Teacher Candidate Clearances
CANDIDATE SERVICES - CLEARANCES for Educator Preparation/Educator Specialists
Pennsylvania state law requires that all persons who interact with children in schools must have clearances for their field courses. See the list of Courses Requiring Clearances. There are four clearances – FBI, State Police, Child Abuse and TB Test. Clearances must be on file with the Office of Candidate Services.
Clearances are valid for one year from date of issue and cannot turn one year old (expire) DURING a semester. For example, if the semester ends on December 10th, the clearances cannot expire on December 2nd but may on December 15th. The best time to apply for or renew clearances is during the summer or winter session at least three weeks before the next semester starts.
Clearances are due June 10th for fall classes and Jan. 2 for spring classes. If you do not have your clearances in, you can and will be removed from any field courses.
Please follow the instructions from the Office of Candidate Services for obtaining the clearances and uploading them to myWCU. Plan ahead because some clearances can take up to two weeks to be processed by respective agencies. In addition, the clearances must be reviewed and approved after they are uploaded to myWCU. Teacher candidates who do not obtain the clearances or do so late will not be allowed to partake in field experiences and will have their grade penalized.