Sen. Linda Holmes
Filed: 4/22/2010
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5340
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5340 on page 1, | ||||||
3 | lines 4 and 5, by replacing "Section 10-21.9" with "Sections | ||||||
4 | 10-21.9 and 34-18.5"; and
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5 | on page 8, immediately below line 18, by inserting the | ||||||
6 | following: | ||||||
7 | " (g) In order to student teach in the public schools, a | ||||||
8 | person is required to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal | ||||||
9 | history records check and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender | ||||||
10 | Database and Statewide Child Murderer and Violent Offender | ||||||
11 | Against Youth Database prior to participating in any field | ||||||
12 | experiences in the public schools. Authorization for and | ||||||
13 | payment of the costs of the checks must be furnished by the | ||||||
14 | student teacher. Results of the checks must be furnished to the | ||||||
15 | higher education institution where the student teacher is | ||||||
16 | enrolled and the superintendent of the school district where | ||||||
17 | the student is assigned. "; and |
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1 | on page 8, immediately below line 19, by inserting the | ||||||
2 | following: | ||||||
3 | "(105 ILCS 5/34-18.5) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5) | ||||||
4 | Sec. 34-18.5. Criminal history records checks and checks of | ||||||
5 | the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Child | ||||||
6 | Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database. | ||||||
7 | (a) Certified and noncertified applicants for
employment | ||||||
8 | with the school district are required as a condition of
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9 | employment to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history | ||||||
10 | records check to determine if such applicants
have been | ||||||
11 | convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in
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12 | subsection (c) of this Section or have been
convicted, within 7 | ||||||
13 | years of the application for employment with the
school | ||||||
14 | district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or | ||||||
15 | of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or | ||||||
16 | against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or | ||||||
17 | attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony | ||||||
18 | under the laws of this State. Authorization
for
the
check shall
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19 | be furnished by the applicant to the school district, except | ||||||
20 | that if the
applicant is a substitute teacher seeking | ||||||
21 | employment in more than one
school district, or a teacher | ||||||
22 | seeking concurrent part-time employment
positions with more | ||||||
23 | than one school district (as a reading specialist,
special | ||||||
24 | education teacher or otherwise), or an educational support
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1 | personnel employee seeking employment positions with more than | ||||||
2 | one
district, any such district may require the applicant to | ||||||
3 | furnish
authorization for
the check to the regional | ||||||
4 | superintendent of the
educational service region in which are | ||||||
5 | located the school districts in
which the applicant is seeking | ||||||
6 | employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher or | ||||||
7 | concurrent educational support personnel employee.
Upon | ||||||
8 | receipt of this authorization, the school district or the | ||||||
9 | appropriate
regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall | ||||||
10 | submit the applicant's
name, sex, race, date of birth, social | ||||||
11 | security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as | ||||||
12 | prescribed by the Department
of State Police, to the | ||||||
13 | Department. The regional
superintendent submitting the | ||||||
14 | requisite information to the Department of
State Police shall | ||||||
15 | promptly notify the school districts in which the
applicant is | ||||||
16 | seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time
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17 | teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee | ||||||
18 | that
the
check of the applicant has been requested. The | ||||||
19 | Department of State
Police and the Federal Bureau of | ||||||
20 | Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based | ||||||
21 | criminal history records check, records of convictions, until | ||||||
22 | expunged, to the president of the school board for the school | ||||||
23 | district that requested the check, or to the regional | ||||||
24 | superintendent who requested the check. The
Department shall | ||||||
25 | charge
the school district
or the appropriate regional | ||||||
26 | superintendent a fee for
conducting
such check, which fee shall |
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1 | be deposited in the State
Police Services Fund and shall not | ||||||
2 | exceed the cost of the inquiry; and the
applicant shall not be | ||||||
3 | charged a fee for
such check by the school
district or by the | ||||||
4 | regional superintendent. Subject to appropriations for these | ||||||
5 | purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall | ||||||
6 | reimburse the school district and regional superintendent for | ||||||
7 | fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this | ||||||
8 | Section. | ||||||
9 | (a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall | ||||||
10 | further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, | ||||||
11 | as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, | ||||||
12 | for each applicant. | ||||||
13 | (a-6) The school district or regional superintendent shall | ||||||
14 | further perform a check of the Statewide Child Murderer and | ||||||
15 | Violent Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the | ||||||
16 | Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Community | ||||||
17 | Notification Law, for each applicant. | ||||||
18 | (b) Any
information concerning the record of convictions | ||||||
19 | obtained by the president
of the board of education or the | ||||||
20 | regional superintendent shall be
confidential and may only be | ||||||
21 | transmitted to the general superintendent of
the school | ||||||
22 | district or his designee, the appropriate regional
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23 | superintendent if
the check was requested by the board of | ||||||
24 | education
for the school district, the presidents of the | ||||||
25 | appropriate board of
education or school boards if
the check | ||||||
26 | was requested from the
Department of State Police by the |
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1 | regional superintendent, the State
Superintendent of | ||||||
2 | Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any
other | ||||||
3 | person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for
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4 | employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from | ||||||
5 | the
Department of State Police shall be provided to the | ||||||
6 | applicant for
employment. Upon the check of the Statewide Sex | ||||||
7 | Offender Database, the school district or regional | ||||||
8 | superintendent shall notify an applicant as to whether or not | ||||||
9 | the applicant has been identified in the Database as a sex | ||||||
10 | offender. If a check of an applicant for employment as a
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11 | substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent | ||||||
12 | educational
support personnel employee in more than one school | ||||||
13 | district was requested
by the regional superintendent, and the | ||||||
14 | Department of State Police upon
a check ascertains that the | ||||||
15 | applicant has not been convicted of any
of the enumerated | ||||||
16 | criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c)
or has not been
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17 | convicted,
within 7 years of the application for employment | ||||||
18 | with the
school district, of any other felony under the laws of | ||||||
19 | this State or of any
offense committed or attempted in any | ||||||
20 | other state or against the laws of
the United States that, if | ||||||
21 | committed or attempted in this State, would
have been | ||||||
22 | punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and so
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23 | notifies the regional superintendent and if the regional | ||||||
24 | superintendent upon a check ascertains that the applicant has | ||||||
25 | not been identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex | ||||||
26 | offender, then the regional superintendent
shall issue to the |
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1 | applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date
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2 | specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has | ||||||
3 | not been
convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug | ||||||
4 | offenses in subsection
(c)
or has not been
convicted, within 7 | ||||||
5 | years of the application for employment with the
school | ||||||
6 | district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or | ||||||
7 | of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or | ||||||
8 | against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or | ||||||
9 | attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony | ||||||
10 | under the laws of this State and evidencing that as of the date | ||||||
11 | that the regional superintendent conducted a check of the | ||||||
12 | Statewide Sex Offender Database, the applicant has not been | ||||||
13 | identified in the Database as a sex offender. The school
board | ||||||
14 | of any school district may rely on the certificate issued by | ||||||
15 | any regional
superintendent to that substitute teacher, | ||||||
16 | concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational | ||||||
17 | support personnel employee
or may initiate its own criminal | ||||||
18 | history records check of
the applicant through the Department | ||||||
19 | of State Police and its own check of the Statewide Sex Offender | ||||||
20 | Database as provided in
subsection (a). Any person who releases | ||||||
21 | any confidential information
concerning any criminal | ||||||
22 | convictions of an applicant for employment shall be
guilty of a | ||||||
23 | Class A misdemeanor, unless the release of such information is
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24 | authorized by this Section. | ||||||
25 | (c) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a | ||||||
26 | person who has
been convicted of any offense that would subject |
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1 | him or her to certification suspension or revocation pursuant | ||||||
2 | to Section 21-23a of this Code.
Further, the board of education | ||||||
3 | shall not knowingly employ a person who has
been found to be | ||||||
4 | the perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under
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5 | 18 years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the | ||||||
6 | Juvenile Court
Act of 1987. | ||||||
7 | (d) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a | ||||||
8 | person for whom
a criminal history records check and a | ||||||
9 | Statewide Sex Offender Database check has not been initiated. | ||||||
10 | (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a | ||||||
11 | finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued | ||||||
12 | pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School | ||||||
13 | Code, the State Superintendent of
Education may initiate | ||||||
14 | certificate suspension and revocation
proceedings as | ||||||
15 | authorized by law. | ||||||
16 | (e-5) The general superintendent of schools shall, in | ||||||
17 | writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education of any | ||||||
18 | certificate holder whom he or she has reasonable cause to | ||||||
19 | believe has committed an intentional act of abuse or neglect | ||||||
20 | with the result of making a child an abused child or a | ||||||
21 | neglected child, as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and | ||||||
22 | Neglected Child Reporting Act, and that act resulted in the | ||||||
23 | certificate holder's dismissal or resignation from the school | ||||||
24 | district. This notification must be submitted within 30 days | ||||||
25 | after the dismissal or resignation. The certificate holder must | ||||||
26 | also be contemporaneously sent a copy of the notice by the |
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1 | superintendent. All correspondence, documentation, and other | ||||||
2 | information so received by the State Superintendent of | ||||||
3 | Education, the State Board of Education, or the State Teacher | ||||||
4 | Certification Board under this subsection (e-5) is | ||||||
5 | confidential and must not be disclosed to third parties, except | ||||||
6 | (i) as necessary for the State Superintendent of Education or | ||||||
7 | his or her designee to investigate and prosecute pursuant to | ||||||
8 | Article 21 of this Code, (ii) pursuant to a court order, (iii) | ||||||
9 | for disclosure to the certificate holder or his or her | ||||||
10 | representative, or (iv) as otherwise provided in this Article | ||||||
11 | and provided that any such information admitted into evidence | ||||||
12 | in a hearing is exempt from this confidentiality and | ||||||
13 | non-disclosure requirement. Except for an act of willful or | ||||||
14 | wanton misconduct, any superintendent who provides | ||||||
15 | notification as required in this subsection (e-5) shall have | ||||||
16 | immunity from any liability, whether civil or criminal or that | ||||||
17 | otherwise might result by reason of such action. | ||||||
18 | (f) After March 19, 1990, the provisions of this Section | ||||||
19 | shall apply to
all employees of persons or firms holding | ||||||
20 | contracts with any school district
including, but not limited | ||||||
21 | to, food service workers, school bus drivers and
other | ||||||
22 | transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with | ||||||
23 | the
pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of | ||||||
24 | criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex | ||||||
25 | Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding | ||||||
26 | contracts with more
than one school district and assigned to |
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1 | more than one school district, the
regional superintendent of | ||||||
2 | the educational service region in which the
contracting school | ||||||
3 | districts are located may, at the request of any such
school | ||||||
4 | district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for
a | ||||||
5 | criminal history records check prepared by each such employee | ||||||
6 | and submitting the same to the
Department of State Police and | ||||||
7 | for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database | ||||||
8 | for each employee. Any information concerning the record of
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9 | conviction and identification as a sex offender of any such | ||||||
10 | employee obtained by the regional superintendent
shall be | ||||||
11 | promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school | ||||||
12 | board
or school boards. | ||||||
13 | (g) In order to student teach in the public schools, a | ||||||
14 | person is required to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal | ||||||
15 | history records check and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender | ||||||
16 | Database and Statewide Child Murderer and Violent Offender | ||||||
17 | Against Youth Database prior to participating in any field | ||||||
18 | experiences in the public schools. Authorization for and | ||||||
19 | payment of the costs of the checks must be furnished by the | ||||||
20 | student teacher. Results of the checks must be furnished to the | ||||||
21 | higher education institution where the student teacher is | ||||||
22 | enrolled and the general superintendent of schools. | ||||||
23 | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-431, eff. 8-13-09.)".
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