I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2083 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 

criminal background checks for school employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2013 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 

RANGEL, Ms. SLAUGHTER, and Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to require criminal 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 Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary 

8 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 9537. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

2 ‘‘(a) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—Each State edu3 cational agency that receives funds under this Act shall 

4 have in effect policies and procedures that— 

5 ‘‘(1) require that criminal background checks 

6 be conducted for each school employee that in7 clude— 

8 ‘‘(A) a search of the State criminal reg9 istry or repository in the State in which the 

10 school employee resides and each State in which 

11 the school employee previously resided; 

12 ‘‘(B) a search of State-based child abuse 

13 and neglect registries and databases in the 

14 State in which the school employee resides and 

15 each State in which the school employee pre16 viously resided; 

17 ‘‘(C) a Federal Bureau of Investigation 

18 fingerprint check using the Integrated Auto19 mated Fingerprint Identification System; and 

20 ‘‘(D) a search of the National Sex Of21 fender Registry established under section 19 of 

22 the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety 

23 Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16919); 

24 ‘‘(2) prohibit the employment of an individual 

25 as a school employee if such individual— 


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1 ‘‘(A) refuses to consent to a criminal back2 ground check under paragraph (1); 

3 ‘‘(B) makes a false statement in connec4 tion with such criminal background check; 

5 ‘‘(C) has been convicted of a felony con6 sisting of— 

7 ‘‘(i) homicide; 

8 ‘‘(ii) child abuse or neglect; 

9 ‘‘(iii) a crime against children, includ10 ing child pornography; 

11 ‘‘(iv) spousal abuse; 

12 ‘‘(v) a crime involving rape or sexual 

13 assault; 

14 ‘‘(vi) kidnapping; 

15 ‘‘(vii) arson; or 

16 ‘‘(viii) physical assault, battery, or a 

17 drug-related offense, committed within 5 

18 years of the completion of such individual’s 

19 criminal background check under para20 graph (1); or 

21 ‘‘(D) has been convicted of any other crime 

22 that is a violent or sexual crime against a 

23 minor; 

24 ‘‘(3) require that a local educational agency or 

25 State educational agency that receives information 


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1 from a criminal background check conducted para2 graph (1) that an individual who has applied for em3 ployment as a school employee with such agency is 

4 a sexual predator, report to local law enforcement 

5 that such individual has so applied; 

6 ‘‘(4) require that criminal background checks 

7 conducted under paragraph (1) be periodically re8 peated or updated in accordance with State law or 

9 local educational policy, but not less than once every 

10 5 years; 

11 ‘‘(5) require that each school employee who has 

12 had a criminal background check under paragraph 

13 (1) be provided with a copy of the background 

14 check; and 

15 ‘‘(6) provide for a timely process by which a 

16 school employee may appeal, but which does not per17 mit the school employee to be employed as a school 

18 employee during such appeal, the results of a crimi19 nal background check conducted under paragraph 

20 (1) to— 

21 ‘‘(A) challenge the accuracy or complete22 ness of the information produced by such back23 ground check; and 

24 ‘‘(B) seek appropriate relief for any final 

25 employment decision based on materially inacVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:37 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2083.IH H2083

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1 curate or incomplete information produced by 

2 such background check. 

3 ‘‘(b) INVENTORY AUTHORIZED.—A State educational 

4 agency may maintain an inventory of all the information 

5 from criminal background checks conducted under sub6 section (a)(1) on school employees in the State. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) SCHOOL EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘school 

9 employee’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) an employee of, or a person seeking 

11 employment with, a local educational agency or 

12 State educational agency, and who has a job 

13 duty that results in access to students; or 

14 ‘‘(B) an employee of, or a person seeking 

15 employment with, a for-profit or nonprofit enti16 ty, or local public agency, that has a contract 

17 or agreement to provide services with a school, 

18 local educational agency, or State educational 

19 agency, and whose job duty— 

20 ‘‘(i) is to provide such services; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) results in access to students. 

22 ‘‘(2) SEXUAL PREDATOR.—The term ‘sexual 

23 predator’ means a person 18 years of age or older 

24 who has been convicted of, or pled guilty to, a sexual 

25 offense against a minor.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

2 Section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 is amended by adding after the item 

4 relating to section 9536 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 9537. Background checks.’’. 

Æ 


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