South Carolina General Assembly
123rd Session, 2019-2020

Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

H. 3151

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Murphy and Felder
Document Path: l:\council\bills\agm\19397wab19.docx

Introduced in the House on January 8, 2019
Currently residing in the House Committee on Education and Public Works

Summary: Public school employees, background checks

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  12/18/2018  House   Prefiled
  12/18/2018  House   Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works
    1/8/2019  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 107)
    1/8/2019  House   Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works 
                        (House Journal-page 107)
   1/17/2019  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Felder

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/18/2018

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 59-19-117, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO BACKGROUND CHECKS ON PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES, SO AS TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SCREEN ALL PROSPECTIVE AND CURRENT EMPLOYEES THOUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES CENTRAL REGISTRY OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT, TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO WORK WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE RELEVANT TRAINING TO APPROPRIATE DISTRICT PERSONNEL, AND TO PROVIDE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS SHALL ADOPT CERTAIN RELATED POLICES BEFORE AUGUST 1, 2020.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 59-19-117 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding a subsection at the end to read:

"( )(1)    A school district shall screen prospective employees and current employees who seek to renew an annual contract of employment with the district to determine if the prospective or current employee is the subject of an indicated report or affirmative determination of abuse or neglect as maintained by the Department of Social Services in the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect pursuant to Subarticle 13, Article 3, Chapter 7, Title 63.

(2)    Within ninety days after the effective date of this subsection, the Department of Social Services, working with the Department of Education, shall provide training to appropriate district personnel on the appropriate uses of the registry.

(3)    Before August 1, 2020, the district board of trustees shall adopt a written policy that specifies the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect check as well as how information received from the search impacts hiring, employment, or renewal decisions. The policy must include, at a minimum, a prohibition of hiring, maintaining the employment of, or renewing the employment of individuals who are the subject of an affirmative determination of abuse or neglect in the registry."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----


This web page was last updated on February 1, 2019 at 4:34 PM