Noncertificated employees: applicants: previous employment: California School Information Services.

Existing law requires a person applying for a certificated position at a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school to provide that prospective employer with a complete list of every school district, county office of education, charter school, and state special school that the applicant has previously been an employee of.

This bill would require a person applying for a noncertificated position at a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school to provide that same information as well as every private school that the applicant has previously been an employee of.

Existing law requires school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools considering an applicant for a certificated position to inquire with each of those local educational agencies that previously employed the applicant as to whether the applicant, while previously employed by the local educational agency, was the subject of any credible complaints of, substantiated investigations into, or discipline for egregious misconduct that were required to be reported to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Existing law defines egregious misconduct for this purpose to include certain forms of abuse and specified sex and controlled substance offenses. Existing law requires those local educational agencies, when responding to an inquiry as to whether it has made a report of egregious misconduct to the commission, to also provide the inquiring local educational agency with a copy of all relevant information that was reported to the commission within its possession.

Existing law establishes the California School Information Services, administered by the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team. Existing law declares the mission of the California School Information Services is to, among other things, build the capacity of local educational agencies to implement and maintain comparable, effective, and efficient pupil information systems that will promote the use of information for educational decisionmaking by schoolsite, district office, and county staff.

This bill would require the California School Information Services, on or before July 1, 2027, to develop a statewide data system that includes information relating to investigations of allegations of egregious misconduct of individuals serving in a noncertificated position for a local educational agency, as defined. The bill would require local educational agency employers, following both the start of, and completion of, an investigation of egregious misconduct, to submit notice to the statewide data system, as provided. The bill would require substantiated reports of egregious misconduct and employee departures from employment during investigations to be recorded in the statewide data system, and would prohibit the recording in the statewide data system of investigations of egregious misconduct that result in an unfounded or inconclusive report, as provided. The bill would require those local educational agencies that are responsible for employment, employee investigations, or hiring decisions to review the statewide data system to determine whether an investigation resulted in a substantiated report of egregious misconduct before hiring an individual for a noncertificated position. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.