Relates to conditional appointment of school district, charter school or BOCES employees, in relation to extending the effectiveness thereof

BILL NUMBER:S7817A

Title of bill

An act to amend chapter 147 of the laws of 2001 amending the education law relating to conditional appointment of school district, charter school or BOCES employees, in relation to extending the effectiveness thereof

Purpose

This legislation would extend existing law that enables school districts to provide an employee with 45 days of conditional clearance to begin work while background checks are being completed.

Summary of provisions

This bill would amend section 12 of chapter 147 of the laws of 200 I as last amended by chapter 179 of the laws of 2009 to extend the effective date until July 1, 2012.

Justification

Conditional clearance for employees is sometimes necessary because of delays in background checks conducted by the state education department (SED) through the Division of criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This section of law was revised last year to cap the length of a conditional clearance at 45 days, with a possibility of an extension for good cause. At that time, the law was extended for only a single year, to allow evaluation of the efficacy of the 45 day cap in discouraging delays due to negligence or forgetfulness. The 45 day cap does appear to have brought improvements to the system, and this bill would extend the law for an additional two years.

Legislative history

This is a new bill; however this provision has previously been extended in: 2009: Chapter 179; 2007: Chapter 90; 2005: Chapter 127 2003: Chapter 100. This provision originally became law in 2001 as Chapter 147.

Fiscal implications

This Bill is not expected to have any cost to the state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.