The Jessica Lunsford Act was enacted on September 1, 2005 in response to the tragic abduction and death of Jessica Lunsford. This law affects a vendors’ business operations and employees if they are under contract with Suwannee County Schools. Florida statute requires all vendors, contractors, and subcontractors of Suwannee County Schools, to undergo a FDLE/FBI Level II background screening if any of these three conditions are met.  1.    If employees of the vendor will be on school grounds when students are present, or 2.    Have direct contact with students, or 3.    Have access to or control of school funds. If vendors have no personnel who meet any of these three conditions, the law does not apply. In addition, there are a few statutory exemptions to this requirement, which include:

• Non-instructional contractors who are under direct supervision of a school district employee or contractor who has a criminal history check and meets the screening requirements under s.1012.32, s. 1012.465, s. 1012.467, or s.1012.56.  Section 8 (a)1 also states:  “For purposes of this paragraph, the term "direct supervision" means that a school district employee or contractor is physically present with a non-instructional contractor when the contractor has access to a student and the access remains in the school district employee's or the contractor's line of sight.”

• A law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10, who is assigned or dispatched to school grounds by his or her employer Section 8 (c).

• An employee or medical director of an ambulance provider, licensed pursuant to chapter 401, who is providing services within the scope of part III of chapter 401 on behalf of such ambulance provider.  Section 8 (d).

• Non-instructional contractors who remain at a site where students are not permitted if the site is separated from the remainder of the school grounds by a single chain-link fence of 6 feet in height.  Section 8 (e).

Non-instructional contractors who provide pick-up or delivery services and those services involving *brief visits on school grounds when students are present.  Section 8 (e).  *Brief is defined by http://www.dictionary.com as “lasting or taking a short time; of short duration”.

If you meet any of the above conditions, you may be exempt and do not need a badge. Vendors who have personnel, who are required to have security clearance, must do so.  Once they have applied for security clearance, followed the fingerprint process, and have been cleared after an evaluation of the state and national  FDLE/FBI Level 2 background check, they will receive an ID badge that must be worn at all times while on a school campus.

As of September 1, 2008, the FDLE modified the Florida School Shared Results (FSSR) database. This database now only contains fingerprints taken after 7/1/07.

 If you have any questions, please feel free to call the HR Department at (386) 647-4641 or (386) 647-4634