1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; permitting school districts to 
  1.3             hire nonlicensed teachers without board of teaching 
  1.4             approval; providing for background checks for 
  1.5             nonlicensed teachers; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.6             1996, section 121.611, subdivisions 1, 2, and by 
  1.7             adding subdivisions; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
  1.8             1996, section 121.611, subdivision 3. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.611, 
  1.11  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [AUTHORIZATION.] Notwithstanding any law 
  1.13  or, state board of education rule or state board of teaching 
  1.14  rule to the contrary, the board of teaching may allow school 
  1.15  districts to may hire nonlicensed community experts to teach in 
  1.16  the public schools on a limited basis according to this section. 
  1.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.611, 
  1.18  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.19     Subd. 2.  [APPLICATIONS; CRITERIA.] The school district 
  1.20  shall apply to the board of teaching for approval to hire 
  1.21  nonlicensed teaching personnel from the community.  In approving 
  1.22  or disapproving the district's application for each community 
  1.23  expert, the board Before hiring a nonlicensed community expert, 
  1.24  a school district shall consider: 
  1.25     (1) the qualifications of the community person whom the 
  1.26  district proposes to employ; 
  1.27     (2) the reasons for the district's need for a variance from 
  2.1   the teacher licensure requirements; 
  2.2      (3) the district's efforts to obtain licensed teachers, who 
  2.3   are acceptable to the school board, for the particular course or 
  2.4   subject area; 
  2.5      (4) the amount of teaching time for which the community 
  2.6   expert would be hired; 
  2.7      (5) the extent to which the district is utilizing other 
  2.8   nonlicensed community experts under this section; 
  2.9      (6) the nature of the community expert's proposed teaching 
  2.10  responsibility; and 
  2.11     (7) the proposed level of compensation to the community 
  2.12  expert. 
  2.13     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.611, is 
  2.14  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.15     Subd. 4.  [REPORT.] A school district shall report the name 
  2.16  of a nonlicensed community expert hired under subdivision 1 
  2.17  within two weeks of the date of hire to the board of teaching.  
  2.18  Within two weeks of the last date of the community expert's term 
  2.19  of employment, the school district shall provide a report on the 
  2.20  community expert's performance to the state board of teaching.  
  2.21  These reports shall be made available to school districts for 
  2.22  the purposes of subdivision 1. 
  2.23     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.611, is 
  2.24  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.25     Subd. 5.  [BACKGROUND CHECK.] Before hiring a nonlicensed 
  2.26  community expert, the school district shall conduct a criminal 
  2.27  background check of the applicant.  The school district may also 
  2.28  conduct the check at any time while the person is an employee of 
  2.29  the district.  The check shall consist of a criminal records 
  2.30  check of the state criminal records repository.  If the 
  2.31  applicant has resided in Minnesota for less than five years, the 
  2.32  check shall also include a criminal records check of information 
  2.33  from the state law enforcement agencies in the states where the 
  2.34  person resided during the five years before moving to Minnesota, 
  2.35  and of the national criminal records repository, including the 
  2.36  criminal justice data communications network.  The applicant's 
  3.1   failure to cooperate with the school district in conducting the 
  3.2   records check is reasonable cause to deny an application.  The 
  3.3   school district may not release the results of the records check 
  3.4   to any person except the applicant. 
  3.5      Sec. 5.  [REPEALER.] 
  3.6      Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.611, subdivision 3, is 
  3.7   repealed.