Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
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BILL: |
DATE: |
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STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
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LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
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CONTENTS: |
Makes several changes regarding the reporting of and
discipline for school employee misconduct |
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STATE FUND |
FY 2008 |
FY 2009 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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General Revenue Fund |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Potential increase in ODE's
administrative burden |
Potential increase in
ODE's administrative burden |
Potential increase in
ODE's administrative burden |
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General Reimbursement Fund
(Fund 106) |
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Revenues |
Fee revenue increase of
approximately $1.0 million |
Fee revenue increase of
approximately $1.0 million |
Fee revenue increase of
approximately $1.0 million |
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Expenditures |
Offsetting increase for
notification services |
Offsetting increase for
notification services |
Offsetting increase for
notification services |
Note: The state fiscal
year is July 1 through June 30. For
example, FY 2008 is July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008.
·
The
bill requires the Department of Education (ODE) to elect to receive
notifications from the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation
(BCII) for approximately 200,000 individuals licensed by the State Board of
Education and entered into the Retained Applicant Fingerprint Database
(RAFD). BCII will charge an annual fee
of $5 per individual in the Database to cover the costs of providing the
service. Therefore, BCII will
experience an increase in fee revenue equal to approximately $1.0 million
per year. This revenue increase will
offset BCII's cost of operating the Database.
Generally, the cost of licensure, including the cost of background
checks and presumably the additional cost of the RAFD, is borne by the
licensee.
·
ODE
may experience an increase in administrative burden due to the bill's
requirements regarding the RAFD and the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OLEG).
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LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2008 |
FY 2009 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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School Districts |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Potential minimal increase |
Potential minimal increase |
Potential minimal increase |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
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Schools
may see a minimal increase in expenditure for increased reporting requirements
under the bill.
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The bill establishes new provisions and makes
several changes regarding the reporting of and discipline for school employee
misconduct.
Additional reporting requirements
Continuing law requires
prosecutors to notify the State Board of Education, for individuals licensed by
the Board, and schools, for nonlicensed employees of the school, if one of
these individuals pleads guilty to or is convicted of certain offenses.[1] In addition to these cases, the bill
mandates reporting when one of these individuals has been determined to be
eligible for intervention in lieu of conviction or has agreed to participate in
a pre-trial diversion program for these same offenses.
Similarly, continuing law
requires that public and chartered nonpublic schools report to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction certain information on disciplinary
actions against an employee who is licensed by the State Board of
Education. One item that must be
reported is a known plea of guilty by, a finding of guilt of, or a conviction
of a licensee for the same offenses mentioned above. As with prosecutors, the bill also mandates reporting when a
licensed employee has been determined to be eligible for intervention in lieu
of conviction or has agreed to participate in a pre-trial diversion program for
these same offenses. Any potential
costs of this additional reporting are expected to be minimal.
ODE participation in the Retained Applicant
Fingerprint Database
Continuing law requires the
Superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation
(BCII) to establish, by February 15, 2008, a database of fingerprints of
individuals on whom BCII has conducted criminal records checks for the purpose
of determining eligibility for employment with or licensure from a public
office. This database is known as the
Retained Applicant Fingerprint Database (RAFD). When someone in the database is arrested or convicted of any
offense, the Superintendent must send a notification to the public office that
employs or licensed the individual if the public office elects to receive
notifications. Under a recently adopted
rule, BCII will charge an annual fee of $5 for each individual employee record
entered and maintained in the database.
The bill requires that ODE
elect to receive BCII notifications. As
a result, ODE will be responsible for paying the $5 annual fee for each record
submitted to BCII. According to a
spokesperson from ODE, the agency will need to submit approximately 200,000
records for an annual cost of approximately $1.0 million. This represents revenue for BCII, which will
be offset by the costs of the RAFD service.
Generally, the cost of licensure, including the cost of background
checks and presumably the additional cost of the RAFD, is borne by the
licensee. If a school chooses to
reimburse its employees for the costs associated with licensure and, in
particular, for being added to the RAFD, the school may experience an increase
in expenditures. In addition, ODE may
see an increased administrative burden as a result of its work with the RAFD.
ODE access to Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway
The bill requires the Office
of the Attorney General, upon application, to grant access to the Ohio Law
Enforcement Gateway (OLEG) to any person in ODE's Office of Professional
Conduct. Currently, only law enforcement
personnel, prosecutors, and corrections officers have access to OLEG. Granting this access is not expected to have
a fiscal impact on the Office of the Attorney General. ODE may experience some administrative cost
in training personnel to use OLEG.
Employee suspensions
The bill requires that
public and chartered nonpublic schools suspend all licensed and nonlicensed
employees from duties that require the care, custody, or control of a child
upon arrest or indictment for certain specified offenses and continuing through
the conclusion of the criminal action against the employee. The school must also report this suspension
to ODE. According to a spokesperson
from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, this provision is not
expected to increase costs significantly as it generally conforms the law to
current practice. A superintendent may
reassign an employee to a location that does not involve the employee in direct
contact with children and fill the employee's position in the school with a
substitute. Presumably, this same
practice will be used for the suspensions mandated by the bill.
LSC fiscal staff: Edward Millane, Budget Analyst