Utah Legislature: Law could require background checks for school employees, volunteers

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would require criminal background checks for school employees and volunteers sailed unanimously through the House on Friday and is headed for potential debate in the Senate.

"We're talking about protecting schoolchildren here," said State Superintendent Larry Shumway.

HB81, sponsored by Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, is meant to bring Utah code into alignment with rules adopted by the State Board of Education last year, with one main difference being the requirement for a background check of school volunteers.

If the bill passes, districts will have the option of making employees — from teachers to custodians — pay for the cost of the criminal background check. The fee could range from $20 to $40 for non-certificated employees and up to $70 for licensed employees such as teachers.

Volunteers would have to pay up to $40 if they are "given significant unsupervised access to a student."

School districts currently pay for background checks on non-certificated employees.

"With the passage of this bill, all employees would be paying their own fee," Allen said. "I think that's fair."

She added that Davis School District would save up to $300,000 by having non-certificated employees pay their own fee.

The bill also would give the State Office of Education the authority to require an educator to submit to a criminal background check "where reasonable cause exists."

Background checks are required of teachers when they get re-licensed every five years. The bill would allow for checks in the interim "should there be some incident that occurs that leads us to have reasonable cause," Shumway said.

The legislation would affect district schools, charter schools and private schools. It is supported by education leaders, including the Utah School Boards and Superintendents Associations.

The board's action came after legislative auditors in 2009 deemed the current system for finding the criminal histories of public school employees as "flawed and ineffective."

A sample of approximately 1,200 individuals at 32 schools in Salt Lake, Jordan, Granite and Davis districts identified 17, or 1.4 percent, employees with "concerning criminal convictions" such as felony sex assault, indecent exposure, aggravated assault, theft and drugs, according to auditors.

To view the audit, go to le.utah.gov/audit/ad_2009dl.htm.

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