SB 5605 would align the background check authority of the office of the superintendent of public instruction (OSPI) with that of the department of early learning (DEL). The bill also creates the K-12 criminal background check account to deposit all the fees OSPI from the employee record checks and the fees may only be used for the purpose of administering OSPI’s duties.
The bill would require school districts, educational service districts, the Washington state center for childhood deafness and hearing loss, the state school for the blind, federal bureau of Indian affairs-funded schools, charter schools, schools that are the subject of a state-tribal education compact, and their contractors to perform record checks for any prospective volunteer who will have regularly scheduled unsupervised access to children under eighteen years of age or developmentally disabled persons, during the course of his or her involvement with the school or organization. Additionally OSPI can use the fingerprint criminal history record check information solely for the purpose of determining eligibility for a certificate of emergency or temporary, substitute or provisional duty.
