Kansas districts would require teacher applicants to authorize file sharing

A hiring district would require some teacher applicants to sign a waiver and request their files from other districts. This covers Kansas school districts processing applications for teaching jobs and applicants who are or have been teachers in another district. The rule covers applicants who are or have been teachers in another Kansas school district. Applicants who refuse the waiver cannot be considered. The waiver authorizes disclosure by a district that employed the applicant, received the applicant’s teaching application, or investigated the applicant. It also releases the hiring district from liability for authorized use and disclosure. A district generally would have to provide the files within 21 days after receiving a request with the signed waiver. It may remove other people’s identifying information. A district cannot disclose files barred by a binding nondisclosure agreement made before July 1, 2025. For an agreement made on or after that date, it must disclose only files needed to assess the applicant’s qualifications and fitness as a teacher. A district receiving a request with the signed waiver would have 21 days to provide the files, subject to the nondisclosure agreement exceptions.

A hiring district would generally keep obtained files private, while the district that made or kept them would handle public records requests. These rules apply to files obtained by a hiring district under the proposed section. A hiring district generally could use the files only for its internal hiring process and could not disclose them otherwise. Public records requests would go to the district that made, maintained, or kept the files. The files generally could not be obtained through legal demands directed to the hiring district, except in a civil case involving negligent hiring. A district would be protected from civil suits about disclosure or nondisclosure if it acted in good faith under the section or took part in an official oral interview about the applicant.