Bill Text: DE HB292 | 2011-2012 | 146th General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 11 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Public Schools.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-06-13 - Reported Out of Committee (EDUCATION) in House with 8 On Its Merits [HB292 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2011-HB292-Draft.html
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SPONSOR: |
Rep. Bennett & Rep. Schooley & Rep. Scott & Sen. Sokola |
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Reps. Atkins, Barbieri, Brady, Carson, Hocker, Hudson, Keeley, Kenton, Kowalko, Lavelle, Miro, Osienski, Outten, Peterman, Ramone, D. Short, Walker, Willis |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 146th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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HOUSE BILL NO. 292 |
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. |
Section 1. Amend §8571, Title 11 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by strike through as follows:
§8571. Screening procedure required.
(a) Any person seeking employment with a public school shall be required to submit fingerprints and other necessary information, prior to the time of interview for a position, in order to obtain the following:
(1) Report of the individual's entire criminal history record from the State Bureau of Identification or a statement from the State Bureau of Identification that the State Bureau of Identification Central Repository contains no such information relating to that person.
(2) A report of the individual's entire federal criminal history record pursuant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation appropriation of Title II of Public Law 92-544 [28 U.S.C. §534]. The State Bureau of Identification shall be the intermediary for the purposes of this section and the public school shall be the screening point for the receipt of said federal criminal history records.
(b) All information obtained pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be forwarded to the public school which will assess the information and make a determination of suitability for employment. The person seeking employment shall be provided with a copy of all information forwarded to the public school pursuant to this subsection. Information obtained under this subsection is confidential and may only be disclosed to the chief school officer and the chief personnel officer of the public school, and one person in each public school, as defined in §8570(4) of this title, who shall be designated to assist in the processing of criminal background checks, receive training in confidentiality and be required to sign an agreement to keep such information confidential. The State Bureau of Identification may release any subsequent criminal history to the public school.
(c) Costs associated with obtaining criminal history information and child sex abuse repository information shall be paid by the person seeking employment; provided, however, that subject to a specific annual appropriation in the Annual Appropriations Act, costs associated with obtaining criminal history information and child sex abuse repository information may be paid by the State. Notwithstanding the foregoing, public schools may use funds other than state funds to pay for criminal background check costs and may enter into consortia of school districts to pay such costs for persons covered by this act who work in more than 1 school district during the course of a year.
(d) A person seeking employment shall have an opportunity to respond to the public school regarding any information obtained pursuant to subsection (b) of this section prior to a determination of suitability for employment being made. The determination of suitability for employment shall be based upon the type of offenses, if any; the length of time since any offenses; record since any offenses; and responsibilities of the position which the person is seeking; provided that a person seeking employment with a public school may be disqualified from employment for any of the following reasons:
(1) Conviction of manufacture, delivery or possession, or possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, or a counterfeit controlled substance classified in Chapter 47 of Title 16 or in similar laws of any other jurisdiction;
(2) Conviction of any felony in this State or any other jurisdiction in the last 5 years; or
(3) Conviction of any crime against a child in this State or any other jurisdiction.
(e) Upon making its determination of suitability, the public school shall forward the determination to the person seeking employment. If a determination is made to deny the person from employment based upon the criminal history of the person, the person shall have an opportunity to appeal to the chief school officer or designee for reconsideration.
(f) A public school may
conditionally hire a person seeking employment, pending the determination of
suitability for employment. If the information obtained from the criminal
background check reveals that the person is disqualified from employment
pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, the person may not continue in
employment and is subject to termination. A public school shall not hire
a person seeking employment until a criminal background check has been
completed and a determination of suitability has been made for such person.Notwithstanding the foregoing, whenever
exigent circumstances exist, and a public school must fill a position in order
to maintain an appropriate staffing level, the public school may hire an
applicant on a conditional basis with the written approval of the school
district superintendent or the Secretary of Education or the Secretary's
designee.The final employment of any
applicant conditionally hired shall be contingent upon receipt by the public
school of such applicant's criminal history record verifying suitability for
employment.
(g)A person who is employed in a health care facility or child care facility or public school has an affirmative duty to inform, and shall inform, that person's own employer of any criminal conviction or of any entry on the Child Protection Registry established pursuant to Chapter 9 of Title 16.
(h) The State Department of Education shall, in the manner provided by law, promulgate regulations necessary to implement this subchapter. These regulations shall include:
(1) Establishment, in conjunction with the State Bureau of Identification, of a procedure for fingerprinting persons seeking employment with a public school and providing the reports and certificate obtained pursuant to subsection (a) of this section;
(2) Establishment of a procedure for reconsideration of a determination to deny employment based upon a person's criminal history; and
(3) Establishment of a procedure to provide confidentiality of information obtained pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and of the determination of suitability for employment.
SYNOPSIS
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This bill requires that a background check be completed on a new public school hire before that person begins employment. In an emergency, a person may be hired conditionally prior to the completion of a background check with permission from the school district superintendent or the Secretary of Education.In order to encourage the timely completion of background checks, the bill also requires the background check to be initiated prior to the time of interview for a position. |
