[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 856 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 856
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require
criminal background checks for school employees.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 24, 2015
Mr. Alexander (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Rounds, Ms. Murkowski, Mr.
Isakson, and Mr. Tillis) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require
criminal background checks for school employees.
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 ``Stop Sexual Abuse by School
Personnel Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES.
(a) In General.--Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 9537. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES.
``(a) Criminal Background Check Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--Each State educational agency and local
educational agency that receives funds under this Act shall
have in effect policies and procedures that require a criminal
background check for each school employee in each covered
school served by such State educational agency and local
educational agency.
``(2) Requirements.--A background check required under
paragraph (1) shall be conducted and administered by--
``(A) the State;
``(B) the State educational agency; or
``(C) the local educational agency.
``(b) State and Local Uses of Funds.--A State, State educational
agency, or local educational agency that receives funds under this Act
may use such funds to establish, implement, or improve policies and
procedures on background checks for school employees required under
subsection (a) to--
``(1) expand the registries or repositories searched when
conducting background checks, such as--
``(A) the State criminal registry or repository of
the State in which the school employee resides;
``(B) the State-based child abuse and neglect
registries and databases of the State in which the
school employee resides;
``(C) the Federal Bureau of Investigation
fingerprint check using the Integrated Automated
Fingerprint Identification System; and
``(D) the National Sex Offender Registry
established under section 119 of the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16919);
``(2) provide school employees with training and
professional development on how to recognize, respond to, and
prevent child abuse;
``(3) develop, implement, or improve mechanisms to assist
covered local educational agencies and covered schools in
effectively recognizing and quickly responding to incidents of
child abuse by school employees;
``(4) develop and disseminate information on best practices
and Federal, State, and local resources available to assist
local educational agencies and schools in preventing and
responding to incidents of child abuse by school employees;
``(5) develop professional standards and codes of conduct
for the appropriate behavior of school employees;
``(6) establish, implement, or improve policies and
procedures for covered State educational agencies, covered
local educational agencies, or covered schools to provide the
results of background checks to--
``(A) individuals subject to the background checks
in a statement that indicates whether the individual is
ineligible for such employment due to the background
check and includes information related to each
disqualifying crime;
``(B) the employer in a statement that indicates
whether a school employee is eligible or ineligible for
employment, without revealing any disqualifying crime
or other related information regarding the individual;
``(C) another employer in the same State or another
State, as permitted under State law, without revealing
any disqualifying crime or other related information
regarding the individual; and
``(D) another local educational agency in the same
State or another State that is considering such school
employee for employment, as permitted under State law,
without revealing any disqualifying crime or other
related information regarding the individual;
``(7) establish, implement, or improve procedures that
include periodic background checks, which also allows for an
appeals process as described in paragraph (8), for school
employees in accordance with State policies or the policies of
covered local educational agencies served by the covered State
educational agency;
``(8) establish, implement, or improve a process by which a
school employee may appeal the results of a background check,
which process is completed in a timely manner, gives each
school employee notice of an opportunity to appeal, and
instructions on how to complete the appeals process;
``(9) establish, implement, or improve a review process
through which the covered State educational agency or covered
local educational agency may determine that a school employee
disqualified due to a crime is eligible for employment due to
mitigating circumstances as determined by a covered local
educational agency or a covered State educational agency;
``(10) establish, implement, or improve policies and
procedures intended to ensure a covered State educational
agency or covered local educational agency does not knowingly
transfer or facilitate the transfer of a school employee if the
agency knows that employee has engaged in sexual misconduct, as
defined by State law, with an elementary school or secondary
school student;
``(11) provide that policies and procedures are published
on the website of the covered State educational agency and the
website of each covered local educational agency served by the
covered State educational agency;
``(12) provide school employees with training regarding the
appropriate reporting of incidents of child abuse under section
106(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
(42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)(2)(B)(i)); and
``(13) support any other activities determined by the State
to protect student safety or improve the comprehensiveness,
coordination, and transparency of policies and procedures on
criminal background checks for school employees in the State.
``(c) No Private Right of Action.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to create a private right of action if a State, covered State
educational agency, covered local educational agency, or covered school
is in compliance with State regulations and requirements concerning
background checks.
``(d) Background Check Fees.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed as prohibiting States or local educational agencies from
charging school employees for the costs of processing applications and
administering a background check as required by State law, provided
that the fees charged to school employees do not exceed the actual
costs to the State or local educational agency for the processing and
administration of the background check.
``(e) State and Local Plan Requirements.--Each plan submitted by a
State or local educational agency under title I shall include--
``(1) an assurance that the State and local educational
agency has in effect policies and procedures that meet the
requirements of this section; and
``(2) a description of laws, regulations, or policies and
procedures in effect in the State for conducting background
checks for school employees designed to--
``(A) terminate individuals in violation of State
background check requirements;
``(B) improve the reporting of violations of the
background check requirements in the State;
``(C) reduce the instance of school employee
transfers following a substantiated violation of the
State background check requirements by a school
employee;
``(D) provide for a timely process by which a
school employee may appeal the results of a criminal
background check;
``(E) provide each school employee, upon request,
with a copy of the results of the criminal background
check, including a description of the disqualifying
item or items, if applicable;
``(F) provide the results of the criminal
background check to the employer in a statement that
indicates whether a school employee is eligible or
ineligible for employment, without revealing any
disqualifying crime or other related information
regarding the individual; and
``(G) provide for the public availability of the
policies and procedures for conducting background
checks.
``(f) Technical Assistance to States, School Districts, and
Schools.--The Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Health
and Human Services and the Attorney General, shall provide technical
assistance and support to States, local educational agencies, and
schools, which shall include, at a minimum--
``(1) developing and disseminating a comprehensive package
of materials for States, State educational agencies, local
educational agencies, and schools that outlines steps that can
be taken to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse by school
personnel;
``(2) determining the most cost-effective way to
disseminate Federal information so that relevant State
educational agencies and local educational agencies, child
welfare agencies, and criminal justice entities are aware of
such information and have access to it; and
``(3) identifying mechanisms to better track and analyze
the prevalence of child sexual abuse by school personnel
through existing Federal data collection systems, such as the
School Survey on Crime and Safety, the National Child Abuse and
Neglect Data System, and the National Crime Victimization
Survey.
``(g) Reporting Requirements.--
``(1) Reports to the secretary.--A covered State
educational agency or covered local educational agency that
uses funds pursuant to this section shall report annually to
the Secretary on--
``(A) the amount of funds used; and
``(B) the purpose for which the funds were used
under this section.
``(2) Secretary's report card.--Not later than July 1,
2017, and annually thereafter, the Secretary, acting through
the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, shall
transmit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the
Workforce of the House of Representatives a national report
card that includes--
``(A) actions taken pursuant to subsection (f),
including any best practices identified under such
subsection; and
``(B) incidents of reported child sexual abuse by
school personnel, as reported through existing Federal
data collection systems, such as the School Survey on
Crime and Safety, the National Child Abuse and Neglect
Data System, and the National Crime Victimization
Survey.
``(h) Rules of Construction Regarding Background Checks.--
``(1) No federal control.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to authorize an officer or employee of the Federal
Government to--
``(A) mandate, direct, or control the background
check policies or procedures that a State or local
educational agency develops or implements under this
section;
``(B) establish any criterion that specifies,
defines, or prescribes the background check policies or
procedures that a State or local educational agency
develops or implements under this section; or
``(C) require a State or local educational agency
to submit such background check policies or procedures
for approval.
``(2) Prohibition on regulation.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to permit the Secretary to establish any
criterion that--
``(A) prescribes, or specifies requirements
regarding, background checks for school employees;
``(B) defines the term `background checks', as such
term is used in this section; or
``(C) requires a State or local educational agency
to report additional data elements or information to
the Secretary not otherwise explicitly authorized under
this section or any other Federal law.
``(i) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `covered local educational agency' means a
local educational agency that receives funds under this Act;
``(2) the term `covered school' means a public elementary
school or public secondary school, including a public
elementary or secondary charter school, that receives funds
under this Act;
``(3) the term `covered State educational agency' means a
State educational agency that receives funds under this Act;
and
``(4) the term `school employee' includes, at a minimum--
``(A) an employee of, or a person seeking
employment with, a covered school, covered local
educational agency, or covered State educational agency
and who, as a result of such employment, has (or, in
the case of a person seeking employment, will have) a
job duty that includes unsupervised contact or
interaction with elementary school or secondary school
students; or
``(B) any person, or any employee of any person,
who has a contract or agreement to provide services
with a covered school, covered local educational
agency, or covered State educational agency, and such
person or employee, as a result of such contract or
agreement, has a job duty that includes unsupervised
contact or unsupervised interaction with elementary
school or secondary school students.''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 2 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 9536 the following:
``Sec. 9537. Criminal background checks for school employees.''.
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