Section 45125.1 Of Article 1. Employment From California Education Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 25. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 1.
45125.1
. (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), if the
employees of any entity that has a contract with a school district,
as defined in Section 41302.5, to provide any of the following
services may have any contact with pupils, those employees shall
submit or have submitted their fingerprints in a manner authorized by
the Department of Justice together with a fee determined by the
Department of Justice to be sufficient to reimburse the department
for its costs incurred in processing the application:
(1) School and classroom janitorial.
(2) Schoolsite administrative.
(3) Schoolsite grounds and landscape maintenance.
(4) Pupil transportation.
(5) Schoolsite food-related.
(b) This section shall not apply to an entity providing any of the
services listed in subdivision (a) to a school district in an
emergency or exceptional situation, such as when pupil health or
safety is endangered or when repairs are needed to make school
facilities safe and habitable.
(c) This section shall not apply to an entity providing any of the
services listed in subdivision (a) to a school district when the
school district determines that the employees of the entity will have
limited contact with pupils. In determining whether a contract
employee has limited contact with pupils, the school district shall
consider the totality of the circumstances, including factors such as
the length of time the contractors will be on school grounds,
whether pupils will be in proximity with the site where the
contractors will be working, and whether the contractors will be
working by themselves or with others. If a school district has made
this determination, the school district shall take appropriate steps
to protect the safety of any pupils that may come in contact with
these employees.
(d) A school district may determine, on a case-by-case basis, to
require an entity providing schoolsite services other than those
listed in subdivision (a) or those described in Section 45125.2 and
the entity's employees to comply with the requirements of this
section, unless the school district determines that the employees of
the entity will have limited contact with pupils. In determining
whether a contract employee will have limited contact with pupils,
the school district shall consider the totality of the circumstances,
including factors such as the length of time the contractors will be
on school grounds, whether pupils will be in proximity with the site
where the contractors will be working, and whether the contractors
will be working by themselves or with others. If a school district
makes this determination, the school district shall take appropriate
steps to protect the safety of any pupils that may come in contact
with these employees. If a school district requires an entity
providing services other than those listed in subdivision (a) and its
employees to comply with the requirements of this section, the
Department of Justice shall comply with subdivision.
(e) (1) The Department of Justice shall ascertain whether the
individual whose fingerprints were submitted to it pursuant to
subdivision (a) has been arrested or convicted of any crime insofar
as that fact can be ascertained from information available to the
department. Upon implementation of an electronic fingerprinting
system with terminals located statewide and managed by the Department
of Justice, the department shall ascertain the information required
pursuant to this section within three working days. When the
Department of Justice ascertains that an individual whose
fingerprints were submitted to it pursuant to subdivision (a) has a
pending criminal proceeding for a felony as defined in Section
45122.1 or has been convicted of a felony as defined in Section
45122.1, the department shall notify the employer designated by the
individual of that fact. The notification shall be delivered by
telephone or electronic mail to the employer.
(2) The Department of Justice, at its discretion, may notify the
school district in instances when the employee is defined as having a
pending criminal proceeding described in Section 45122.1 or has been
convicted of a felony as defined in Section 45122.1.
(3) The Department of Justice may forward one copy of the
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to verify any
record of previous arrests or convictions of the applicant. The
Department of Justice shall review the criminal record summary it
obtains from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and shall notify the
employer only as to whether or not an applicant has any convictions
or arrests pending adjudication for offenses which, if committed in
California, would have been punishable as a violent or serious
felony. The Department of Justice shall not provide any specific
offense information received from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. The Department of Justice shall provide written
notification to the contract employer only concerning whether an
applicant for employment has any conviction or arrest pending final
adjudication for any of those crimes, as specified in Section
45122.1, but shall not provide any information identifying any
offense for which an existing employee was convicted or has an arrest
pending final adjudication.
(f) An entity having a contract as specified in subdivision (a)
and an entity required to comply with this section pursuant to
subdivision (d) shall not permit an employee to come in contact with
pupils until the Department of Justice has ascertained that the
employee has not been convicted of a felony as defined in Section
45122.1.
(1) This prohibition does not apply to an employee solely on the
basis that the employee has been convicted of a felony if the
employee has obtained a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon
pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 4852.01) of Title 6
of Part 3 of the Penal Code.
(2) This prohibition does not apply to an employee solely on the
basis that the employee has been convicted of a serious felony that
is not also a violent felony if that employee can prove to the
sentencing court of the offense in question, by clear and convincing
evidence, that he or she has been rehabilitated for the purposes of
schoolsite employment for at least one year. If the offense in
question occurred outside this state, then the person may seek a
finding of rehabilitation from the court in the school district in
which he or she is resident.
(g) An entity having a contract as specified in subdivision (a)
and an entity required to comply with this section pursuant to
subdivision (d) shall certify in writing to the school district that
neither the employer nor any of its employees who are required by
this section to submit or have their fingerprints submitted to the
Department of Justice and who may come in contact with pupils have
been convicted of a felony as defined in Section 45122.1.
(h) An entity having a contract as specified in subdivision (a) on
the effective date of this section and an entity required to comply
with this section pursuant to subdivision (d) by a school district
with which it has a contract on the effective date of the amendments
made to this section during the 1997-98 Regular Session shall
complete the requirements of this section within 90 days of that
date.
(i) For purposes of this section, a charter school shall be deemed
to be a school district.
(j) Where reasonable access to the statewide electronic
fingerprinting network is available, the Department of Justice may
mandate electronic submission of the fingerprint cards and other
information required by this section.