BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 389 (Williams) - Private School Employees: Criminal
Background Checks
Amended: July 11, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 389 requires private, nonpublic schools, to
fingerprint all employees who will have contact with pupils and
submit two sets of the fingerprints to the state Department of
Justice (DOJ) for the purpose of obtaining criminal record
summary information from the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI). This bill also provides authority for the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), as part the
certification process of a nonpublic school to verify that it
has received a successful criminal background check clearance
and has enrolled in subsequent arrest notice service, as
specified.
Fiscal Impact:
DOJ: The costs to the DOJ to process fingerprints and
obtain criminal background information, as required by this
bill, will be fully reimbursed by fees paid to the
Fingerprint Fees Account (FFA) by the applicants or
employers (private, nonpublic schools).
California Department of Education (CDE)/SPI: To the
extent that the SPI elects to verify successful criminal
background check clearance for private schools during
certification, there would like be a minor workload
increase to the CDE.
Background: Existing law requires every person, firm,
association, partnership, or corporation offering or conducting
private school instruction on the elementary or high school
level to require each applicant for employment in a position
requiring contact with minor pupils who does not possess a valid
credential issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing
AB 389 (Williams)
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(CTC) or is not currently licensed by another state agency that
requires a criminal record summary that directly relates to
services provided in a facility, as specified, and has a
background clearance that meets or exceeds the requirements of
this section, to submit two sets of fingerprints prepared for
submittal by the employer to the DOJ for the purpose of
obtaining criminal record summary information from the DOJ and
the FBI. (Education Code § 44237(a))
Existing law requires the CTC to send on a quarterly basis to
each private school a list of all teachers who have had their
state teaching credential revoked or suspended.
(EC § 44237(k))
Existing law requires a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency
that seeks certification to file an application with the SPI on
forms provided by the CDE. The applications are required to
include specified information, including a description of the
special education and designated instruction and services
provided to individuals with exceptional needs if the
application is for nonpublic, nonsectarian school certification
and a description of the designated instruction and services
provided to individuals with exceptional needs if the
application is for nonpublic nonsectarian agency certification.
The application must also include affidavits and assurances
necessary to comply with all applicable federal and state laws
and regulations that include criminal record summaries required
of all nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency personnel having
contact with minor children. The SPI is required, prior to
certification of a nonpublic, nonsectarian school, to conduct an
onsite review of the facility and program for which the
applicant seeks certification. The SPI is also required to
conduct an investigation of a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or
agency onsite without prior notice if there is substantial
reason to believe that there is an immediate danger to the
health, safety, or welfare of a child, as specified.
(EC § 56366.1)
Proposed Law: AB 389 requires every person, firm, association,
partnership, or corporation offering or conducting private
school instruction on the elementary or high school level to
require each applicant for employment who will have contact with
pupils to submit two sets of fingerprints to the DOJ for the
purpose of obtaining criminal record summary information from
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the DOJ and the FBI. This bill authorizes the SPI, in conducting
an onsite review of the facility and program for which a
nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency seeks certification,
or when investigating a complaint, to verify that the school or
agency received a successful criminal background check clearance
and has enrolled in subsequent arrest notice service, as
specified, for each owner, operator, and employee. This bill
requires that, for purposes of enabling the SPI to carry out his
or her duties as specified, a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or
agency make available to the SPI evidence of successful criminal
background check clearances and enrollment in subsequent arrest
notice service.
Staff Comments: This bill places new requirements on private,
nonpublic schools, to ensure that both their existing employees
and future applicants for employment submit fingerprints to the
DOJ and undergo a criminal background check. The responsibility
is on the employer, and the employer can either pay fees to the
DOJ directly on behalf of its employees and applicants or can
require the individual to pay the fee.
The DOJ is authorized to charge (and does charge) fees that
cover the cost of processing the fingerprints, background
checks, and to receive and report subsequent arrest information.
All fees go to the FFA which, in turn, funds the fingerprinting
and background check program; this includes both personnel costs
for the DOJ and the fees that the DOJ pays to the FBI to process
the FBI component of the criminal background check. According to
the DOJ, it would require budget authority to spend an
additional $772,000 in 2013-14, $992,000 in 2014-15, and
$323,000 in 2015-16 and annually thereafter, from the FFA, to
process the additional background checks. The FFA funds would be
primarily upfront costs to hire additional temporary staff to
process an influx of fingerprints from the thousands of current
private school employees who would have to be fingerprinted
quickly. The DOJ believes that fees collected would fully
reimburse the FFA.