Relating to student abuse by school employees

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 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 board of educational examiners; and HHS issues a finding that the alleged child abuse meets the definition of child abuse. The bill requires HHS to adopt rules, in consultation with the department of education, to develop minimum procedures each board of directors of a school district (board) and each authority in charge of a nonpublic school (authority) 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 requires each board and authority 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 authority 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.