House File 2383 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2383 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2094) A BILL FOR An Act relating to mandatory reporting of school employee 1 misconduct to the board of educational examiners. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5329HV (2) 84 je/nh
H.F. 2383 Section 1. Section 272.15, subsection 1, paragraphs a and c, 1 Code Supplement 2011, are amended to read as follows: 2 a. (1) The board of directors of a school district or area 3 education agency, the superintendent of a school district, 4 the chief administrator of an area education agency, and 5 the authorities in charge of an accredited nonpublic school 6 shall report to the board any instance of disciplinary action 7 taken against a licensed school employee by the board of 8 directors of the school district or area education agency, the 9 superintendent of the school district, the chief administrator 10 of the area education agency, or the authorities in charge of 11 the accredited nonpublic school for conduct constituting any 12 of the following: 13 (a) Soliciting, encouraging, or consummating a romantic or 14 otherwise inappropriate relationship with a student. 15 (b) Falsifying student grades, test scores, or other 16 official information or material. 17 (c) Converting public property or funds to the personal use 18 of the school employee. 19 (d) Violations of contractual obligations, including 20 signing an employment contract with another school or area 21 education agency while under an employment contract and 22 abandoning an employment contract without prior release. 23 (2) The board of directors of a school district or area 24 education agency, the superintendent of a school district or , 25 the chief administrator of an area education agency, and the 26 authorities in charge of a an accredited nonpublic school 27 shall report to the board the nonrenewal or termination, for 28 reasons of alleged or actual misconduct, of a person’s contract 29 executed under sections 279.12 , 279.13 , 279.15 through 279.21 , 30 279.23 , and 279.24 , and the resignation of a person who holds a 31 license, certificate, or authorization issued by the board as a 32 result of or following an incident or allegation of misconduct 33 that, if proven, would constitute a violation of the rules 34 standards of professional conduct and ethics adopted by the 35 -1- LSB 5329HV (2) 84 je/nh 1/ 3
H.F. 2383 board to implement section 272.2, subsection 14 , paragraph “b” , 1 subparagraph (1) in 282 IAC 25 , when the board or reporting 2 official has a good faith belief that the incident occurred 3 or the allegation is true. The board may deny a license or 4 revoke the license of an administrator if the board finds by 5 a preponderance of the evidence that the administrator failed 6 to report the termination or resignation of a school employee 7 holding a license, certificate, statement of professional 8 recognition, or coaching authorization, for reasons of alleged 9 or actual misconduct, as defined by this section . 10 c. For purposes of this section , unless the context 11 otherwise requires, “misconduct” means an action disqualifying 12 an applicant for a license or causing the license of a person 13 to be revoked or suspended in accordance with the rules 14 standards of professional conduct and ethics adopted by the 15 board to implement section 272.2, subsection 14 , paragraph “b” , 16 subparagraph (1) in 282 IAC 25 . 17 Sec. 2. Section 272.15, subsection 2, Code Supplement 2011, 18 is amended to read as follows: 19 2. If, in the course of performing official duties, an 20 employee of the department becomes aware of any alleged 21 misconduct by an individual licensed under this chapter , the 22 employee shall report the alleged misconduct to the board 23 of educational examiners under rules adopted pursuant to 24 subsection 1 by the board . 25 EXPLANATION 26 This bill requires the board of directors of a school 27 district or area education agency, the superintendent of a 28 school district, the chief administrator of an area education 29 agency, and the authorities in charge of an accredited 30 nonpublic school to report any instance of disciplinary action 31 taken against a licensed school employee to the board of 32 educational examiners for conduct constituting soliciting, 33 encouraging, or consummating a romantic or otherwise 34 inappropriate relationship with a student; falsifying student 35 -2- LSB 5329HV (2) 84 je/nh 2/ 3
H.F. 2383 grades, test scores, or other official information or material; 1 converting public property or funds to the personal use of the 2 school employee; or violations of contractual obligations. 3 The bill also modifies the definition of misconduct for the 4 purposes of mandatory reporting of school employee misconduct 5 to the board of educational examiners to cite directly to the 6 standards of professional conduct and ethics set out in the 7 board’s rules. 8 -3- LSB 5329HV (2) 84 je/nh 3/ 3