Legal Question in Education Law in California

fingerprinting for volunteers in private schools

My child attends a private school. The school is requiring fingerprinting "for anyone who at any time can be left alone with a child". I have volunteered to drive on field trips and to be a computer parent in the lab, one hour per week, with 22 first graders. I doubt their file of fingerprints can truly remain confidential.

If I want to be a volunteer, can a private school legally refuse--name removed--if I tell them I am not comfortable being fingerprinted so that--name removed--personal information could become available?


Asked on 9/25/00, 12:32 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gary Redenbacher Redenbacher & Brown, LLP

Re: fingerprinting for volunteers in private schools

The short reply is that a private institution can require you to provide fingerprints. Although this is undoubtedly an invasion of privacy, there is no law preventing it. Fingerprinting is an extremely common method of doing a background check to see if a person has any criminal history of abuse against children. By the way, it usually isn't the school itself that does the fingerprinting, but a local law enforcement agency who then runs a check on the fingerprints.

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Answered on 10/24/00, 3:30 am


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