S-474 : Still Just a Bill

Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act

Requires states that receive funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to:

• require criminal background checks for each school employee that include searches of the criminal registry or repository of the state in which the employee resides, the child abuse and neglect registries and databases of that state, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Sex Offender Registry;
• prohibit the employment of an individual who refuses to consent to, or who makes a false statement in connection with, a background check or who has been convicted of one of specified felonies or of a violent or sexual crime against a minor;
• require background checks to be periodically repeated or updated in accordance with state law or the policies of the state's local educational agencies (LEAs);
• provide school employees who have had a background check with a copy of the background check if they request one and a timely process to appeal the results of the background check if it blocks their service as a school employee;
• ensure that such policies and procedures are published on state and LEA websites; and
• allow an LEA to share the results of a recent background check on a school employee with another LEA that is considering that individual for employment.

Prohibits states and LEAs from knowingly transferring or facilitating the transfer of any school employee if they know, or have substantive reason to believe, that such employee engaged in sexual misconduct with an elementary or secondary school student.

Allows: (1) the Attorney General and state law enforcement officials to charge reasonable fees for conducting the background checks, and (2) states and LEAs to use ESEA administrative funds to pay such fees.