Senate File 2340 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2340 BY CELSI A BILL FOR An Act relating to education, including responsibilities of the 1 board of educational examiners with respect to background 2 checks, endorsements, and authorizations, requiring the 3 boards of directors of school districts to make payments to 4 certain specified student teachers and full-time employees, 5 requiring the boards of directors of school districts to 6 hire a certain specified amount of substitute teachers, 7 making appropriations, and including effective date 8 provisions. 9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 10 TLSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh

S.F. 2340 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 256.20 Student teacher compensation 1 —— appropriation. 2 1. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, and for each 3 succeeding fiscal year, there is appropriated from the general 4 fund of the state to the department to distribute to school 5 districts an amount necessary to reimburse the cost associated 6 with payments to student teachers pursuant to section 279.76. 7 2. Moneys received by a school district under this section 8 shall be miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257 and 9 shall not be included in district cost. 10 3. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 11 17A to administer this section, including rules related to 12 applications for reimbursement submitted by school districts 13 and disbursements to school districts. The rules shall require 14 the board of directors of a school district to submit the 15 notification required by section 279.76, subsection 2, to the 16 department to obtain moneys for reimbursement pursuant to this 17 section. 18 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 256.21 Permanent substitute teachers 19 —— appropriation. 20 1. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, and for each 21 succeeding fiscal year, there is appropriated from the general 22 fund of the state to the department to distribute to school 23 districts an amount necessary to reimburse the cost associated 24 with substitute teachers hired pursuant to section 279.77. 25 2. Moneys received by a school district under this section 26 shall be miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257 and 27 shall not be included in district cost. 28 3. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 29 17A to administer this section, including rules related to 30 applications for reimbursement submitted by school districts 31 and disbursements to school districts. The rules shall require 32 the board of directors of a school district to submit the 33 notification required by section 279.77, subsection 4, to the 34 department to obtain moneys for reimbursement pursuant to this 35 -1- LSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh 1/ 8

S.F. 2340 section. 1 Sec. 3. Section 272.2, subsection 17, Code 2022, is amended 2 to read as follows: 3 17. Adopt rules to require that a background investigation 4 be conducted by the division of criminal investigation of 5 the department of public safety on all initial applicants 6 for licensure and all applicants for an endorsement or 7 authorization . The board shall also require all initial 8 applicants and all applicants for an endorsement or 9 authorization to submit a completed fingerprint packet and 10 shall use the packet to facilitate a national criminal history 11 background check. The board shall have access to, and shall 12 review the sex offender registry information under section 13 692A.121 available to the general public, information in the 14 Iowa court information system available to the general public, 15 the central registry for child abuse information established 16 under chapter 235A , and the dependent adult abuse records 17 maintained under chapter 235B for information regarding 18 applicants for license renewal. 19 Sec. 4. Section 272.2, Code 2022, is amended by adding the 20 following new subsection: 21 NEW SUBSECTION . 27. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to 22 allow individuals to complete the requirements associated with 23 obtaining an additional endorsement within five years after 24 applying for the additional endorsement as provided in section 25 272.7, subsection 4. 26 Sec. 5. Section 272.7, Code 2022, is amended by adding the 27 following new subsection: 28 NEW SUBSECTION . 4. a. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a 29 person employed as a practitioner is not required to hold an 30 endorsement or authorization for the type of service for which 31 the person is employed for up to five years if all of the 32 following apply: 33 (1) The person has been employed as a practitioner for at 34 least three years. 35 -2- LSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh 2/ 8

S.F. 2340 (2) The person is in the process of completing the 1 requirements associated with obtaining the endorsement or 2 authorization. 3 b. This subsection shall not apply to services related to 4 mental health counseling, driving instruction, or any other 5 services the superintendent of a school district determines 6 requires specific training to prove proficiency. 7 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 279.76 Student teacher compensation. 8 1. The board of directors of a school district shall 9 compensate all students who are fulfilling the requirements 10 associated with the student teaching experience established 11 pursuant to section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph “d” , at the 12 school district an amount equal to two thousand five hundred 13 dollars per month for the duration of the student teaching 14 experience. 15 2. On or before June 30, annually, the board of directors 16 of a school district shall provide notice to the department 17 of education indicating the number of students compensated 18 pursuant to this section during the school year and the total 19 amount paid to those students. 20 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 279.77 Permanent substitute teachers. 21 1. The board of directors of a school district shall 22 employ one full-time substitute teacher for every five hundred 23 students enrolled in the school district during the preceding 24 school year pursuant to a contract for the duration of the 25 ensuing school year. 26 2. All of the following shall apply to a substitute teacher 27 hired pursuant to this section: 28 a. The substitute teacher shall hold a valid substitute 29 teacher license or substitute teacher authorization issued by 30 the board of educational examiners. 31 b. The substitute teacher may be suspended and discharged 32 pursuant to section 279.27 in the same manner as a teacher. 33 c. The substitute teacher shall be eligible for all benefits 34 available to full-time teachers employed by the board of 35 -3- LSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh 3/ 8

S.F. 2340 directors of the school district, including health insurance 1 and life insurance. 2 3. The board of directors of a school district may assign 3 additional administrative and other responsibilities to a 4 substitute teacher hired pursuant to this section when that 5 substitute teacher is not needed to substitute for a regularly 6 assigned teacher who is absent. 7 4. On or before June 30, annually, the board of directors 8 of a school district shall provide notice to the department of 9 education indicating the number of substitute teachers employed 10 pursuant to this section during the school year and the total 11 amount paid to those substitute teachers. 12 Sec. 8. NEW SECTION . 279.78 School districts —— retention 13 payments —— appropriation. 14 1. a. The board of directors of each school district shall 15 pay three thousand dollars to each full-time employee of the 16 school district who has been employed by the board of directors 17 of the school district beginning on or before August 23, 2020, 18 through June 30, 2022, and who has entered into an employment 19 contract with the board of directors of the school district for 20 the ensuing school year, including substitute teachers employed 21 by the board of directors of the school district who worked at 22 least forty hours per week during each school year during that 23 time. 24 b. This subsection does not apply to a full-time employee 25 who is an administrator, principal, school administration 26 manager, or superintendent, as those terms are defined in 27 section 272.1. 28 c. On or before June 30, 2022, the board of directors of 29 each school district shall provide notice to the department of 30 education indicating the number of employees who are qualified 31 to receive a payment pursuant to this section and the total 32 amount the board of directors of the school district will pay 33 to those employees. 34 2. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021, there 35 -4- LSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh 4/ 8

S.F. 2340 is appropriated from the general fund of the state to the 1 department of education to distribute to school districts an 2 amount necessary to reimburse the cost associated with payments 3 to full-time employees required by this section. 4 3. Moneys received by a school district under this section 5 shall be miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257 and 6 shall not be included in district cost. 7 Sec. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate 8 importance, takes effect upon enactment. 9 EXPLANATION 10 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 11 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 12 This bill relates to education, including responsibilities 13 of the board of educational examiners (BOEE) with respect to 14 background checks, endorsements, and authorizations, requiring 15 the boards of directors of school districts to make payments to 16 certain specified student teachers and full-time employees, and 17 requiring the boards of directors of school districts to hire a 18 certain specified amount of substitute teachers. 19 The bill requires that the BOEE adopt rules to require that 20 a background investigation be conducted by the division of 21 criminal investigation of the department of public safety on 22 all applicants for an additional endorsement or authorization. 23 The bill also requires the BOEE to adopt rules that require all 24 applicants for an additional endorsement to submit a completed 25 fingerprint packet to facilitate a national criminal history 26 background check. 27 The bill requires the BOEE to adopt rules to allow 28 individuals to complete the requirements associated with 29 obtaining an additional endorsement within five years after 30 applying for the endorsement. The bill provides that a 31 person employed as a practitioner is not required to hold an 32 endorsement or an authorization for the type of service for 33 which the person is employed if the person has been employed 34 as a practitioner for at least three years and the person is 35 -5- LSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh 5/ 8

S.F. 2340 in the process of completing the requirements associated with 1 obtaining the endorsement or authorization. Additionally, the 2 bill provides that this provision does not apply to services 3 related to mental health counseling, driving instruction, 4 or any other services the BOEE or the superintendent of a 5 school district determines requires specific training to prove 6 proficiency. 7 The bill requires the board of directors of a school 8 district to compensate all students who are fulfilling the 9 requirements associated with the student teaching experience 10 at the school district an amount equal to $2,500 per month for 11 the duration of the student teaching experience. The bill 12 requires the department of education (DOE) to adopt rules to 13 administer these provisions. For the fiscal year beginning 14 July 1, 2022, and for each succeeding fiscal year, the bill 15 appropriates from the general fund of the state to the DOE 16 to distribute to school districts an amount necessary to 17 reimburse the cost associated with these payments. The bill 18 requires the board of directors of a school district to submit 19 a notification containing certain specified information to the 20 DOE to obtain moneys for reimbursement. The bill provides 21 that moneys received by a school district under this provision 22 shall be miscellaneous income for purposes of Code chapter 23 257 (financing school programs) and shall not be included in 24 district cost. 25 The bill establishes new Code section 279.77, which requires 26 the board of directors of a school district to employ 1 27 full-time substitute teacher for every 500 students enrolled in 28 the school district during the preceding school year pursuant 29 to a contract for the duration of the ensuing school year. The 30 bill establishes that the substitute teacher shall hold a valid 31 substitute teacher license or substitute teacher authorization 32 issued by the BOEE, may be suspended and discharged pursuant to 33 Code section 279.27 (discharge of a teacher) in the same manner 34 as a teacher, and shall be eligible for all benefits available 35 -6- LSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh 6/ 8

S.F. 2340 to full-time teachers employed by the school district. The 1 bill authorizes the board of directors of a school district to 2 assign additional administrative and other responsibilities 3 to a substitute teacher hired pursuant to new Code section 4 279.77 when the substitute teacher is not needed to substitute 5 for a regularly assigned teacher who is absent. The bill 6 requires the DOE to adopt rules to administer new Code section 7 279.77. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, and for 8 each succeeding fiscal year, the bill appropriates from the 9 general fund of the state to the DOE to distribute to school 10 districts an amount necessary to reimburse the cost associated 11 with these substitute teachers. The bill requires the board 12 of directors of a school district to submit a notification 13 containing certain specified information to the DOE to obtain 14 moneys for reimbursement. The bill provides that moneys 15 received by a school district under new Code section 279.77 16 shall be miscellaneous income for purposes of Code chapter 17 257 (financing school programs) and shall not be included in 18 district cost. 19 The bill requires the board of directors of each school 20 district to pay $3,000 to each full-time employee of the school 21 district who has been employed by the board of directors of 22 the school district beginning on or before August 23, 2020, 23 through June 30, 2022, and who has entered into an employment 24 contract with the board of directors of the school district for 25 the ensuing school year, including certain specified substitute 26 teachers. The bill provides that this provision does not 27 apply to administrators, principals, school administration 28 managers, or superintendents. For the fiscal year beginning 29 July 1, 2021, the bill appropriates from the general fund of 30 the state to the DOE to distribute to school districts an 31 amount necessary to reimburse the cost associated with these 32 payments. The bill requires the board of directors of each 33 school district to submit a notification to the DOE indicating 34 the number of employees who are qualified to receive a payment 35 -7- LSB 6132XS (4) 89 jda/jh 7/ 8