HOUSE BILL No. 4801 May 20, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Anthony, Schermesser, Quarles, Bogardus, Rison, Leland, Oxender, McBryde, Goschka, Martinez, Hale, Tesanovich, Callahan, Prusi, Schauer, Brackenridge and Jaye and referred to the Committee on Education. A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled "The revised school code," by amending section 1230b (MCL 380.1230b), as added by 1996 PA 189. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 1230b. (1) Before hiring an applicant for employment, 2 a school district, local act school district, public school acad- 3 emy, intermediate school district, or nonpublic school shall 4 request the applicant for employment to sign a statement that 5 does both of the following: 6 (a) Authorizes the applicant's current or former employer or 7 employers to disclose to the school district, local act school 8 district, public school academy, intermediate school district, or 9 nonpublic school any unprofessional conduct by the applicant and 10 to make available to the school district, local act school 03071'97 TAV 2 1 district, public school academy, intermediate school district, or 2 nonpublic school copies of all documents in the employee's per- 3 sonnel record maintained by the current or former employer relat- 4 ing to that unprofessional conduct. 5 (b) Releases the current or former employer, and employees 6 acting on behalf of the current or former employer, from any 7 liability for providing information described in subdivision (a), 8 as provided in subsection (3), and waives any written notice 9 required under section 6 of the Bullard-Plawecki employee right 10 to know act,Act No. 397 of the Public Acts of 1978, being11section 423.506 of the Michigan Compiled Laws1978 PA 397, MCL 12 423.506. 13 (2)BeforeEXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION, 14 BEFORE hiring an applicant for employment, a school district, 15 local act school district, public school academy, intermediate 16 school district, or nonpublic school shall request at least the 17 applicant's current employer or, if the applicant is not cur- 18 rently employed, the applicant's immediately previous employer to 19 provide the information described in subsection (1)(a), if any. 20 The request shall include a copy of the statement signed by the 21 applicant under subsection (1). IF THE REQUESTING SCHOOL DIS- 22 TRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERME- 23 DIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT, OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL DOES NOT RECEIVE A 24 REPLY WITHIN THE TIME PERIOD SPECIFIED UNDER SUBSECTION (3), THE 25 REQUESTING SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC 26 SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT, OR LOCAL ACT SCHOOL 03071'97 3 1 DISTRICT SHALL MAIL A SECOND REQUEST TO THE EMPLOYER BY 2 REGISTERED MAIL. 3 (3) Not later than 20 business days after receiving a 4 request under subsection (2), an employer shall provide the 5 information requested and make available to the requesting school 6 district, local act school district, public school academy, 7 intermediate school district, or nonpublic school copies of all 8 documents in the employee's personnel record relating to the 9 unprofessional conduct. An employer, or an employee acting on 10 behalf of the employer, that discloses information under this 11 section in good faith is immune from civil liability for the 12 disclosure. An employer, or an employee acting on behalf of the 13 employer, is presumed to be acting in good faith at the time of a 14 disclosure under this section unless a preponderance of the evi- 15 dence establishes 1 or more of the following: 16 (a) That the employer, or employee, knew the information 17 disclosed was false or misleading. 18 (b) That the employer, or employee, disclosed the informa- 19 tion with a reckless disregard for the truth. 20 (c) That the disclosure was specifically prohibited by a 21 state or federal statute. 22 (4) The board or governing body of a school district, local 23 act school district, public school academy, intermediate school 24 district, or nonpublic school shall not hire an applicant who 25 does not sign the statement described in subsection (1). 26 (5) IF THE BOARD OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL 27 DISTRICT, OR INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR THE GOVERNING BODY 03071'97 4 1 OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL DETERMINES IT 2 NECESSARY TO EMPLOY AN INDIVIDUAL FOR A PARTICULAR SCHOOL YEAR 3 DURING THAT SCHOOL YEAR OR WITHIN 30 DAYS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF 4 THAT SCHOOL YEAR, THE BOARD OR GOVERNING BODY MAY EMPLOY THE 5 INDIVIDUAL AS A CONDITIONAL EMPLOYEE UNDER THIS SUBSECTION IF ALL 6 OF THE FOLLOWING APPLY: 7 (A) THE INDIVIDUAL SIGNS THE STATEMENT REQUIRED UNDER 8 SUBSECTION (1) BEFORE THE INDIVIDUAL IS CONDITIONALLY EMPLOYED. 9 (B) THE INDIVIDUAL SIGNS A STATEMENT THAT IDENTIFIES ALL 10 UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT BY THE APPLICANT IN A PREVIOUS JOB, IF 11 ANY, AND AGREEING THAT, IF INFORMATION DESCRIBED IN 12 SUBSECTION (3) DESCRIBES UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT THAT IS NOT DIS- 13 CLOSED IN THE INDIVIDUAL'S STATEMENT, HIS OR HER EMPLOYMENT CON- 14 TRACT WILL BE VOIDABLE AT THE OPTION OF THE BOARD OR GOVERNING 15 BODY. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL DEVELOP AND DISTRIBUTE TO DISTRICTS 16 AND NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS A MODEL FORM FOR THE STATEMENT REQUIRED 17 UNDER THIS SUBDIVISION. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL MAKE THE MODEL FORM 18 AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMIES. A SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL 19 ACT SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL 20 DISTRICT, OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL SHALL USE THE MODEL FORM FOR THE 21 PURPOSES OF THIS SUBSECTION. 22 (6) IF AN INDIVIDUAL IS EMPLOYED AS A CONDITIONAL EMPLOYEE 23 UNDER SUBSECTION (5) AND THE INFORMATION DESCRIBED IN 24 SUBSECTION (3) DISCLOSES UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT THAT IS NOT DIS- 25 CLOSED IN THE INDIVIDUAL'S STATEMENT UNDER SUBSECTION (5), THE 26 BOARD OR GOVERNING BODY MAY VOID THE INDIVIDUAL'S EMPLOYMENT 27 CONTRACT. IF AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT IS VOIDED UNDER THIS 03071'97 5 1 SUBSECTION, THE INDIVIDUAL'S EMPLOYMENT IS TERMINATED, A 2 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT THAT WOULD OTHERWISE APPLY TO THE 3 INDIVIDUAL'S EMPLOYMENT DOES NOT APPLY TO THE TERMINATION, AND 4 THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL 5 ACADEMY, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT, OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL OR THE 6 BOARD OR GOVERNING BODY IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE TERMINATION. 7 (7) FOR AN APPLICANT FOR A POSITION AS A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER, 8 INSTEAD OF REQUESTING INFORMATION UNDER SUBSECTION (2), A SCHOOL 9 DISTRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL DISTRICT, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DIS- 10 TRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL MAY USE INFOR- 11 MATION RECEIVED BY ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL DIS- 12 TRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT, OR 13 NONPUBLIC SCHOOL OR MAINTAINED BY THE DEPARTMENT. ALSO, AN 14 INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT MAINTAINS A LIST OF SUBSTITUTE 15 TEACHERS FOR ITS CONSTITUENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS MAY REQUEST THE 16 INFORMATION UNDER SUBSECTION (2) FOR INDIVIDUALS ON THAT LIST ON 17 BEHALF OF ITS CONSTITUENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND MAINTAIN THE 18 INFORMATION FOR USE BY ITS CONSTITUENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 19 (8) IF AN APPLICANT AGREES IN WRITING TO ALLOW A SCHOOL DIS- 20 TRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERME- 21 DIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT, OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL TO SHARE INFORMATION 22 RECEIVED UNDER SUBSECTION (3) WITH ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL 23 ACT SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL 24 DISTRICT, OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL, THEN A SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL 25 SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DIS- 26 TRICT, OR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL MAY SATISFY THE REQUIREMENTS OF 27 SUBSECTION (2) BY OBTAINING A COPY OF THE INFORMATION DESCRIBED 03071'97 6 1 IN SUBSECTION (3) FROM ANOTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL ACT SCHOOL 2 DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT, OR 3 NONPUBLIC SCHOOL. 4 (9)(5)Information received under this section shall be 5 used by a school district, local act school district, public 6 school academy, intermediate school district, or nonpublic school 7 only for the purpose of evaluating an applicant's qualifications 8 for employment in the position for which he or she has applied. 9 Except as otherwise provided by law, a board member or employee 10 of a school district, local act school district, public school 11 academy, intermediate school district, or nonpublic school shall 12 not disclose the information to any person, other than the appli- 13 cant, who is not directly involved in the process of evaluating 14 the applicant's qualifications for employment. A person who vio- 15 lates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a 16 fine of not more than $10,000.00, but is not subject to the pen- 17 alties under section 1804. 18 (10)(6)The board or an official of a school district, 19 local act school district, public school academy, intermediate 20 school district, or nonpublic school shall not enter into a col- 21 lective bargaining agreement, individual employment contract, 22 resignation agreement, severance agreement, or any other contract 23 or agreement that has the effect of suppressing information about 24 unprofessional conduct of an employee or former employee or of 25 expunging information about that unprofessional conduct from per- 26 sonnel records. Any provision of a contract or agreement that is 27 contrary to this subsection is void and unenforceable. This 03071'97 7 1 subsection does not restrict the expungement from a personnel 2 file of information about alleged unprofessional conduct that has 3 not been substantiated. 4 (11)(7)This section does not prevent a school district, 5 local act school district, public school academy, intermediate 6 school district, or nonpublic school from requesting or requiring 7 an applicant for employment to provide information other than 8 that described in this section. 9 (12)(8)As used in this section: 10 (a) "Personnel record" means that term as defined in section 11 1 ofAct No. 397 of the Public Acts of 1978, being12section 423.501 of the Michigan Compiled LawsTHE 13 BULLARD-PLAWECKI EMPLOYEE RIGHT TO KNOW ACT, 1978 PA 397, MCL 14 423.501. 15 (b) "Unprofessional conduct" means 1 or more acts of miscon- 16 duct; 1 or more acts of immorality, moral turpitude, or inappro- 17 priate behavior involving a minor; or commission of a crime 18 involving a minor. A criminal conviction is not an essential 19 element of determining whether or not a particular act consti- 20 tutes unprofessional conduct. 03071'97 Final page. TAV