House File 355 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 355 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HF 224) A BILL FOR An Act relating to certain specified employees of school 1 districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and charter 2 schools, including renewal requirements associated with 3 licenses issued by the board of educational examiners 4 to practitioners with master’s or doctoral degrees, fees 5 associated with the review of certain specified records, 6 and background checks for employees of school districts, 7 accredited nonpublic schools, and charter schools. 8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 9 TLSB 2019HV (1) 90 jda/jh

H.F. 355 Section 1. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, Code 2023, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0j. Be subject to and comply with sections 3 279.13 and 279.69 relating to state criminal history checks for 4 teachers and registry checks for school employees in the same 5 manner as a school district. 6 Sec. 2. Section 272.2, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2023, 7 is amended to read as follows: 8 a. License practitioners, which includes the authority to 9 establish do all of the following: 10 (1) Establish criteria for the licenses ; establish . 11 (2) Establish issuance and renewal requirements, provided 12 that a continuing education requirement may be completed 13 by electronic means ; create , and there shall be no renewal 14 requirement for a practitioner who has been employed as 15 a practitioner for at least ten years and who possesses a 16 master’s or doctoral degree, unless the practitioner holds an 17 evaluator approval endorsement, which must be renewed at least 18 once every ten years. 19 (3) Create application and renewal forms ; create . 20 (4) Create licenses that authorize different instructional 21 functions or specialties ; develop . 22 (5) Develop a code of professional rights and 23 responsibilities, practices, and ethics, which shall, among 24 other things, address the all of the following: 25 (a) The failure of a practitioner to fulfill contractual 26 obligations under section 279.13 , the . In addressing the 27 failure of a practitioner to fulfill contractual obligations, 28 the board shall consider factors beyond the practitioner’s 29 control. 30 (b) The failure of an administrator to protect the safety of 31 staff and students , the . 32 (c) The failure of an administrator to meet mandatory 33 reporter obligations , the . 34 (d) The refusal of a practitioner to implement provisions of 35 -1- LSB 2019HV (1) 90 jda/jh 1/ 6

H.F. 355 an individualized education program or behavioral intervention 1 plan , and habitual . 2 (e) Habitual nonparticipation in professional development ; 3 and develop . 4 (f) The development of any other classifications, 5 distinctions, and procedures which may be necessary to exercise 6 licensing duties. In addressing the failure of a practitioner 7 to fulfill contractual obligations, the board shall consider 8 factors beyond the practitioner’s control. 9 Sec. 3. Section 272.2, subsection 17, Code 2023, is amended 10 to read as follows: 11 17. Adopt rules to require that a background investigation 12 be conducted by the division of criminal investigation of the 13 department of public safety on all initial applicants for 14 licensure. The board shall also require all initial applicants 15 to submit a completed fingerprint packet and shall use the 16 packet to facilitate a national criminal history background 17 check. The board shall have access to, and shall review 18 the sex offender registry information under section 692A.121 19 available to the general public, information in the Iowa court 20 information system available to the general public, the central 21 registry for child abuse information established under chapter 22 235A , and the dependent adult abuse records maintained under 23 chapter 235B for information regarding applicants for license 24 renewal and, every five years, for practitioners who are not 25 subject to renewal requirements pursuant to subsection 1, 26 paragraph “a” , subparagraph (2) . The board may charge such 27 a practitioner who is not subject to renewal requirements a 28 reasonable fee for the review of the sex offender registry 29 information, information in the Iowa court information system, 30 the central registry for child abuse information, and the 31 dependent adult abuse records. 32 Sec. 4. Section 272.7, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended 33 to read as follows: 34 1. A license issued under board authority is valid 35 -2- LSB 2019HV (1) 90 jda/jh 2/ 6

H.F. 355 for the period of time for which it is issued, unless the 1 license is suspended or revoked. No Except as provided in 2 section 272.2, subsection 1, paragraph “a” , subparagraph (2), 3 permanent licenses shall not be issued. A person employed as 4 a practitioner shall hold a valid license with an endorsement 5 for the type of service for which the person is employed. 6 This section does not limit the duties or powers of a school 7 board to select or discharge practitioners or to terminate 8 practitioners’ contracts. A professional development program, 9 except for a program offered by a practitioner preparation 10 institution or area education agency and approved by the state 11 board of education, must possess a valid license for the types 12 of programs offered. 13 Sec. 5. Section 279.13, subsection 1, paragraph b, 14 subparagraphs (1) and (2), Code 2023, are amended to read as 15 follows: 16 (1) Prior to entering into an initial contract with a 17 teacher who holds a license other than an initial license 18 issued by the board of educational examiners under chapter 19 272 , the school district or accredited nonpublic school 20 shall initiate a state criminal history record check of the 21 applicant through the division of criminal investigation 22 of the department of public safety, submit the applicant’s 23 fingerprints to the division for submission to the federal 24 bureau of investigation for a national criminal history record 25 check, and review the sex offender registry information under 26 section 692A.121 available to the general public, the central 27 registry for child abuse information established under section 28 235A.14 , and the central registry for dependent adult abuse 29 information established under section 235B.5 for information 30 regarding the applicant for employment as a teacher. 31 (2) The school district or accredited nonpublic school 32 may charge the applicant a fee not to exceed the actual cost 33 charged the school district or accredited nonpublic school for 34 the state and national criminal history checks and registry 35 -3- LSB 2019HV (1) 90 jda/jh 3/ 6

H.F. 355 checks conducted pursuant to subparagraph (1). 1 Sec. 6. Section 279.69, Code 2023, is amended to read as 2 follows: 3 279.69 School employees —— background investigations. 4 1. Prior to hiring an applicant for a school employee 5 position, a school district or accredited nonpublic school 6 shall have access to and shall review the information in the 7 Iowa court information system available to the general public, 8 the sex offender registry information under section 692A.121 9 available to the general public, the central registry for 10 child abuse information established under section 235A.14 , and 11 the central registry for dependent adult abuse information 12 established under section 235B.5 for information regarding the 13 applicant. A school district shall follow the same procedure 14 by June 30, 2014, for each school employee employed by the 15 school district as of July 1, 2013. A school district or 16 accredited nonpublic school shall implement a consistent 17 policy to follow the same procedure for each school employee 18 employed by the school district or accredited nonpublic school 19 on or after July 1, 2013, at least every five years after the 20 school employee’s initial date of hire. A school district or 21 accredited nonpublic school shall not charge an employee for 22 the cost of the registry checks conducted pursuant to this 23 subsection . A school district or accredited nonpublic school 24 shall maintain documentation demonstrating compliance with this 25 subsection . 26 2. Being listed in the sex offender registry established 27 under chapter 692A , the central registry for child abuse 28 information established under section 235A.14 , or the central 29 registry for dependent adult abuse information established 30 under section 235B.5 shall constitute grounds for the immediate 31 suspension from duties of a school employee, pending a 32 termination hearing by the board of directors of a school 33 district or the authorities in charge of an accredited 34 nonpublic school . A termination hearing conducted pursuant to 35 -4- LSB 2019HV (1) 90 jda/jh 4/ 6

H.F. 355 this subsection shall be limited to the question of whether the 1 school employee was incorrectly listed in the registry. 2 3. For purposes of this section , “school employee” means 3 an individual employed by a school district or an accredited 4 nonpublic school, as applicable , including a part-time, 5 substitute, or contract employee. “School employee” does not 6 include an individual subject to a background investigation 7 pursuant to section 272.2, subsection 17 , section 279.13, 8 subsection 1 , paragraph “b” , or section 321.375, subsection 2 . 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 certain specified employees of school 13 districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and charter schools, 14 including renewal requirements associated with licenses issued 15 by the board of educational examiners (BOEE) to practitioners 16 with master’s or doctoral degrees, fees associated with the 17 review of certain specified records, and background checks for 18 employees of school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, 19 and charter schools. 20 Current law authorizes the BOEE to establish renewal 21 requirements for licensed practitioners. The bill provides 22 that there shall be no renewal requirement for a practitioner 23 who has been employed as a practitioner for at least 10 years 24 and who possesses a master’s or doctoral degree, unless the 25 practitioner holds an evaluator approval endorsement, which 26 must be renewed at least once every 10 years. The bill 27 requires the BOEE to conduct certain criminal history registry 28 checks related to such practitioners every five years, and 29 authorizes the BOEE to charge the practitioner a reasonable fee 30 for the review of the criminal history registry checks. The 31 bill makes conforming changes, including changes to authorize 32 permanent licensure for practitioners who satisfy these 33 requirements. The bill does not affect the BOEE’s ability to 34 deny or revoke a license under Code section 272.2(14). 35 -5- LSB 2019HV (1) 90 jda/jh 5/ 6

H.F. 355 Current law requires school districts to initiate state 1 and national criminal history registry checks of teachers 2 who hold a license other than an initial license issued by 3 the BOEE prior to entering into an initial contract with the 4 teacher. Current law authorizes school districts to charge the 5 teacher a fee not to exceed the actual cost for the criminal 6 history registry check. The bill applies these provisions to 7 accredited nonpublic schools and charter schools. 8 Current law requires school districts to perform criminal 9 history registry checks of applicants for a school employee 10 position prior to hiring the applicant. Current law also 11 requires the school district to perform this criminal history 12 registry check at least every five years after the employee’s 13 initial date of hire and maintain documentation demonstrating 14 compliance with this requirement. Current law prohibits 15 school districts from charging employees for the costs of 16 these registry checks. Current law provides that if a school 17 employee is listed in certain criminal history registries, 18 the school district is required to immediately suspend the 19 employee pending a termination hearing. The bill applies these 20 provisions to accredited nonpublic schools and charter schools. 21 -6- LSB 2019HV (1) 90 jda/jh 6/ 6