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S1504......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES - Amends existing law to establish policy
regarding distribution of and access to information in criminal history
checks on applicants and employees of school districts sent to school
district superintendents by the state Department of Education and to
provide for confidentiality of the information.
02/17 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/18 Rpt prt - to Educ
03/06 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/09 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/10 3rd rdg - PASSED - 31-0-4
AYES--Andreason, Boatright, Branch, Bunderson, Burtenshaw, Cameron,
Crow, Danielson, Darrington, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes, Hansen,
Ingram, Ipsen, Keough, King, Lee, McLaughlin, Noh, Parry, Riggs,
Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Stennett, Sweeney, Thorne, Wheeler,
Whitworth
NAYS--None
Absent and excused--Hawkins, Richardson, Sorensen, Twiggs
Floor Sponsor - Dunklin
Title apvd - to House
03/11 House intro - 1st rdg - to Educ
S1504|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-fourth Legislature Second Regular Session - 1998IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1504 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES OR APPLI- 3 CANTS FOR CERTIFICATES; AMENDING SECTION 33-130, IDAHO CODE, TO ESTABLISH 4 POLICY REGARDING DISTRIBUTION AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN CRIMINAL HIS- 5 TORY CHECKS SENT TO SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENTS BY THE STATE DEPART- 6 MENT OF EDUCATION FOR APPLICANTS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT 7 AND TO PROVIDE FOR CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE INFORMATION; AND AMENDING SEC- 8 TION 33-512, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION IN 9 AN EMPLOYEE'S OR APPLICANT'S CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK, TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS 10 AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 12 SECTION 1. That Section 33-130, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 13 amended to read as follows: 14 33-130. CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES OR APPLI- 15 CANTS FOR CERTIFICATES. (1) The department of education, through 16 the cooperation of the department of law enforcement, shall establish a system 17 to obtain a criminal history check on certificated and noncertificated employ- 18 ees, and all applicants for certificates pursuant to chapter 12, title 33, 19 Idaho Code. The criminal history check shall include the following: 20 (1a ) Statewide criminal identification bureau; 21 (2b ) Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) 22 criminal history check; 23 (3c ) National crime information center; and 24 (4d ) Statewide sex offender register. 25 (2) The state department of education shall charge all 26 applicants a fee of forty dollars ($40.00) for undergoing a criminal history 27 check pursuant to this section. The fee shall be sufficient to cover costs 28 charged by the federal bureau of investigation, the state department of law 29 enforcement and the state department of education. 30 (3) A record of all background checks shall be maintained at 31 the state department of education in a data bank for all employees of a school 32 district with a copy going to the applicant. The department of education shall 33 forward to all applicants for a criminal history check, notification that the 34 fingerprint card has been destroyed after the background check has been com- 35 pleted. The department of education and the department of law enforcement 36 shall ensure that fingerprint cards have been destroyed after a criminal his- 37 tory check has been completed. 38 (4) In order to provide for notification to and distribution of 39 information regarding required criminal history checks to the superintendent 40 of a school district regarding checks performed on certified employees and 41 applicants and on noncertificated employees and applicants in his district, 42 the following procedures are to be followed: 43 (a) For certificated employees and applicants. The state department of 2 1 education shall send notification to the superintendent of the school dis- 2 trict or his designee when a check reveals a felony conviction for a crime 3 enumerated in section 33-1208, Idaho Code. The superintendent or his des- 4 ignee is authorized to receive and review the entire report on that indi- 5 vidual to determine its accuracy. If the state department of education 6 determines there is the appearance of a violation of the professional code 7 of ethics as adopted by the professional standards commission, such 8 report may be referred to the executive committee of the professional 9 standards commission for its review and possible further action. 10 (b) For noncertificated employees and applicants. When the superintend- 11 ent of a school district receives an entire criminal history check, the 12 superintendent or his designee shall review the record to determine if 13 there has been a felony conviction for a crime enumerated in section 14 33-1208, Idaho Code, or a conviction for any crime deleterious to the 15 morals, health or safety of pupils. 16 The notification provided by the state department of education and the entire 17 criminal history check for any applicant or employee is confidential and 18 excepted from public access under any provision of the Idaho Code, including, 19 but not limited to, section 9-340, Idaho Code. 20 (5) The department of law enforcement and the department of educa- 21 tion shall implement a joint exercise of powers agreement pursuant to section 22 67-2328 through 67-2333, Idaho Code, necessary to implement the provisions of 23 this section. 24 SECTION 2. That Section 33-512, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 25 amended to read as follows: 26 33-512. GOVERNANCE OF SCHOOLS. The board of trustees of each school dis- 27 trict shall have the following powers and duties: 28 1. To fix the days of the year and the hours of the day when schools 29 shall be in session. However: 30 (a) Each school district shall annually adopt and implement a school cal- 31 endar which provides its students at each grade level with the following 32 minimum number of instructional hours: 33 Grades Hours 34 9-12 990 35 4-8 900 36 1-3 810 37 K 450 38 (b) School assemblies, testing and other instructionally related activi- 39 ties involving students directly may be included in the required instruc- 40 tional hours. 41 (c) When approved by a local school board, annual instructional hour 42 requirements stated in paragraph (a) may be reduced as follows: 43 (i) Up to a total of twenty-two (22) hours to accommodate staff 44 development activities. 45 (ii) Up to a total of eleven (11) hours of emergency school closures 46 due to adverse weather conditions and facility failures. 47 However, transportation to and from school, passing times between classes, 48 noninstructional recess and lunch periods shall not be included. 49 (d) Student and staff activities related to the opening and closing of 50 the school year, grade reporting, program planning, staff meetings, and 51 other classroom and building management activities shall not be counted as 52 instructional time or in the reductions provided in paragraph (c)(1). 53 (e) For multiple shift programs, this rule applies to each shift (i.e., 3 1 each student must have access to the minimum annual required hours of 2 instructions). 3 (f) The instructional time requirement for grade 12 students may be 4 reduced by action of a local school board for an amount of time not to 5 exceed eleven (11) hours of instructional time. 6 (g) The state superintendent of public instruction may grant an exemption 7 from the provisions of this section for an individual building within a 8 district, when the closure of that building, for unforeseen circumstances, 9 does not affect the attendance of other buildings within the district. 10 2. To adopt and carry on, and provide for the financing of, a total edu- 11 cational program for the district. Such programs in other than elementary 12 school districts may include education programs for out-of-school youth and 13 adults; and such districts may provide classes in kindergarten; 14 3. To provide, or require pupils to be provided with, suitable textbooks 15 and supplies, and for advice on textbook selections may appoint a textbook 16 adoption committee as provided in section 33-512A, Idaho Code; 17 4. To protect the morals and health of the pupils; 18 5. To exclude from school, children not of school age; 19 6. To prescribe rules for the disciplining of unruly or insubordinate 20 pupils, such rules to be included in a district discipline code adopted by the 21 board of trustees and a summarized version thereof to be provided in writing 22 at the beginning of each school year to the teachers and students in the dis- 23 trict in a manner consistent with the student's age, grade and level of aca- 24 demic achievement; 25 7. To exclude from school, pupils with contagious or infectious diseases 26 who are diagnosed or suspected as having a contagious or infectious disease or 27 those who are not immune and have been exposed to a contagious or infectious 28 disease; and to close school on order of the state board of health or local 29 health authorities; 30 8. To equip and maintain a suitable library or libraries in the school or 31 schools and to exclude therefrom, and from the schools, all books, tracts, 32 papers, and catechisms of sectarian nature; 33 9. To determine school holidays. Any listing of school holidays shall 34 include not less than the following: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Indepen- 35 dence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Other days listed in section 36 73-108, Idaho Code, if the same shall fall on a school day, shall be observed 37 with appropriate ceremonies; and any days the state board of education may 38 designate, following the proclamation by the governor, shall be school holi- 39 days; 40 10. To erect and maintain on each schoolhouse or school grounds a suitable 41 flagstaff or flagpole, and display thereon the flag of the United States of 42 America on all days, except during inclement weather, when the school is in 43 session; and for each Veterans Day, each school in session shall conduct and 44 observe an appropriate program of at least one (1) class period remembering 45 and honoring American veterans; 46 11. To prohibit entrance to each schoolhouse or school grounds, to pro- 47 hibit loitering in schoolhouses or on school grounds and to provide for the 48 removal from each schoolhouse or school grounds of any individual or individu- 49 als who disrupt the educational processes or whose presence is detrimental to 50 the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils. A 51 person who disrupts the educational process or whose presence is detrimental 52 to the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the pupils 53 or who loiters in schoolhouses or on school grounds, is guilty of a 54 misdemeanor.; 55 12. To supervise and regulate, including by contract with established 4 1 entities, those extracurricular activities which are by definition outside of 2 or in addition to the regular academic courses or curriculum of a public 3 school, and which extracurricular activities shall not be considered to be a 4 property, liberty or contract right of any student, and such extracurricular 5 activities shall not be deemed a necessary element of a public school educa- 6 tion, but shall be considered to be a privilege.; 7 13. To govern the school district in compliance with state law and rules 8 of the state board of education.; 9 14. To submit to the superintendent of public instruction not later than 10 July 1 of each year documentation which meets the reporting requirements of 11 the federal gun-free schools act of 1994 as contained within the federal 12 improving America's schools act of 1994.; 13 15. To require that all persons hired for the first time by the district 14 or who have been in the employ of the district five (5) years or less, undergo 15 a criminal history check as provided in section 33-130, Idaho Code. All such 16 employees who are required to undergo a criminal history check shall obtain 17 the history check within three (3) months of starting employment, or for 18 employees with five (5) years or less with the district, within three (3) 19 months from the date such employee is notified that he must undergo a criminal 20 history check. Such employees shall pay the cost of the criminal history 21 check. 22 With the exception of the state department of education and the 23 superintendent of a school district or his designee, the criminal history 24 check of any applicant for employment by a school district or any employee 25 shall be confidential and excepted from public access under any provision of 26 the Idaho Code, including, but not limited to, section 9-340, Idaho Code. 27 28 If the criminal history check shows that the employee has been convicted 29 of a felony crime enumerated in section 33-1208, Idaho Code, it shall be 30 grounds for immediate termination, dismissal or other personnel action of the 31 district, except that it shall be the right of the school district to evaluate 32 whether an individual convicted of one (1) of these crimes and having been 33 incarcerated for that crime shall be hired. 34 The district may require any or all persons who have been employed contin- 35 uously with the same district for more than five (5) years, to undergo a crim- 36 inal history check as provided in section 33-130, Idaho Code. If the district 37 elects to require criminal history checks of such employees, the district 38 shall pay the costs of the criminal history check or reimburse employees for 39 such cost. 40 16. Each board of trustees of a school district shall be responsible for 41 developing a system for registering volunteers or contractors consistent with 42 maintaining a safe environment for their students.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 07982C1
This legislation amends Idaho Code 33-130 and 33-512 by:
-providing a procedure whereby the state department of
education will provide to the local school district superintendent or
his designee a report of the results of the criminal history check
-performed on certified employees and applicants in his district
when the check reveals a felony conviction for a crime enumerated
in Idaho Code 331208
-providing authority for the state department of education to refer
to the executive committee of the Professional Standards
Commission any appearance of a violation of the professional
code of ethics providing a procedure authorizing the local school
district superintendent or his designee to review the record of the
entire criminal history check for noncertificated applicants and
employees to determine if there has been a felony conviction for a
crime enumerated in Idaho Code 33-1208 or a conviction for any
crime deleterious to the morals, health, or safety of pupils
- establishing that these records will otherwise be
confidential.
FISCAL NOTE
There will be no fiscal impact on the general fund or any other fund of the state of
Idaho nor to any unit of local government
CONTACT: Jim Shackelford
Idaho Education Association
208/344-1341
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1504