Bill > SF517

Introduced Session

This bill relates to child abuse and employees and agents of public schools and nonpublic schools. Under current law, the definition of “child abuse” in Code section 232.68 is used for reporting child abuse to the department of health and human services (HHS), for performing assessments of child abuse reports, and for making determinations as to whether a person committed child abuse. With one exception, the acts or omissions which meet the definition of “child abuse” only qualify as child abuse when a person responsible for the care of a child commits the act or omission. Under current law, the definition of “a person responsible for the care of a child” does not include an employee or agent of a public school or nonpublic school. The bill defines “public school” and “nonpublic school” for purposes of child abuse reporting, and adds employees and agents of a public school or nonpublic school to the definition of “a person responsible for the care of a child”. The bill requires HHS to report the results of a child abuse assessment to the board of educational examiners (BOEE) if the alleged perpetrator is an employee or agent (employee) of any public school or nonpublic school (school); the alleged perpetrator holds a license, certificate, authorization, or statement of recognition issued by the BOEE; and HHS issues a finding that the alleged child abuse meets the definition of child abuse. The bill contains similar language for required notice to the board of directors of a public school district (board) or the authorities in charge of a nonpublic school (authorities) if the alleged perpetrator is an employee of a school under the authority of the board or of the authorities. The bill requires HHS to adopt rules, in consultation with the department of education, to develop minimum procedures the boards and authorities must adopt for the handling of reports of child abuse alleged to have been committed by an employee of a school. Such rules must include but not be limited to requiring schools to report all child abuse alleged to have been committed by an employee of a school to HHS; and requiring schools to also report to law enforcement child abuse alleged to have been committed by an employee of the school if the alleged child abuse, if true, would constitute a criminal act harming a child. The bill allows the BOEE to access child abuse disposition data if the data concerns a person that holds a license, certification, authorization, or statement of recognition issued by the BOEE. The bill also allows boards and authorities the ability to access child abuse disposition data if the data concerns a person employed or being considered for employment by the board or authorities. The bill requires the BOEE to deny or revoke the license, certification, authorization, or statement of recognition of a person who is in the central registry for child abuse information as having committed founded child abuse, or was found to have committed an act that would constitute child abuse in another state or foreign jurisdiction. The bill requires each board and authorities to prescribe procedures, in accordance with rules adopted by HHS, for the handling of reports of child abuse alleged to have been committed by an employee of the school. The bill requires each board and authorities to place an employee on administrative leave if the employee is the subject of an ongoing child abuse assessment. The employee shall also be prohibited from entering school property while the employee is subject to an ongoing child abuse assessment. The bill requires a board or authorities to terminate the employment of an employee if the board or authorities receive notice that HHS has determined the employee has committed founded child abuse, or found to have committed an act that would constitute child abuse in another jurisdiction.

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Referred to Education. S.J. 1057. (on 06/16/2025)

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