97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB2896

 

Introduced 2/1/2012, by Sen. Michael W. Frerichs

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/10-21.9  from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9

    Amends the School Code. Provides that a school board of any school district shall rely on the background check certificate issued by any regional superintendent to a substitute teacher, concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational support personnel employee if that substitute teacher, concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational support personnel employee presents such certificate (now, a school board may rely on such certificate).


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
510-21.9 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/10-21.9)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)
7    Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal history records checks and checks of
8the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and
9Violent Offender Against Youth Database.
10    (a) Certified and noncertified applicants for employment
11with a school district, except school bus driver applicants,
12are required as a condition of employment to authorize a
13fingerprint-based criminal history records check to determine
14if such applicants have been convicted of any of the enumerated
15criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or
16have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for
17employment with the school district, of any other felony under
18the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted
19in any other state or against the laws of the United States
20that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been
21punishable as a felony under the laws of this State.
22Authorization for the check shall be furnished by the applicant
23to the school district, except that if the applicant is a

 

 

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1substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one school
2district, a teacher seeking concurrent part-time employment
3positions with more than one school district (as a reading
4specialist, special education teacher or otherwise), or an
5educational support personnel employee seeking employment
6positions with more than one district, any such district may
7require the applicant to furnish authorization for the check to
8the regional superintendent of the educational service region
9in which are located the school districts in which the
10applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent
11part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel
12employee. Upon receipt of this authorization, the school
13district or the appropriate regional superintendent, as the
14case may be, shall submit the applicant's name, sex, race, date
15of birth, social security number, fingerprint images, and other
16identifiers, as prescribed by the Department of State Police,
17to the Department. The regional superintendent submitting the
18requisite information to the Department of State Police shall
19promptly notify the school districts in which the applicant is
20seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time
21teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee
22that the check of the applicant has been requested. The
23Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of
24Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based
25criminal history records check, records of convictions, until
26expunged, to the president of the school board for the school

 

 

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1district that requested the check, or to the regional
2superintendent who requested the check. The Department shall
3charge the school district or the appropriate regional
4superintendent a fee for conducting such check, which fee shall
5be deposited in the State Police Services Fund and shall not
6exceed the cost of the inquiry; and the applicant shall not be
7charged a fee for such check by the school district or by the
8regional superintendent, except that those applicants seeking
9employment as a substitute teacher with a school district may
10be charged a fee not to exceed the cost of the inquiry. Subject
11to appropriations for these purposes, the State Superintendent
12of Education shall reimburse school districts and regional
13superintendents for fees paid to obtain criminal history
14records checks under this Section.
15    (a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall
16further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database,
17as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law,
18for each applicant.
19    (a-6) The school district or regional superintendent shall
20further perform a check of the Statewide Murderer and Violent
21Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the Murderer
22and Violent Offender Against Youth Community Notification Law,
23for each applicant.
24    (b) Any information concerning the record of convictions
25obtained by the president of the school board or the regional
26superintendent shall be confidential and may only be

 

 

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1transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or his
2designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if the check
3was requested by the school district, the presidents of the
4appropriate school boards if the check was requested from the
5Department of State Police by the regional superintendent, the
6State Superintendent of Education, the State Teacher
7Certification Board, any other person necessary to the decision
8of hiring the applicant for employment, or for clarification
9purposes the Department of State Police or Statewide Sex
10Offender Database, or both. A copy of the record of convictions
11obtained from the Department of State Police shall be provided
12to the applicant for employment. Upon the check of the
13Statewide Sex Offender Database, the school district or
14regional superintendent shall notify an applicant as to whether
15or not the applicant has been identified in the Database as a
16sex offender. If a check of an applicant for employment as a
17substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent
18educational support personnel employee in more than one school
19district was requested by the regional superintendent, and the
20Department of State Police upon a check ascertains that the
21applicant has not been convicted of any of the enumerated
22criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has not been
23convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment
24with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of
25this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any
26other state or against the laws of the United States that, if

 

 

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1committed or attempted in this State, would have been
2punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and so
3notifies the regional superintendent and if the regional
4superintendent upon a check ascertains that the applicant has
5not been identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex
6offender, then the regional superintendent shall issue to the
7applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date
8specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has
9not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug
10offenses in subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7
11years of the application for employment with the school
12district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or
13of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or
14against the laws of the United States that, if committed or
15attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony
16under the laws of this State and evidencing that as of the date
17that the regional superintendent conducted a check of the
18Statewide Sex Offender Database, the applicant has not been
19identified in the Database as a sex offender. The school board
20of any school district shall may rely on the certificate issued
21by any regional superintendent to that substitute teacher,
22concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational
23support personnel employee if that substitute teacher,
24concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational
25support personnel employee presents a certificate issued by a
26regional superintendent or may initiate its own criminal

 

 

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1history records check of the applicant through the Department
2of State Police and its own check of the Statewide Sex Offender
3Database as provided in subsection (a) if that substitute
4teacher, concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent
5educational support personnel employee does not have a
6certificate issued by a regional superintendent. Any person who
7releases any confidential information concerning any criminal
8convictions of an applicant for employment shall be guilty of a
9Class A misdemeanor, unless the release of such information is
10authorized by this Section.
11    (c) No school board shall knowingly employ a person who has
12been convicted of any offense that would subject him or her to
13license suspension or revocation pursuant to Section 21B-80 of
14this Code. Further, no school board shall knowingly employ a
15person who has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or
16physical abuse of any minor under 18 years of age pursuant to
17proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
18    (d) No school board shall knowingly employ a person for
19whom a criminal history records check and a Statewide Sex
20Offender Database check has not been initiated.
21    (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a
22finding of child abuse by a holder of any certificate issued
23pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the School
24Code, the State Superintendent of Education may initiate
25certificate suspension and revocation proceedings as
26authorized by law.

 

 

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1    (e-5) The superintendent of the employing school board
2shall, in writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education
3and the applicable regional superintendent of schools of any
4certificate holder whom he or she has reasonable cause to
5believe has committed an intentional act of abuse or neglect
6with the result of making a child an abused child or a
7neglected child, as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and
8Neglected Child Reporting Act, and that act resulted in the
9certificate holder's dismissal or resignation from the school
10district. This notification must be submitted within 30 days
11after the dismissal or resignation. The certificate holder must
12also be contemporaneously sent a copy of the notice by the
13superintendent. All correspondence, documentation, and other
14information so received by the regional superintendent of
15schools, the State Superintendent of Education, the State Board
16of Education, or the State Teacher Certification Board under
17this subsection (e-5) is confidential and must not be disclosed
18to third parties, except (i) as necessary for the State
19Superintendent of Education or his or her designee to
20investigate and prosecute pursuant to Article 21 of this Code,
21(ii) pursuant to a court order, (iii) for disclosure to the
22certificate holder or his or her representative, or (iv) as
23otherwise provided in this Article and provided that any such
24information admitted into evidence in a hearing is exempt from
25this confidentiality and non-disclosure requirement. Except
26for an act of willful or wanton misconduct, any superintendent

 

 

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1who provides notification as required in this subsection (e-5)
2shall have immunity from any liability, whether civil or
3criminal or that otherwise might result by reason of such
4action.
5    (f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section
6shall apply to all employees of persons or firms holding
7contracts with any school district including, but not limited
8to, food service workers, school bus drivers and other
9transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with
10the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of
11criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex
12Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding
13contracts with more than one school district and assigned to
14more than one school district, the regional superintendent of
15the educational service region in which the contracting school
16districts are located may, at the request of any such school
17district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for a
18criminal history records check prepared by each such employee
19and submitting the same to the Department of State Police and
20for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database
21for each employee. Any information concerning the record of
22conviction and identification as a sex offender of any such
23employee obtained by the regional superintendent shall be
24promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school
25board or school boards.
26    (g) In order to student teach in the public schools, a

 

 

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1person is required to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal
2history records check and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender
3Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against
4Youth Database prior to participating in any field experiences
5in the public schools. Authorization for and payment of the
6costs of the checks must be furnished by the student teacher.
7Results of the checks must be furnished to the higher education
8institution where the student teacher is enrolled and the
9superintendent of the school district where the student is
10assigned.
11    (h) Upon request of a school, school district, community
12college district, or private school, any information obtained
13by a school district pursuant to subsection (f) of this Section
14within the last year must be made available to that school,
15school district, community college district, or private
16school.
17(Source: P.A. 96-431, eff. 8-13-09; 96-1452, eff. 8-20-10;
1896-1489, eff. 1-1-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12; 97-248, eff. 1-1-12;
1997-607, eff. 8-26-11; revised 9-21-11.)