II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1586 

To require all public school employees and those employed in connection 

with a public school to receive FBI background checks prior to being 

hired, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2009 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require all public school employees and those employed 

in connection with a public school to receive FBI background checks prior to being hired, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Safety for Our School5 children Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EM2 PLOYEES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 

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

6 ‘‘PART D—BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR PUBLIC 

7 SCHOOL EMPLOYEES 

8 ‘‘SEC. 4401. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘(a) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘crime of vio10 lence’ has the meaning given the term in section 924(c)(3) 

11 of title 18, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(b) DRUNK DRIVING.—The term ‘drunk driving’ 

13 means driving while intoxicated or driving under the influ14 ence of alcohol. 

15 ‘‘(c) FBI BACKGROUND CHECK.—The term ‘FBI 

16 background check’ means a criminal history background 

17 check as described in section 231 of the Crime Control 

18 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13041). 

19 ‘‘(d) SCHOOL EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘school em20 ployee’ means— 

21 ‘‘(1) an employee of a local educational agency 

22 or State educational agency who works in a public 

23 school or has a job duty that results in exposure to 

24 students, including administrators, teachers, sub25 stitute teachers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and 

26 school bus drivers; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) an employee of a company, or a subsidiary 

2 of a company, that has a contract with a local edu3 cational agency or State educational agency who 

4 works in a public school or has a job duty that re5 sults in exposure to students. 

6 ‘‘(e) SERIOUS MOVING VIOLATION.—The term ‘seri7 ous moving violation’ means a felonious driving violation, 

8 as determined by State law. 

9 ‘‘(f) SEXUAL PREDATOR.—The term ‘sexual pred10 ator’ means an individual 18 years of age or older who 

11 has been convicted of, or pled guilty to, a sexual offense 

12 against a minor. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 4402. BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL 

14 EMPLOYEES. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency or 

16 State educational agency that receives Federal funds shall 

17 obtain an FBI background check on an individual prior 

18 to making an offer of employment as a school employee 

19 with such agency to such individual. 

20 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION AGAINST EMPLOYMENT OF FEL21 ONS OR VIOLENT CRIMINALS.—A local educational agency 

22 or State educational agency that receives Federal funds 

23 may not make an offer of employment to an individual 

24 for a position as a school employee with such agency if 


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1 such individual has been convicted of a crime of violence 

2 or other felony. 

3 ‘‘(c) REPORTING SEXUAL PREDATORS.—A local edu4 cational agency or State educational agency that receives 

5 information from an FBI background check that an indi6 vidual who has applied for employment with such agency 

7 as a school employee is a sexual predator shall report to 

8 local law enforcement that such individual has so applied. 

9 ‘‘(d) TRANSPORTATION.—A local educational agency 

10 or State educational agency that receives Federal funds 

11 may not make an offer of employment to an individual 

12 for a position as a school bus driver if such individual has 

13 been convicted of, or pled guilty to, drunk driving or a 

14 serious moving violation. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 4403. LOSS OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR FAILURE TO 

16 COMPLY. 

17 ‘‘(a) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State educational 

19 agency fails to take an action required under this 

20 part or takes an action prohibited under this part 

21 for— 

22 ‘‘(A) 6 months or less, the Secretary shall 

23 withhold from such agency 50 percent of the 

24 amount of funds such agency has allocated for 


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1 planning and administrative use under section 

2 2113(d); and 

3 ‘‘(B) longer than 6 months but not longer 

4 than 12 months, the Secretary shall withhold 

5 from such agency 100 percent of the amount of 

6 funds such agency has allocated for planning 

7 and administrative use under section 2113(d). 

8 ‘‘(2) LOSS OF TITLE II ADMINISTRATIVE

9 FUNDS.—If a State educational agency fails to take 

10 an action required under this part or takes an action 

11 prohibited under this part for longer than 12 

12 months, the Secretary shall withhold from such 

13 agency the amount of funds such agency has allo14 cated for planning and administrative use under title 

15 II. 

16 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION AGAINST REALLOCATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State educational 

18 agency that fails to take an action under this 

19 part or takes an action prohibited under this 

20 part as described in paragraph (1) or (2) may 

21 not reallocate Federal funds provided for teach22 er development under title II for planning and 

23 administrative use by the agency. 

24 ‘‘(B) PENALTY.—The Secretary shall with25 hold all Federal funds under title II to a State 


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1 educational agency if such agency reallocates 

2 funds as prohibited under subparagraph (A) 

3 until such agency restores the funds for teacher 

4 development. 

5 ‘‘(b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—If a local 

6 educational agency fails to take an action required under 

7 this part or takes an action prohibited under this part, 

8 the local educational agency shall not be eligible to receive 

9 a subgrant or any additional funds under section 2121.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The table of con11 tents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu12 cation Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item 

13 relating to section 4304 the following: 

‘‘PART D—BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES

‘‘Sec. 4401. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 4402. Background checks for public school employees. 

‘‘Sec. 4403. Loss of Federal funds for failure to comply.’’. 

Æ 


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