S.F. 48 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 279.69 School employees —— 1 background investigations. 2 1. Prior to hiring an applicant for a school employee 3 position, a school district shall have access to and shall 4 review the information in the Iowa court information system 5 available to the general public, the sex offender registry 6 information under section 692A.121 available to the general 7 public, the central registry for child abuse information 8 established under section 235A.14, and the central registry for 9 dependent adult abuse information established under section 10 235B.5 for information regarding the applicant. A school 11 district shall follow the same procedure every five years 12 upon the anniversary of a school employee’s date of hire. A 13 school district shall pay for the cost of the registry checks 14 conducted pursuant to this subsection. A school district shall 15 maintain documentation demonstrating compliance with this 16 subsection. 17 2. Being listed in the sex offender registry established 18 under chapter 692A, the central registry for child abuse 19 information established under section 235A.14, or the central 20 registry for dependent adult abuse information established 21 under section 235B.5 shall constitute grounds for the immediate 22 suspension from duties of a school employee, pending a 23 termination hearing by the board of directors of a school 24 district. A termination hearing conducted pursuant to this 25 subsection shall be limited to the question of whether the 26 school employee was incorrectly listed in the registry. 27 3. For purposes of this section, “school employee” means 28 an individual employed by a school district, including a 29 part-time, substitute, or contract employee. “School employee” 30 does not include an individual subject to a background 31 investigation pursuant to section 272.2, subsection 17, section 32 279.13, subsection 1, paragraph “b” , or section 321.375, 33 subsection 2. 34 Sec. 2. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 35 -1- LSB 1539XS (2) 85 je/nh 1/ 3

S.F. 48 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 1 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 2 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 3 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 4 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 5 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 6 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 7 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 8 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 9 districts. 10 EXPLANATION 11 This bill requires a school district to review the state sex 12 offender registry, the state central registry for child abuse 13 information, and the state central registry for dependent adult 14 abuse information for information regarding any applicant for 15 a school employee position before an applicant is hired. The 16 bill requires a school district to follow the same procedure 17 every five years upon the anniversary of a school employee’s 18 date of hire. The bill requires a school district to pay for 19 the cost of the registry checks conducted pursuant to the bill. 20 The bill requires a school district to document compliance with 21 the bill. 22 The bill establishes listing on the state sex offender 23 registry, the state central registry for child abuse 24 information, or the state central registry for dependent adult 25 abuse information as grounds for which a school employee is to 26 be immediately suspended, pending a termination hearing by the 27 board of directors of a school district. The bill specifies 28 that such a termination hearing is to be limited to the 29 question of whether a school employee was incorrectly listed in 30 one of the registries. 31 The bill defines “school employee” as an individual employed 32 by a school district, including a part-time, substitute, or 33 contract employee. The bill provides that “school employee” 34 does not include an individual subject to a background 35 -2- LSB 1539XS (2) 85 je/nh 2/ 3

S.F. 48 information check pursuant to Code section 272.2, subsection 1 17, Code section 279.13, subsection 1, paragraph “b”, or Code 2 section 321.375, subsection 2. 3 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 4 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 5 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 6 district from state school foundation aid received by the 7 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 8 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate 9 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The 10 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the 11 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state 12 mandates included in the bill. 13 -3- LSB 1539XS (2) 85 je/nh 3/ 3