SENATE BILL 1712ETHICS IN EDUCATION LAW

An “A” School DistrictLeading our Children to Success

The 2008 Florida Legislature passed and Governor Crist signed, Senate Bill 1712, the Ethics in Education Act. This legislation became effective July 1, 2008, and amends multiple sections of the Florida Statutes and creates new statutory sections. These changes will have a significant impact upon the Florida public school districts, charter schools, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, and private schools that accept scholarship students.

Primarily, this legislation establishes a set of requirements for employment and certification of educators, disciplinary actions, and reporting of educator misconduct. The implementation of this Act will require districts and schools to review multiple procedures in the employment process and establish policies and procedures for compliance.

Employment Screenings Employment Qualifications Terminations for Cause Public Notification of Reporting and Requirements Discipline of Educators and Administrators Penalties for Violation Summary of Basic Provisions

Employment screenings must be completed for all employees

Human Resource Services will take care of items such as and where appropriate: professional practices, certification databases, fingerprinting, etc.

Managers and/or any person acting as a hiring contact are required to check an applicant’s previous employment references

The district must document the results from each step in the employment screening process.

Is this the past supervisor of the applicant?

How long was the applicant employed at your work site?

What were the primary duties of the applicant?

What were the outstanding strengths of the applicant?

What were the notable weaknesses of the applicant?

Why did the applicant leave?

Would you hire this applicant again?

When unable to contact the candidate’s previous

employer, the district must document the efforts to

contact the employer. Lake County requires two

telephone references from the two most recent

and previous employers.

Individuals are disqualified from employment in any positions that require direct contact with students if they:Have been convicted of a disqualifying offense under Section 1012.315, Florida Statutes; orHave been convicted of a “crime of moral turpitude” as defined by State Board Rule. DOE will be engaging in rulemaking to implement this provision.

Immorality Grounds for termination of instructional personnel now includes

“immorality”

“Immorality” is a lower standard than “gross immorality” (An

educator or administrator may be dismissed for “immorality,” but

discipline on certificate requires “gross immorality”). In other

words, a certificate may be revoked for “gross immorality”, but

an employee can be dismissed for “immorality”.

Crimes of Moral Turpitude Where the statute previously indicated that a “conviction

of a crime involving moral turpitude” was just cause for termination, that statute is now amended to read, “being convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea of guilty to, regardless of adjudication of guilt, any crime involving moral turpitude.” Note that adjudication of guilt is not required, and a finding of guilt may be made even where there is a plea of no contest.

Schools/Departments must post notice. Previous requirement: District school boards to post a notice

that all employees have a duty to report all actual or suspected cases of child abuse, abandonment or neglect to DCF. The notice is to include the statewide toll-free telephone number of the central abuse hotline.

Provisions now apply to public schools, charter schools, private schools that accept scholarships, and Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind

DCF Liaison

The district school superintendent, the superintendent’s

designee, the principal of a charter school or the

principal of a private school is required, when

requested, to act as a liaison to DCF.

Signs of Physical Abuse

Signs of Sexual Abuse

Signs of Neglect

Significant Patterns of Behavioral or Physical signs

Call: 1-800-96-ABUSE or

E-mail: www.dcf.state.fl.us/abuse/report

Immediate SuspensionIf alleged misconduct affects the health, safety or welfare of a student, the district school superintendent must IMMEDIATELY SUSPEND the accused WITH PAY and assign the employee to a position not requiring direct contact with students until further information and dispositions have been established.

Requires the forfeiture of retirement benefits for the conviction ofa felony as defined in s.800.04 (lewd and lascivious offensescommitted upon or in the presence of persons under 16), or chapter794, Florida Statutes (unlawful sexual activity with certain minors),when committed on or after October 1, 2008. For the forfeiture of benefits:

The person must be a public officer or employee when the offense occurred;

The person must have committed the offense through the use or attempted use of power, rights, privileges, duties or position of the person’s public office or employment position; and,

The victim was younger than 18 years of age when the offense occurred.

All employees and agents of a public school

district, charter school or private school have an

obligation and legal responsibility to report

misconduct by instructional personnel and

school administrators which affects the health,

safety or welfare of a student.

Obscene language Drug and alcohol use Disparaging, degrading, discrediting comments or

remarks Prejudice or bigotry Sexual innuendo Cheating or testing violations Physical aggression Acceptance or offer of favors

Requirements:

Each district shall develop and adopt policies of ethical conduct

Each district must conduct an employment history and use FDOE data

Each district must post policies for reporting abuse and misconduct

Misconduct must be reported within 30 days to the DOE

Requirements:

Immediate suspension with pay of instructional and administrative personnel upon allegations of misconduct

Penalties assessed for failure to investigate reports of misconduct

State retirement benefits will be forfeited for certain crimes against children

Confidentiality agreements with dismissed or terminated staff is prohibited

Please sign the official sign-in sheet for this in-service

with the designated representative at your site.

Please complete all information requested on the

special sign-in sheet.

The component number for this session is 6410001

which is under Professional Liability Issues.

The number of points available is a total of 3 points.