The Amy Hestir Protection Act, is named after a student who was repeatedly sexually abused by her teacher. The teacher was subsequently hired by numerous school districts before retiring. Currently, school districts fear being sued for sharing information about former employees, and as a result, many teachers are able to transfer districts without having information about misconduct disclosed.
To put an end to this practice, the new law requires criminal background checks for teacher applicants, allows school districts to share information with other districts regarding sexual misconduct by their employees, and makes districts liable if they fail to disclose information regarding misconduct upon request by another district.
There are also new provisions regarding student-teacher online communication. Here are some of the key points from that section:
- Senate Bill 54 requires all school districts to adopt policies relating to student-teacher internet communication. These policies must be adopted no later than January of 2011.
- The law requires school districts to adopt policies which prohibit “exclusive communication” between teachers and students on internet websites. In other words, all communication between teachers and students on the internet must be accessible to parents and administrators.
- These policies DO NOT prohibit online communication between teachers and students unless the communication is not accessible to parents and administrators.
The bill passed with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate earlier this year. It passed the House by a vote of 154-0 and the Senate by a vote of 34-0.
If you have further questions, please let me know.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment