Bill Text: IL SB3601 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Within 10 days after a superintendent, regional office of education, or entity that provides background checks of license holders to public schools receives information of a pending criminal charge against a license holder for certain offenses, requires the superintendent, regional office of education, or entity to notify the State Superintendent of Education of the pending criminal charge. Effective July 1, 2020.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB3601 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB3601-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB3601 Introduced 2/13/2020, by Sen. Iris Y. Martinez SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/10-21.9 from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9
105 ILCS 5/34-18.5 from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5
Amends the School Code. Within 10 days after a superintendent, regional office of education, or entity that provides background checks of license holders to public schools receives information of a pending criminal charge against a license holder for certain offenses, requires the superintendent, regional office of education, or entity to notify the State Superintendent of Education of the pending criminal charge. Effective July 1, 2020.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
A BILL FOR
SB3601 LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
10-21.9 and 34-18.5 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/10-21.9) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)
Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal history records checks and checks of
the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and
Violent Offender Against Youth Database.
(a) Licensed and nonlicensed applicants for employment
with a school district, except school bus driver applicants,
are required as a condition of employment to authorize a
fingerprint-based criminal history records check to determine
if such applicants have been convicted of any disqualifying,
enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of this
Section or have been convicted, within 7 years of the
application for employment with the school district, of any
other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense
committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
this State. Authorization for the check shall be furnished by
the applicant to the school district, except that if the

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applicant is a substitute teacher seeking employment in more
than one school district, a teacher seeking concurrent
part-time employment positions with more than one school
district (as a reading specialist, special education teacher or
otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee
seeking employment positions with more than one district, any
such district may require the applicant to furnish
authorization for the check to the regional superintendent of
the educational service region in which are located the school
districts in which the applicant is seeking employment as a
substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent
educational support personnel employee. Upon receipt of this
authorization, the school district or the appropriate regional
superintendent, as the case may be, shall submit the
applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth, social security
number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as
prescribed by the Department of State Police, to the
Department. The regional superintendent submitting the
requisite information to the Department of State Police shall
promptly notify the school districts in which the applicant is
seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time
teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee
that the check of the applicant has been requested. The
Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based
criminal history records check, records of convictions,

SB3601 - 3 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
forever and hereinafter, until expunged, to the president of
the school board for the school district that requested the
check, or to the regional superintendent who requested the
check. The Department shall charge the school district or the
appropriate regional superintendent a fee for conducting such
check, which fee shall be deposited in the State Police
Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the inquiry; and
the applicant shall not be charged a fee for such check by the
school district or by the regional superintendent, except that
those applicants seeking employment as a substitute teacher
with a school district may be charged a fee not to exceed the
cost of the inquiry. Subject to appropriations for these
purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall
reimburse school districts and regional superintendents for
fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this
Section.
(a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall
further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database,
as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law,
for each applicant. The check of the Statewide Sex Offender
Database must be conducted by the school district or regional
superintendent once for every 5 years that an applicant remains
employed by the school district.
(a-6) The school district or regional superintendent shall
further perform a check of the Statewide Murderer and Violent
Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the Murderer

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and Violent Offender Against Youth Community Notification Law,
for each applicant. The check of the Murderer and Violent
Offender Against Youth Database must be conducted by the school
district or regional superintendent once for every 5 years that
an applicant remains employed by the school district.
(b) Any information concerning the record of convictions
obtained by the president of the school board or the regional
superintendent shall be confidential and may only be
transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or his
designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if the check
was requested by the school district, the presidents of the
appropriate school boards if the check was requested from the
Department of State Police by the regional superintendent, the
State Board of Education and a school district as authorized
under subsection (b-5), the State Superintendent of Education,
the State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, any other
person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for
employment, or for clarification purposes the Department of
State Police or Statewide Sex Offender Database, or both. A
copy of the record of convictions obtained from the Department
of State Police shall be provided to the applicant for
employment. Upon the check of the Statewide Sex Offender
Database or Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against
Youth Database, the school district or regional superintendent
shall notify an applicant as to whether or not the applicant
has been identified in the Database. If a check of an applicant

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for employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher
or concurrent educational support personnel employee in more
than one school district was requested by the regional
superintendent, and the Department of State Police upon a check
ascertains that the applicant has not been convicted of any of
the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of
this Section or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
application for employment with the school district, of any
other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense
committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
this State and so notifies the regional superintendent and if
the regional superintendent upon a check ascertains that the
applicant has not been identified in the Sex Offender Database
or Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth
Database, then the regional superintendent shall issue to the
applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date
specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has
not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug
offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or has not been
convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment
with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of
this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any
other state or against the laws of the United States that, if
committed or attempted in this State, would have been

SB3601 - 6 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and
evidencing that as of the date that the regional superintendent
conducted a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database or
Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth
Database, the applicant has not been identified in the
Database. The school board of any school district may rely on
the certificate issued by any regional superintendent to that
substitute teacher, concurrent part-time teacher, or
concurrent educational support personnel employee or may
initiate its own criminal history records check of the
applicant through the Department of State Police and its own
check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide
Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database as
provided in this Section. Any unauthorized release of
confidential information may be a violation of Section 7 of the
Criminal Identification Act.
(b-5) If a criminal history records check or check of the
Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide Murderer and
Violent Offender Against Youth Database is performed by a
regional superintendent for an applicant seeking employment as
a substitute teacher with a school district, the regional
superintendent may disclose to the State Board of Education
whether the applicant has been issued a certificate under
subsection (b) based on those checks. If the State Board
receives information on an applicant under this subsection,
then it must indicate in the Educator Licensure Information

SB3601 - 7 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
System for a 90-day period that the applicant has been issued
or has not been issued a certificate.
(c) No school board shall knowingly employ a person who has
been convicted of any offense that would subject him or her to
license suspension or revocation pursuant to Section 21B-80 of
this Code, except as provided under subsection (b) of Section
21B-80. Further, no school board shall knowingly employ a
person who has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or
physical abuse of any minor under 18 years of age pursuant to
proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
As a condition of employment, each school board must consider
the status of a person who has been issued an indicated finding
of abuse or neglect of a child by the Department of Children
and Family Services under the Abused and Neglected Child
Reporting Act or by a child welfare agency of another
jurisdiction.
(d) No school board shall knowingly employ a person for
whom a criminal history records check and a Statewide Sex
Offender Database check have has not been initiated.
(e) Within 10 days after a superintendent, regional office
of education, or entity that provides background checks of
license holders to public schools receives information of a
pending criminal charge against a license holder for an offense
set forth in Section 21B-80 of this Code, the superintendent,
regional office of education, or entity must notify the State
Superintendent of Education of the pending criminal charge.

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If permissible by federal or State law, no later than 15
business days after receipt of a record of conviction or of
checking the Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against
Youth Database or the Statewide Sex Offender Database and
finding a registration, the superintendent of the employing
school board or the applicable regional superintendent shall,
in writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education of any
license holder who has been convicted of a crime set forth in
Section 21B-80 of this Code. Upon receipt of the record of a
conviction of or a finding of child abuse by a holder of any
license issued pursuant to Article 21B or Section 34-8.1 or
34-83 of the School Code, the State Superintendent of Education
may initiate licensure suspension and revocation proceedings
as authorized by law. If the receipt of the record of
conviction or finding of child abuse is received within 6
months after the initial grant of or renewal of a license, the
State Superintendent of Education may rescind the license
holder's license.
(e-5) The superintendent of the employing school board
shall, in writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education
and the applicable regional superintendent of schools of any
license holder whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe
has committed an intentional act of abuse or neglect with the
result of making a child an abused child or a neglected child,
as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and Neglected Child
Reporting Act, and that act resulted in the license holder's

SB3601 - 9 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
dismissal or resignation from the school district. This
notification must be submitted within 30 days after the
dismissal or resignation. The license holder must also be
contemporaneously sent a copy of the notice by the
superintendent. All correspondence, documentation, and other
information so received by the regional superintendent of
schools, the State Superintendent of Education, the State Board
of Education, or the State Educator Preparation and Licensure
Board under this subsection (e-5) is confidential and must not
be disclosed to third parties, except (i) as necessary for the
State Superintendent of Education or his or her designee to
investigate and prosecute pursuant to Article 21B of this Code,
(ii) pursuant to a court order, (iii) for disclosure to the
license holder or his or her representative, or (iv) as
otherwise provided in this Article and provided that any such
information admitted into evidence in a hearing is exempt from
this confidentiality and non-disclosure requirement. Except
for an act of willful or wanton misconduct, any superintendent
who provides notification as required in this subsection (e-5)
shall have immunity from any liability, whether civil or
criminal or that otherwise might result by reason of such
action.
(f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section
shall apply to all employees of persons or firms holding
contracts with any school district including, but not limited
to, food service workers, school bus drivers and other

SB3601 - 10 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with
the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of
criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex
Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding
contracts with more than one school district and assigned to
more than one school district, the regional superintendent of
the educational service region in which the contracting school
districts are located may, at the request of any such school
district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for a
criminal history records check prepared by each such employee
and submitting the same to the Department of State Police and
for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database
for each employee. Any information concerning the record of
conviction and identification as a sex offender of any such
employee obtained by the regional superintendent shall be
promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school
board or school boards.
(f-5) Upon request of a school or school district, any
information obtained by a school district pursuant to
subsection (f) of this Section within the last year must be
made available to the requesting school or school district.
(g) Prior to the commencement of any student teaching
experience or required internship (which is referred to as
student teaching in this Section) in the public schools, a
student teacher is required to authorize a fingerprint-based
criminal history records check. Authorization for and payment

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of the costs of the check must be furnished by the student
teacher to the school district where the student teaching is to
be completed. Upon receipt of this authorization and payment,
the school district shall submit the student teacher's name,
sex, race, date of birth, social security number, fingerprint
images, and other identifiers, as prescribed by the Department
of State Police, to the Department of State Police. The
Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based
criminal history records check, records of convictions,
forever and hereinafter, until expunged, to the president of
the school board for the school district that requested the
check. The Department shall charge the school district a fee
for conducting the check, which fee must not exceed the cost of
the inquiry and must be deposited into the State Police
Services Fund. The school district shall further perform a
check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, as authorized by
the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, and of the
Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth
Database, as authorized by the Murderer and Violent Offender
Against Youth Registration Act, for each student teacher. No
school board may knowingly allow a person to student teach for
whom a criminal history records check, a Statewide Sex Offender
Database check, and a Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender
Against Youth Database check have not been completed and
reviewed by the district.

SB3601 - 12 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
A copy of the record of convictions obtained from the
Department of State Police must be provided to the student
teacher. Any information concerning the record of convictions
obtained by the president of the school board is confidential
and may only be transmitted to the superintendent of the school
district or his or her designee, the State Superintendent of
Education, the State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board,
or, for clarification purposes, the Department of State Police
or the Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide Murderer
and Violent Offender Against Youth Database. Any unauthorized
release of confidential information may be a violation of
Section 7 of the Criminal Identification Act.
No school board shall knowingly allow a person to student
teach who has been convicted of any offense that would subject
him or her to license suspension or revocation pursuant to
subsection (c) of Section 21B-80 of this Code, except as
provided under subsection (b) of Section 21B-80. Further, no
school board shall allow a person to student teach if he or she
has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical
abuse of a minor under 18 years of age pursuant to proceedings
under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Each school
board must consider the status of a person to student teach who
has been issued an indicated finding of abuse or neglect of a
child by the Department of Children and Family Services under
the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act or by a child
welfare agency of another jurisdiction.

SB3601 - 13 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
(h) (Blank).
(Source: P.A. 101-72, eff. 7-12-19; 101-531, eff. 8-23-19;
revised 12-3-19.)
(105 ILCS 5/34-18.5) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5)
Sec. 34-18.5. Criminal history records checks and checks of
the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and
Violent Offender Against Youth Database.
(a) Licensed and nonlicensed applicants for employment
with the school district are required as a condition of
employment to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history
records check to determine if such applicants have been
convicted of any disqualifying, enumerated criminal or drug
offense offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or have been
convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment
with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of
this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any
other state or against the laws of the United States that, if
committed or attempted in this State, would have been
punishable as a felony under the laws of this State.
Authorization for the check shall be furnished by the applicant
to the school district, except that if the applicant is a
substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one school
district, or a teacher seeking concurrent part-time employment
positions with more than one school district (as a reading
specialist, special education teacher or otherwise), or an

SB3601 - 14 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
educational support personnel employee seeking employment
positions with more than one district, any such district may
require the applicant to furnish authorization for the check to
the regional superintendent of the educational service region
in which are located the school districts in which the
applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel
employee. Upon receipt of this authorization, the school
district or the appropriate regional superintendent, as the
case may be, shall submit the applicant's name, sex, race, date
of birth, social security number, fingerprint images, and other
identifiers, as prescribed by the Department of State Police,
to the Department. The regional superintendent submitting the
requisite information to the Department of State Police shall
promptly notify the school districts in which the applicant is
seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time
teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee
that the check of the applicant has been requested. The
Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based
criminal history records check, records of convictions,
forever and hereinafter, until expunged, to the president of
the school board for the school district that requested the
check, or to the regional superintendent who requested the
check. The Department shall charge the school district or the
appropriate regional superintendent a fee for conducting such

SB3601 - 15 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
check, which fee shall be deposited in the State Police
Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the inquiry; and
the applicant shall not be charged a fee for such check by the
school district or by the regional superintendent. Subject to
appropriations for these purposes, the State Superintendent of
Education shall reimburse the school district and regional
superintendent for fees paid to obtain criminal history records
checks under this Section.
(a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall
further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database,
as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law,
for each applicant. The check of the Statewide Sex Offender
Database must be conducted by the school district or regional
superintendent once for every 5 years that an applicant remains
employed by the school district.
(a-6) The school district or regional superintendent shall
further perform a check of the Statewide Murderer and Violent
Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the Murderer
and Violent Offender Against Youth Community Notification Law,
for each applicant. The check of the Murderer and Violent
Offender Against Youth Database must be conducted by the school
district or regional superintendent once for every 5 years that
an applicant remains employed by the school district.
(b) Any information concerning the record of convictions
obtained by the president of the board of education or the
regional superintendent shall be confidential and may only be

SB3601 - 16 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
transmitted to the general superintendent of the school
district or his designee, the appropriate regional
superintendent if the check was requested by the board of
education for the school district, the presidents of the
appropriate board of education or school boards if the check
was requested from the Department of State Police by the
regional superintendent, the State Board of Education and the
school district as authorized under subsection (b-5), the State
Superintendent of Education, the State Educator Preparation
and Licensure Board or any other person necessary to the
decision of hiring the applicant for employment. A copy of the
record of convictions obtained from the Department of State
Police shall be provided to the applicant for employment. Upon
the check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide
Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database, the
school district or regional superintendent shall notify an
applicant as to whether or not the applicant has been
identified in the Database. If a check of an applicant for
employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or
concurrent educational support personnel employee in more than
one school district was requested by the regional
superintendent, and the Department of State Police upon a check
ascertains that the applicant has not been convicted of any of
the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of
this Section or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
application for employment with the school district, of any

SB3601 - 17 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense
committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
this State and so notifies the regional superintendent and if
the regional superintendent upon a check ascertains that the
applicant has not been identified in the Sex Offender Database
or Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth
Database, then the regional superintendent shall issue to the
applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date
specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has
not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug
offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or has not been
convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment
with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of
this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any
other state or against the laws of the United States that, if
committed or attempted in this State, would have been
punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and
evidencing that as of the date that the regional superintendent
conducted a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database or
Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth
Database, the applicant has not been identified in the
Database. The school board of any school district may rely on
the certificate issued by any regional superintendent to that
substitute teacher, concurrent part-time teacher, or

SB3601 - 18 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
concurrent educational support personnel employee or may
initiate its own criminal history records check of the
applicant through the Department of State Police and its own
check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide
Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database as
provided in this Section. Any unauthorized release of
confidential information may be a violation of Section 7 of the
Criminal Identification Act.
(b-5) If a criminal history records check or check of the
Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide Murderer and
Violent Offender Against Youth Database is performed by a
regional superintendent for an applicant seeking employment as
a substitute teacher with the school district, the regional
superintendent may disclose to the State Board of Education
whether the applicant has been issued a certificate under
subsection (b) based on those checks. If the State Board
receives information on an applicant under this subsection,
then it must indicate in the Educator Licensure Information
System for a 90-day period that the applicant has been issued
or has not been issued a certificate.
(c) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a
person who has been convicted of any offense that would subject
him or her to license suspension or revocation pursuant to
Section 21B-80 of this Code, except as provided under
subsection (b) of 21B-80. Further, the board of education shall
not knowingly employ a person who has been found to be the

SB3601 - 19 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under 18
years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987. As a condition of employment, the
board of education must consider the status of a person who has
been issued an indicated finding of abuse or neglect of a child
by the Department of Children and Family Services under the
Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act or by a child welfare
agency of another jurisdiction.
(d) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a
person for whom a criminal history records check and a
Statewide Sex Offender Database check have has not been
initiated.
(e) Within 10 days after the general superintendent of
schools, a regional office of education, or an entity that
provides background checks of license holders to public schools
receives information of a pending criminal charge against a
license holder for an offense set forth in Section 21B-80 of
this Code, the superintendent, regional office of education, or
entity must notify the State Superintendent of Education of the
pending criminal charge.
No later than 15 business days after receipt of a record of
conviction or of checking the Statewide Murderer and Violent
Offender Against Youth Database or the Statewide Sex Offender
Database and finding a registration, the general
superintendent of schools or the applicable regional
superintendent shall, in writing, notify the State

SB3601 - 20 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
Superintendent of Education of any license holder who has been
convicted of a crime set forth in Section 21B-80 of this Code.
Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a finding of
child abuse by a holder of any license issued pursuant to
Article 21B or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of this the School Code,
the State Superintendent of Education may initiate licensure
suspension and revocation proceedings as authorized by law. If
the receipt of the record of conviction or finding of child
abuse is received within 6 months after the initial grant of or
renewal of a license, the State Superintendent of Education may
rescind the license holder's license.
(e-5) The general superintendent of schools shall, in
writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education of any
license holder whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe
has committed an intentional act of abuse or neglect with the
result of making a child an abused child or a neglected child,
as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and Neglected Child
Reporting Act, and that act resulted in the license holder's
dismissal or resignation from the school district. This
notification must be submitted within 30 days after the
dismissal or resignation. The license holder must also be
contemporaneously sent a copy of the notice by the
superintendent. All correspondence, documentation, and other
information so received by the State Superintendent of
Education, the State Board of Education, or the State Educator
Preparation and Licensure Board under this subsection (e-5) is

SB3601 - 21 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
confidential and must not be disclosed to third parties, except
(i) as necessary for the State Superintendent of Education or
his or her designee to investigate and prosecute pursuant to
Article 21B of this Code, (ii) pursuant to a court order, (iii)
for disclosure to the license holder or his or her
representative, or (iv) as otherwise provided in this Article
and provided that any such information admitted into evidence
in a hearing is exempt from this confidentiality and
non-disclosure requirement. Except for an act of willful or
wanton misconduct, any superintendent who provides
notification as required in this subsection (e-5) shall have
immunity from any liability, whether civil or criminal or that
otherwise might result by reason of such action.
(f) After March 19, 1990, the provisions of this Section
shall apply to all employees of persons or firms holding
contracts with any school district including, but not limited
to, food service workers, school bus drivers and other
transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with
the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of
criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex
Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding
contracts with more than one school district and assigned to
more than one school district, the regional superintendent of
the educational service region in which the contracting school
districts are located may, at the request of any such school
district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for a

SB3601 - 22 - LRB101 17719 NHT 67146 b
criminal history records check prepared by each such employee
and submitting the same to the Department of State Police and
for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database
for each employee. Any information concerning the record of
conviction and identification as a sex offender of any such
employee obtained by the regional superintendent shall be
promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school
board or school boards.
(f-5) Upon request of a school or school district, any
information obtained by the school district pursuant to
subsection (f) of this Section within the last year must be
made available to the requesting school or school district.
(g) Prior to the commencement of any student teaching
experience or required internship (which is referred to as
student teaching in this Section) in the public schools, a
student teacher is required to authorize a fingerprint-based
criminal history records check. Authorization for and payment
of the costs of the check must be furnished by the student
teacher to the school district. Upon receipt of this
authorization and payment, the school district shall submit the
student teacher's name, sex, race, date of birth, social
security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as
prescribed by the Department of State Police, to the Department
of State Police. The Department of State Police and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a
fingerprint-based criminal history records check, records of

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convictions, forever and hereinafter, until expunged, to the
president of the board. The Department shall charge the school
district a fee for conducting the check, which fee must not
exceed the cost of the inquiry and must be deposited into the
State Police Services Fund. The school district shall further
perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, as
authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, and
of the Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth
Database, as authorized by the Murderer and Violent Offender
Against Youth Registration Act, for each student teacher. The
board may not knowingly allow a person to student teach for
whom a criminal history records check, a Statewide Sex Offender
Database check, and a Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender
Against Youth Database check have not been completed and
reviewed by the district.
A copy of the record of convictions obtained from the
Department of State Police must be provided to the student
teacher. Any information concerning the record of convictions
obtained by the president of the board is confidential and may
only be transmitted to the general superintendent of schools or
his or her designee, the State Superintendent of Education, the
State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, or, for
clarification purposes, the Department of State Police or the
Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide Murderer and
Violent Offender Against Youth Database. Any unauthorized
release of confidential information may be a violation of

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Section 7 of the Criminal Identification Act.
The board may not knowingly allow a person to student teach
who has been convicted of any offense that would subject him or
her to license suspension or revocation pursuant to subsection
(c) of Section 21B-80 of this Code, except as provided under
subsection (b) of Section 21B-80. Further, the board may not
allow a person to student teach if he or she has been found to
be the perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of a minor under
18 years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987. The board must consider the status
of a person to student teach who has been issued an indicated
finding of abuse or neglect of a child by the Department of
Children and Family Services under the Abused and Neglected
Child Reporting Act or by a child welfare agency of another
jurisdiction.
(h) (Blank).
(Source: P.A. 101-72, eff. 7-12-19; 101-531, eff. 8-23-19;
revised 9-19-19.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2020.