Bill amends fingerprinting requirements for student work experience contracts
March 11, 2024
With Senate Bill 531, the California Legislature amended Education Code section 45125.1 to provide an exemption from criminal background check requirements when, subject to specific conditions, an entity contracts with a school district, county office of education or charter school to provide student work experience opportunities, according to a recent client news brief from attorneys at Lozano Smith.
Education Code section 45125.1 requires a valid criminal records summary if an employee of any entity that has a contract with an LEA interacts with students outside of the immediate supervision and control of the student’s parent, guardian or a school employee. Additionally, the contracting entity must certify in writing to the LEA that neither the employer nor any of its employees who may interact with students have been convicted of a violent or serious felony.
Effective Oct. 8, 2023, an entity that offers work experience opportunities for students or workplace placements as part of a student’s individualized education program, under a contract with an LEA, is exempt from the requirement that all of its employees have a valid criminal records summary if all of the conditions below are met:
1. At least one adult employee in the workplace during the student’s work hours, who has direct contact with the student and has been designated by the employer as the employee of record who is responsible for the safety of the student, must have a valid criminal records summary;
2. A staff representative of the LEA must make at least one visitation every three weeks to consult with the student’s workplace liaison, observe the student at the workplace, address any concerns the student has raised, and check in with the student, all to ensure the student’s health, safety, and welfare; and
3. The student’s parent or guardian must sign a consent form regarding the student’s work placement, attesting that the parent or guardian understands the duties assigned to the student and the nature of the workplace environment.
Separately, the new law also changes the fingerprinting requirements of private entities who provide independent study services.
In summary, an entity that has a contract with an LEA and that offers work experience opportunities for students or workplace placements as part of a student’s IEP, as well as a private entity providing independent study services, may be exempt from the requirement to have a valid criminal records summary if specific conditions are met.
Read the full Client News Brief from Lozano Smith.