School employment: Sexual Abuse-Free Education (SAFE) Act.

(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law prohibits a person who has been convicted of a violent or serious felony from being hired by a school district in a position requiring certification qualifications or supervising positions requiring certification qualifications. Existing law also prohibits a school district from employing or retaining in employment a person who has been convicted, or who has been convicted following a plea of nolo contendere, of any sex offense, as defined. This bill, the Sexual Abuse-Free Education (SAFE) Act, would prohibit a school entity, defined as a school district, county office of education, charter school, or private or parochial school, from knowingly hiring a person as a certificated employee in a position involving direct contact with children, if the person was determined by a current or former employer, as the result of an investigation, to be responsible for an act of child abuse or sexual misconduct with a pupil, unless the allegations of child abuse or sexual misconduct with a pupil were subsequently determined to be false. The bill would require, when a school entity makes an offer of employment to an applicant for a certificated position involving direct contact with children, and before the applicant may accept the offer, the school entity to contact the superintendent of a school district, or his or her designee, or the equivalent chief executive officer of a charter school or private school, for each of the school entities by which the applicant has been employed, and obtain specified information about the applicant in writing. The bill would provide that school entities and school entity officials would not be subject to civil or criminal liability for the disclosure of information pursuant to these provisions unless the information was disclosed with the knowledge that it was false. The bill, pursuant to specified statutes, would authorize the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to discipline, or take an adverse action against, a certificated school administrator who willfully fails to disclose the information required pursuant to these provisions. The bill would also require, when a school entity makes an offer of employment to an applicant for a certificated position involving direct contact with children, and before the applicant may accept the offer, the school entity to require the applicant to provide a declaration in writing that he or she has not been determined by a current or former employer, as the result of a voluntary resignation or investigation, to be responsible for an act of child abuse or sexual misconduct with a pupil. The bill would prohibit a collective bargaining agreement, termination agreement, severance agreement, or other contract entered into after January 1, 2019, from preventing the disclosure of any information related to child abuse or sexual misconduct with a child, affecting the ability of the school entity to report child abuse or sexual misconduct with a child, or requiring the school entity to expunge information relating to child abuse or sexual misconduct with a child from any document, unless the allegations of child abuse or sexual misconduct with a child are determined to be false. Because the bill would require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to comply with additional requirements before hiring new employees, and to disclose information about former employees who are applicants for certificated positions at other school entities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 the statutory provisions noted above.