|
the State Board of Education.
Information
required for |
registration shall include assurances of compliance (i) with
|
federal
and State
laws regarding health examination and |
immunization, attendance, length of term,
and
|
nondiscrimination and (ii) with applicable fire and health |
safety requirements.
|
(c) Recognition. All non-public elementary and secondary |
schools in the
State of
Illinois may voluntarily seek the |
status of "Non-public School Recognition"
from
the State
Board |
of Education. This status may be obtained by compliance with
|
administrative
guidelines and review procedures as prescribed |
by the State Board of Education.
The
guidelines and procedures |
must recognize that some of the aims and the
financial bases of
|
non-public schools are different from public schools and will |
not be identical
to those for
public schools, nor will they be |
more burdensome. The guidelines and procedures
must
also |
recognize the diversity of non-public schools and shall not |
impinge upon
the
noneducational relationships between those |
schools and their clientele.
|
(c-5) Prohibition against recognition. A non-public |
elementary or secondary school may not obtain "Non-public |
School Recognition" status unless the school requires all |
certified and non-certified applicants for employment with the |
school, after July 1, 2007, to authorize a fingerprint-based |
criminal history records check as a condition of employment to |
determine if such applicants have been convicted of any of the |
|
enumerated criminal or drug offenses set forth in this |
subsection (c-5) or have been convicted, within 7 years of the |
application for employment, of any other felony under the laws |
of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any |
other state or against the laws of the United States that, if |
committed or attempted in this State, would have been |
punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. |
Authorization for the check shall be furnished by the |
applicant to the school, except that if the applicant is a |
substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one |
non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent part-time |
employment positions with more than one non-public school (as a |
reading specialist, special education teacher, or otherwise), |
or an educational support personnel employee seeking |
employment positions with more than one non-public school, then |
only one of the non-public schools employing the individual |
shall request the authorization. Upon receipt of this |
authorization, the non-public school shall submit the |
applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth, social security |
number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as |
prescribed by the Department of State Police, to the Department |
of State Police. |
The Department of State Police and Federal Bureau of |
Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based |
criminal history records check, records of convictions, |
forever and hereafter, until expunged, to the president or |
|
principal of the non-public school that requested the check. |
The Department of State Police shall charge that school a fee |
for conducting such check, which fee must be deposited into the |
State Police Services Fund and must not exceed the cost of the |
inquiry. Subject to appropriations for these purposes, the |
State Superintendent of Education shall reimburse non-public |
schools for fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks |
under this Section. |
A non-public school may not obtain recognition status |
unless the school also performs a check of the Statewide Sex |
Offender Database, as authorized by the Sex Offender Community |
Notification Law, for each applicant for employment, after July |
1, 2007, to determine whether the applicant has been |
adjudicated a sex offender. |
Any information concerning the record of convictions |
obtained by a non-public school's president or principal under |
this Section is confidential and may be disseminated only to |
the governing body of the non-public school or any other person |
necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for |
employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from |
the Department of State Police shall be provided to the |
applicant for employment. Upon a check of the Statewide Sex |
Offender Database, the non-public school shall notify the |
applicant as to whether or not the applicant has been |
identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex offender. Any |
information concerning the records of conviction obtained by |
|
the non-public school's president or principal under this |
Section for a substitute teacher seeking employment in more |
than one non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent |
part-time employment positions with more than one non-public |
school (as a reading specialist, special education teacher, or |
otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee |
seeking employment positions with more than one non-public |
school may be shared with another non-public school's principal |
or president to which the applicant seeks employment. Any |
person who releases any criminal history record information |
concerning an applicant for employment is guilty of a Class A |
misdemeanor and may be subject to prosecution under federal |
law, unless the release of such information is authorized by |
this Section. |
No non-public school may obtain recognition status that |
knowingly employs a person, hired after July 1, 2007, for whom |
a Department of State Police and Federal Bureau of |
Investigation fingerprint-based criminal history records check |
and a Statewide Sex Offender Database check has not been |
initiated or who has been convicted for committing attempted |
first degree murder or for committing or attempting to commit |
first degree murder or a Class X felony or any one or more of |
the following offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, |
11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, |
11-19.1, 11-19.2, 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14, |
12-14.1, 12-15, and 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961; (ii) |
|
those defined in the Cannabis Control Act, except those defined |
in Sections 4(a), 4(b), and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those |
defined in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act; and (iv) any |
offense committed or attempted in any other state or against |
the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted |
in this State, would have been punishable as one or more of the |
foregoing offenses. No non-public school may obtain |
recognition status under this Section that knowingly employs a |
person who has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or |
physical abuse of a minor under 18 years of age pursuant to |
proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. |
In order to obtain recognition status under this Section, a |
non-public school must require compliance with the provisions |
of this subsection (c-5) from all employees of persons or firms |
holding contracts with the school, including, but not limited |
to, food service workers, school bus drivers, and other |
transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with |
pupils. Any information concerning the records of conviction or |
identification as a sex offender of any such employee obtained |
by the non-public school principal or president must be |
promptly reported to the school's governing body.
|
(d) Public purposes. The provisions of this Section are in |
the public
interest, for
the public benefit, and serve secular |
public purposes.
|
(e) Definition. For purposes of this Section, a non-public |
school means any
non-profit, non-home-based, and non-public |