Senate Bill 155 Update:
New Feature for Sexual Misconduct Verification System
In 2019, the Oregon Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 155 to help ensure the safety of all K-12 students in Oregon. ODE is committed to upholding our shared responsibility, along with our partner state agencies and school districts, to ensure students receive an excellent, equitable education in schools that are safe and nurturing.
The purpose of this email is to provide you with an update about a new feature that has been added to ODE’s online Sexual Misconduct Verification System (SMVS).
Verification Checks Required Under SB 155
Before hiring an individual who is not licensed with TSPC as a school employee, an education provider must verify with ODE whether the individual has an ongoing investigation or a substantiated report of sexual misconduct. Similarly, before accepting services from any contractor, agent, or volunteer who will have direct, unsupervised contact with students and who is not licensed with TSPC, an education provider must verify with ODE whether the individual has an ongoing investigation or a substantiated report of sexual misconduct.
ODE established the online SMVS application to allow education providers to quickly perform these checks prior to hiring school employees or bringing on contractors, agents, or volunteers to provide services to the education provider.
New Feature for SMVS
A new feature has been added to the SMVS application that will enable education providers to print a date and timestamped version of their search parameters and the results received from that search. To access the new print feature in SMVS, click the new “Print Results” button after performing a search in the system.
This new feature should enable education providers to more easily maintain records of the verification checks performed in the SMVS application.
The print feature will be available in the SMVS application today, April 22, 2021.
Getting Access to SMVS
If an education provider does not yet have access to SMVS, the following information explains how to obtain access to the online system.
The SMVS application is housed behind the Department’s District website, which means that all users of SMVS must have an account in ODE’s Central Login system with proper permissions to access the application.
Users associated with public institutions need to request access to SMVS through their local District Security Administrator (DSA). You can locate your local DSA by visiting the District website.
Individuals associated with private schools will need to request access to the system directly from the Department. You may send a request for access to the system to ODE.ReportSexualMisconduct@state.or.us.
Any users who are waiting for access to the new system can continue to use the existing paper verification check process. Instructions for how to complete a paper verification check request can be found on the Department’s SB 155 webpage.
SMVS Support
If you have questions about the new print feature, about gaining access to SMVS, or about using the SMVS application, you may contact a member of the Investigations and Complaints Unit at ODE.ReportSexualMisconduct@state.or.us or call the hotline (503) 947-4227.
For difficulty with logging in or other technical issues with the SMVS application, please contact the ODE HelpDesk.
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