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Committee approves change to local waiver process for classified employee background checks
Summary
Senate Bill 228 would let local school boards keep a previously granted classified-employee background-check waiver in effect for as long as the employee remains continuously employed and does not receive a new disqualifying conviction.
Senator Kim Hammer presented SB 228, asking the committee to allow school districts to retain a previously granted local waiver of a disqualifying conviction for classified (nonlicensed) employees so long as the employee does not have a break in employment with the district and does not incur an additional disqualifying conviction.
Hammer said the change was requested by a school district that routinely had to reconvene to reconsider the same employee every five years. He described the bill as "common sense" and said it would spare districts and long-term employees repeated review of long-ago conduct when performance has otherwise been satisfactory.
Senator Sullivan and others raised hypothetical questions about what would happen if the statutory periodicity or qualifications for waivers changed after a waiver was granted. Courtney Salasford, chief of staff for the Department of Education, clarified that the bill pertains to locally granted classified-employee offense waivers (not the state licensure waivers granted by the State Board), and explained that a law change could not be retroactively applied to invalidate a local waiver; a school board retains discretion to revoke or condition a waiver.
After discussion and clarifications, the committee approved the bill on a voice vote; the transcript records an "Aye."
