Senate Bill No. 7
(By Senator Dempsey)
____________
[Introduced February 9, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Education; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-3-10 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to criminal history checks of
applicants for licensure by the Department of Education; and
providing for criminal history checks for people who are not
employed by county boards of education but who work directly
with children in grades kindergarten through twelve on school
property.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-3-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-10. Criminal history check of applicants for licensure by
the State Department of Education.
Beginning the first day of January, two thousand two, any applicant for an initial license issued by the West Virginia
Department of Education
and beginning the first day of July, two
thousand five, persons who are not employed with County Boards of
Education but who work directly with children in grades
kindergarten through twelve on school property shall be
fingerprinted by the West Virginia State Police in accordance with
State
or County Board policy in order to determine the applicant's
suitability for licensure
or authorize a person to work with
children. The fingerprints shall be analyzed by the State Police
for a State criminal history record check through the central abuse
registry and then forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
for a national criminal history record check. Information
contained in either the central abuse registry record or the
Federal Bureau of Investigation record may form the basis for the
denial of a certificate
or authority to work with children in
grades kindergarten through twelve on school property for just
cause. The applicant for initial certification
or employment pays
for the cost of obtaining the central abuse registry record and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation record:
Provided, That no criminal
background check will be required for parents, guardians or
volunteers who are participating in a school sponsored sanctioned
event who will have no direct one-on-one contact with children in
grades kindergarten through twelve while on school property:
Provided, however, That no criminal background check will be required of any volunteer who is tutoring a student or students
under the direct supervision of a classroom teacher.
Upon written consent to the State Department
or County Board
of Education by the applicant and within ninety days of the State
fingerprint analysis, the results of a State analysis
may shall be
provided to a County Board with which the applicant is applying for
employment without further cost to the applicant.
Information maintained by the State Department or a County
Board which was obtained for the purpose of this section is exempt
from the disclosure provisions of chapter twenty-nine-b of this
code. Nothing in this section prohibits disclosure or publication
of information in a statistical or other form which does not
identify the individuals involved or provide personal information.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for criminal
history checks for people not employed by county boards of
education, but who work directly with children in grades
kindergarten through twelve on school property.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
