New York A 3695: Relates to fingerprinting and background checks of contracted service providers of student support services

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3695
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, BENEDETTO, WEPRIN, THIELE, STIRPE,
GALEF, FAHY, WOERNER, GRIFFIN, RA, MONTESANO, McDONOUGH, MORINELLO --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BARCLAY, BLANKENBUSH, FITZPATRICK,
LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to background checks and
fingerprinting; and to amend the social services law, in relation to
statewide central registry clearances by contracted service providers
of student support services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 1125 of the education law, as
2 amended by chapter 363 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 3. "Employee" shall mean any person: (i) who is receiving compensation
5 from a school or (ii) whose duties involve direct student contact and
6 (a) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that
7 contracts with a school to provide transportation services to children,
8 or (b) who is an employee of a contracted service provider or worker
9 placed within the school under a public assistance employment program,
10 pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, or
11 (c) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that
12 andcontracts with a school to provide student support services,
13 consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of
14 services to such school, its students or employees, directly or through
15 contract.
16 § 2. Paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education
17 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (v) to read as follows:
18 (v) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, the
19 board of trustees of a charter school shall not be required to oversee
20 the fingerprinting process for employees of a contracted service provid-
21 er of student support services such as, but not limited to, substitute
EXPLANATION--Matter in (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00878-01-1

A. 3695 2
1 teachers, substitute teacher aides, substitute nurses, educational
2 consultants, tutors, substitute school administrative support and other
3 temporary student services professionals, so long as they have engaged a
4 contracted service provider of student support services who has complied
5 with the fingerprinting requirements elsewhere in this chapter.
6 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education
7 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read
8 as follows:
9 (a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal
10 justice services and in accordance with all applicable provisions of
11 law, shall promulgate rules and regulations to require the fingerprint-
12 ing of prospective employees, as defined in section eleven hundred twen-
13 ty-five of this chapter, of school districts, charter schools [ ]and ,
14 boards of cooperative educational services and contracted service
15 and authorizing the fingerprintingproviders of student support services
16 of prospective employees of nonpublic and private elementary and second-
17 ary schools, and for the use of information derived from searches of the
18 records of the division of criminal justice services and the federal
19 bureau of investigation based on the use of such fingerprints. The
20 commissioner shall also develop a form for use by school districts,
21 charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, contracted
22 and nonpublic and privateservice providers of student support services,
23 elementary and secondary schools in connection with the submission of
24 fingerprints that contains the specific job title sought and any other
25 information that may be relevant to consideration of the applicant. The
26 commissioner shall also create or expand the functionality of internet
27 based systems to provide access to contracted service providers of
28 student support services upon application of the contracted service
29 provider of student support services to the commissioner to enable them
30 to be able to review fingerprint results and subsequent arrest notifica-
31 tions based on the fingerprint and background check data by logging into
32 a protected web portal, entering in the employee name and social securi-
33 ty number, which would provide access to see the fingerprint results.
34 The commissioner shall also establish a form for the recordation of
35 allegations of child abuse in an educational setting, as required pursu-
36 ant to section eleven hundred twenty-six of this chapter. No person who
37 has been fingerprinted pursuant to section three thousand four-b of this
38 chapter or pursuant to section five hundred nine-cc or twelve hun