Existing law prohibits a permanent school employee from being dismissed, except for one or more of certain enumerated causes, including egregious misconduct, as defined. Existing law requires the superintendent of a school district or county office of education, or the administrator of a charter school, employing a person with a credential, to report any change in the employment status of the credentialholder to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing not later than 30 days after the change in employment status, if the credentialholder, while working in a position requiring a credential, and as a result of an allegation of misconduct or while an allegation of misconduct is pending, is dismissed, is nonreelected, resigns, is suspended or placed on unpaid administrative leave for more than 10 days as a final adverse action, retires, or is otherwise terminated by a decision not to employ or reemploy.

Existing law prohibits school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools from entering into an agreement that would prevent a mandatory report of egregious misconduct, as defined, or expunging from an employee’s personnel file, or entering in an agreement that would authorize expunging from an employee’s personnel file, credible complaints of, substantiated investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct. Existing law requires a school district, county office of education, or charter school that has made a report of an employee’s egregious misconduct to the commission to disclose this fact to a school district, county office of education, or charter school considering an application for employment from the employee, upon inquiry.

This bill would add state special schools to the above-described prohibitions regarding preventing mandatory reporting of, or expunging from an employee’s personnel file information on, egregious misconduct, and to the above-described requirement regarding disclosure of a report of an employee’s egregious misconduct. The bill would require 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, and would require 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. The bill would require 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. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agency officials, 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.