I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4666 

To require State educational agencies that receive funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to have in effect policies 

and procedures on background checks for school employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2016 

Mrs. BLACKBURN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To require State educational agencies that receive funding 

under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965 to have in effect policies and procedures on background checks for school employees. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Students 

5 from Sexual and Violent Predators Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

7 (a) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—Not later than 2 years 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, each State eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Mar 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4666.IH H4666

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1 cational agency, or local educational agency in the case 

2 of a local educational agency designated under State law, 

3 that receives funds under the Elementary and Secondary 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) shall have 

5 in effect policies and procedures that— 

6 (1) require that a criminal background check be 

7 conducted for each school employee that includes— 

8 (A) a search of the State criminal registry 

9 or repository of the State in which the school 

10 employee resides; 

11 (B) a search of State-based child abuse 

12 and neglect registries and databases of the 

13 State in which the school employee resides; 

14 (C) a Federal Bureau of Investigation fin15 gerprint check using the Integrated Automated 

16 Fingerprint Identification System; and 

17 (D) a search of the National Sex Offender 

18 Registry established under section 119 of the 

19 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 

20 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16919); 

21 (2) prohibit the employment of a school em22 ployee as a school employee if such employee— 

23 (A) refuses to consent to a criminal back24 ground check under paragraph (1); 


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1 (B) makes a false statement in connection 

2 with such criminal background check; 

3 (C) has been convicted of a felony con4 sisting of— 

5 (i) murder; 

6 (ii) child abuse or neglect; 

7 (iii) a crime against children, includ8 ing child pornography; 

9 (iv) spousal abuse; 

10 (v) a crime involving rape or sexual 

11 assault; 

12 (vi) kidnapping; 

13 (vii) arson; or 

14 (viii) physical assault, battery, or a 

15 drug-related offense, committed on or after 

16 the date that is 5 years before the date of 

17 such employee’s criminal background check 

18 under paragraph (1); or 

19 (D) has been convicted of any other crime 

20 that is a violent or sexual crime against a 

21 minor; 

22 (3) require that each criminal background 

23 check conducted under paragraph (1) be periodically 

24 repeated or updated in accordance with State law or 


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1 the policies of local educational agencies served by 

2 the State educational agency; 

3 (4) upon request, provide each school employee 

4 who has had a criminal background check under 

5 paragraph (1) with a copy of the results of the 

6 criminal background check; 

7 (5) provide for a timely process, by which a 

8 school employee may appeal, but which does not per9 mit the employee to be employed as a school em10 ployee during such appeal, the results of a criminal 

11 background check conducted under paragraph (1) 

12 which prohibit the employee from being employed as 

13 a school employee under paragraph (2) to— 

14 (A) challenge the accuracy or completeness 

15 of the information produced by such criminal 

16 background check; and 

17 (B) establish or reestablish eligibility to be 

18 hired or reinstated as a school employee by 

19 demonstrating that the information is materi20 ally inaccurate or incomplete, and has been cor21 rected; 

22 (6) ensure that such policies and procedures are 

23 published on the website of the State educational 

24 agency and the website of each local educational 

25 agency served by the State educational agency; and 


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1 (7) allow a local educational agency to share 

2 the results of a school employee’s criminal back3 ground check recently conducted under paragraph 

4 (1) with another local educational agency that is 

5 considering such school employee for employment as 

6 a school employee. 

7 (b) FEES FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

8 (1) CHARGING OF FEES.—The Attorney Gen9 eral, attorney general of a State, or other State law 

10 enforcement official may charge reasonable fees for 

11 conducting a criminal background check under sub12 section (a)(1), but such fees shall not exceed the ac13 tual costs for the processing and administration of 

14 the criminal background check. 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—A local edu16 cational agency or State educational agency may use 

17 administrative funds received under the Elementary 

18 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 6301 et seq.) to pay any reasonable fees charged for 

20 conducting such criminal background check. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

23 school’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘local educational agen24 cy’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have 

25 the meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the 


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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (2) SCHOOL EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘school em4 ployee’’ means— 

5 (A) a person who— 

6 (i) is an employee of, or is seeking 

7 employment with, a local educational agen8 cy, or State educational agency, that re9 ceives Federal funds under the Elementary 

10 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); and 

12 (ii) as a result of such employment, 

13 has (or will have) a job duty that results 

14 in unsupervised access to elementary 

15 school or secondary school students; or 

16 (B)(i) any person, or an employee of any 

17 person, who has a contract or agreement to 

18 provide services with an elementary school, sec19 ondary school, local educational agency, or 

20 State educational agency, that receives Federal 

21 funds under the Elementary and Secondary 

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

23 seq.); and 

24 (ii) such person or employee, as a result of 

25 such contract or agreement, has a job duty that 


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1 results in unsupervised access to elementary 

2 school or secondary school students. 

Æ 


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