[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5257 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5257

   To provide private school parity with public schools in obtaining 
 criminal background checks of employees, volunteers, and applicants, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2002

  Mr. Fletcher (for himself and Mr. Capuano) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
                               Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide private school parity with public schools in obtaining 
 criminal background checks of employees, volunteers, and applicants, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Keeping All Children Safe in Schools 
Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) In order to protect schoolchildren in the United 
        States, the Congress facilitated national criminal history 
        background checks of America's elementary and secondary school 
        employees, volunteers, and applicants.
            (2) All children enrolled in elementary and secondary 
        schools deserve the same level of protection from sexual 
        predators and other dangerous persons.
            (3) Some States, in providing national criminal history 
        background checks for elementary and secondary schools in the 
        State, do not provide to private schools in the State the same 
        access to such background checks of employees, volunteers, and 
        applicants.
            (4) Legislation is necessary to ensure that all private 
        elementary and secondary schools have effective access to the 
        same protections currently afforded to public elementary and 
        secondary schools in such States.

SEC. 3. PRIVATE SCHOOL ACCESS TO CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.

    (a) Equitable Treatment.--A private elementary school or secondary 
school that pays all applicable costs shall have the same access and 
responsibilities as a public elementary school or secondary school for 
purposes of obtaining a national criminal history background check of a 
school employee or volunteer (or an applicant for such a position).
    (b) Rulemaking.--The Secretary of Education, in consultation with 
the Attorney General, may prescribe regulations to carry out this 
section.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``elementary school'' 
and ``secondary school'' have the meanings given those terms in section 
9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801).
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