Amended in Senate April 30, 2013

Amended in Senate April 25, 2013

Amended in Senate April 8, 2013

Senate Bill No. 160

Introduced by Senators Lara and De León

(Coauthor: Senator Correa)

February 1, 2013

An act to amend Section 44010 of, and to add Section 45304.5 to, the Education Code, relating to classified school employees.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 160, as amended, Lara. Classified school employees: misconduct against a child: statewide tracking.

Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to place a classified employee on a compulsory leave of absence in specified circumstances, including, among other circumstances, if the employee is charged by complaint, information, or indictment filed in a court of competent jurisdiction with the commission of a sex offense, as defined.

This bill would require a school district or charter school to notify the State Department of Education when a classified employee of the school district or charter school is dismissed, begin delete resigns, end delete is suspended, begin delete retires, end delete or is terminated from employment as a result of misconduct against a child, as specified, begin insert and to notify, in writing, the classified employee who is the subject of the notification, as specified, end insert thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department, upon request by a school district or charter school, to provide that information only for purposes of verifying previous employment of a classified employee, as specified. The bill would require the information to be kept confidential and would require the department to remove begin delete from its records a classified employee’s information who is subsequently acquitted or found to be wrongfully accused of end delete begin insert that information if a person submits a certified copy of a court order of an acquittal or statement of factual innocence pertaining to end insert the alleged misconduct against a child. The bill would make begin delete a end delete conforming begin delete change end delete and nonsubstantive changes.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 44010 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

44010.  

“Sex offense,” as used in Sections 44020, 44237, 44346,
44425, 44436, 44836, 45123, and 45304.5, means any of the
offenses listed below:

(a) An offense defined in Section 220, 261, 261.5, 262, 264.1,
266, 266j, 267, 285, 286, 288, 288a, 288.5, 289, 311.1, 311.2,
311.3, 311.4, 311.10, 311.11, 313.1, 647b, 647.6, or former Section
647a, subdivision (a), (b), (c), or (d) of Section 243.4, or
subdivision (a) or (d) of Section 647 of the Penal Code.

(b) An offense defined in former subdivision (5) of former
Section 647 of the Penal Code repealed by Chapter 560 of the
Statutes of 1961, or an offense defined in former subdivision (2)
of former Section 311 of the Penal Code repealed by Chapter 2147
of the Statutes of 1961, if the offense defined in those sections was
committed before September 15, 1961, to the same extent that an
offense committed before that date was a sex offense for the
purposes of this section before September 15, 1961.

(c) An offense defined in Section 314 of the Penal Code
committed on or after September 15, 1961.

(d) An offense defined in former subdivision (1) of former
Section 311 of the Penal Code repealed by Chapter 2147 of the
Statutes of 1961 committed on or after September 7, 1955, and
before September 15, 1961.

(e) An offense involving lewd and lascivious conduct under
Section 272 of the Penal Code committed on or after September
15, 1961.

(f) An offense involving lewd and lascivious conduct under
former Section 702 of the Welfare and Institutions Code repealed
by Chapter 1616 of the Statutes of 1961, if that offense was
committed before September 15, 1961, to the same extent that an
offense committed before that date was a sex offense for the
purposes of this section before September 15, 1961.

(g) An offense defined in Section 286 or 288a of the Penal Code
before the effective date of the amendment of either section enacted
at the 1975-76 Regular Session of the Legislature committed
before the effective date of the amendment.

(h) An attempt to commit any of the offenses specified in this
section.

(i) An offense committed or attempted in another 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
offenses specified in this section.

(j) A conviction for an offense resulting in the requirement to
register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 of the Penal
Code.

(k) Commitment as a mentally disordered sex offender under
former Article 1 (commencing with Section 6300) of Chapter 2
of Part 2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as repealed by
Chapter 928 of the Statutes of 1981.

SEC. 2.  

Section 45304.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

45304.5.  

(a) A school district or charter school, within 30 days
of one of the following begin insert final end insert actions, shall notify the department
when a classified employee of the school district or charter school
is dismissed, begin delete resigns, end delete is suspended, begin delete retires, end delete or is terminated from
employment as a result of misconduct against a begin delete child end delete begin insert child. The
school district or charter school shall inform, in writing, a
classified employee who is the subject of a notification pursuant
to this section within 15 days of the notification. The notification
required by this section shall be in a format prescribed by the
department end insert .

(b) (1) The department shall keep the information provided
pursuant to subdivision (a) and, upon request by a school district
or charter school, provide that information only for purposes of
verifying previous employment for a classified employee being
considered for employment by the requesting school district or
charter school. The department shall remove begin delete from its records a
classified employee’s information who is subsequently acquitted
or found to be wrongfully accused of end delete begin insert any information kept pursuant
to this section if a person submits a certified copy of a court order
of an acquittal or statement of factual innocence pertaining to the end insert
alleged misconduct against a child that led to his or her dismissal,
begin delete resignation, end delete suspension, begin delete retirement, end delete or termination of employment.

(2) Information collected and requested pursuant to this section
shall be kept confidential and shall not be made available to the
public. The department shall ensure that information collected
pursuant to this section shall only be used for the purposes
described in this subdivision.

(c) For purposes of this section, “misconduct against a child”
means any of the following:

(1) A sex offense, as specified in Section 44010.

(2) Aiding or abetting the unlawful sale to, use by, or exchange
to, minors of a controlled substance included in Schedule I, II, or
III, as listed in Section 11054, 11055, or 11056 of the Health and
Safety Code, respectively.

(3) An offense specified in Sections 11165.2 to 11165.6,
inclusive, of the Penal Code.

SEC. 3.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.