Text: HF00396 Text: HF00398 Text: HF00300 - HF00399 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 280.16A EMPLOYEE RECORDS CHECK
1 2 POLICY – PUBLIC MEASURE.
1 3 1. The eligible electors of a public school district may
1 4 petition for an election to require the district's board of
1 5 directors to implement an employee records check policy in
1 6 accordance with section 280.17. The petition must be signed
1 7 by eligible electors equal in number to not less than one
1 8 hundred or thirty percent of the number of voters at the last
1 9 preceding regular school election, whichever is greater. If
1 10 the board of directors receives a petition containing the
1 11 required number of signatures asking that the board be
1 12 required to adopt such an employee records check policy and
1 13 the board adopts the policy, an election shall not be held.
1 14 However, if the board of directors does not adopt such a
1 15 policy prior to the date required for the question to be put
1 16 to the voters as a public measure in accordance with section
1 17 47.6, the board of directors shall direct the commissioner of
1 18 elections to submit the question to the registered voters of
1 19 the district at the next following regular school election or
1 20 special school election. The question to be submitted shall
1 21 be substantially in the following form:
1 22 Shall the ...............school district board of directors
1 23 adopt a school employee records check policy in accordance
1 24 with the provisions of Iowa Code section 280.17?
1 25 2. If the question is approved by a majority of those
1 26 voting on the question at the election, the board of directors
1 27 shall adopt and implement the policy within twenty-eight days
1 28 of the date of the election.
1 29 Sec. 2. Section 280.17, Code 1997, is amended to read as
1 30 follows:
1 31 280.17 RECORDS CHECK UPON EMPLOYMENT – PROCEDURES FOR
1 32 HANDLING CHILD ABUSE REPORTS.
1 33 1. The board of directors of a public school may adopt a
1 34 policy requiring a records check of prospective employees of
1 35 the public school who would have direct responsibility for a
2 1 child or access to a child when the child is alone. If
2 2 adopted, the policy shall require the public school to conduct
2 3 a criminal, sex offender, and child abuse records check of
2 4 such employees. The policy shall provide for conducting the
2 5 records check in this state and shall comply with applicable
2 6 confidentiality provisions. The policy may provide for
2 7 conducting a dependent adult abuse records check and for
2 8 conducting a check of criminal, sex offender, child abuse, and
2 9 dependent adult abuse records in other states.
2 10 2. a. If the records check indicates a person has
2 11 committed a crime or has a record of founded child or
2 12 dependent adult abuse, an evaluation shall be conducted by the
2 13 department of human services and the public school to
2 14 determine whether prohibition of the person's employment is
2 15 warranted.
2 16 b. In an evaluation, the department of human services and
2 17 the public school shall consider the nature and seriousness of
2 18 the crime or founded abuse in relation to the position sought,
2 19 the time elapsed since the commission of the crime or founded
2 20 abuse, the circumstances under which the crime or founded
2 21 abuse was committed, the degree of rehabilitation, the
2 22 likelihood that the person will commit the crime or founded
2 23 abuse again, and the number of crimes or founded abuses
2 24 committed by the person involved. The public school may
2 25 permit a person who is evaluated to be employed by the public
2 26 school, if the person complies with the public school's
2 27 conditions relating to the person's employment, which may
2 28 include completion of additional training. The school has
2 29 final authority in determining whether prohibition of the
2 30 person's employment is warranted and in developing any
2 31 conditional requirements under this paragraph.
2 32 c. If the evaluation determines that the person has
2 33 committed a crime or has a record of founded abuse which
2 34 warrants prohibition of employment, the person shall not be
2 35 employed by the public school.
3 1 3. The board of directors of a public school and the
3 2 authorities in control of a nonpublic school shall prescribe
3 3 procedures, in accordance with the guidelines contained in the
3 4 model policy developed by the department of education in
3 5 consultation with the department of human services, and
3 6 adopted by the department of education pursuant to chapter
3 7 17A, for the handling of reports of child abuse, as defined in
3 8 section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph "a", "b", or "d",
3 9 alleged to have been committed by an employee or agent of the
3 10 public or nonpublic school.
3 11 Sec. 3. Section 235A.15, subsection 2, paragraph e, Code
3 12 1997, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
3 13 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH. (16) To a public school district board
3 14 of directors for an employee records check performed in
3 15 accordance with section 280.17.
3 16 Sec. 4. Section 235B.6, subsection 2, paragraph e, Code
3 17 1997, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
3 18 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH. (7) To a public school district board
3 19 of directors for an employee records check performed in
3 20 accordance with section 280.17.
3 21 Sec. 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection
3 22 3, shall not apply to this Act.
3 23 EXPLANATION
3 24 This bill provides for a records check of prospective
3 25 public school district employees with direct responsibility
3 26 for children or access to a child when the child is alone.
3 27 The bill expands Code section 280.17, which under current
3 28 law is limited to procedures for handling child abuse reports.
3 29 Under the bill, a public school district may adopt a policy
3 30 requiring a criminal, sexual offender, and child abuse records
3 31 check of a prospective employee. In addition, the policy may
3 32 provide for a dependent adult abuse records check and for a
3 33 check of any of the record types in other states.
3 34 The bill provides for an evaluation to be performed in the
3 35 event a records check indicates a person has committed a crime
4 1 or has a record of founded child or dependent adult abuse.
4 2 The evaluation is to be performed by the school district and
4 3 the department of human services. The evaluation uses
4 4 criteria specified in the bill to determine whether
4 5 prohibition of the person's employment is warranted. The
4 6 school district has the final decision in making the
4 7 determination.
4 8 In new Code section 280.16A, the bill provides a procedure
4 9 for eligible electors to petition for an election to require
4 10 the district board of directors to adopt a records check
4 11 policy. The petition must have a minimum number of
4 12 signatures. If the board of directors receiving a petition
4 13 adopts the policy within the time frames required under Code
4 14 section 47.6, which provides election date requirements, an
4 15 election is not required. Otherwise, the board of directors
4 16 is to direct the commissioner of elections to place the
4 17 question on the ballot for the next succeeding regular or
4 18 special school election. If a majority of those voting
4 19 approve, the board of directors must adopt and implement the
4 20 policy within 28 days of the date of the election.
4 21 The bill amends Code sections 235A.15 and 235B.6 to provide
4 22 a school district board of directors with access to the child
4 23 abuse and dependent adult abuse registries for purposes of
4 24 performing the checks.
4 25 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
4 26 section 25B.3. This bill makes inapplicable Code section
4 27 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political
4 28 subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for
4 29 the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified.
4 30 Therefore, political subdivisions are required to comply with
4 31 any state mandate included in this bill.
4 32 LSB 1619HH 77
4 33 jp/cf/24
Text: HF00396 Text: HF00398 Text: HF00300 - HF00399 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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