@nysed.gov or (518) 473-2998.
STEP 2 – REGISTER FOR A TEACH ACCOUNT
Go to New York State Education Department’s Office of Teaching Initiatives website:
http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/teach/selfreg.html
To create your NY.gov account and access TEACH, you must have your:
Name*
Birth Date (mm/dd/yyyy) (required for TEACH access)
Mailing address
Email
Social Security Number (required for TEACH access)
*If you applied, or received a certificate in the past, use the name associated with that application/certificate. You can request a name change after you have successfully created your account.
Failure to include any of the items above will result in an error.
Important:
After you create your NY.gov account, you must click the link provided, log in to your NY.gov account, then click on TEACH Online Services and provide your Social Security Number and date of birth.
Follow the website’s instructions to completion.
TEACH is compatible with Google Chrome and Internet Explorer 11