Section 20-26-5-11.2 - Prohibited employment of or contracting with certain individuals; approval of employment or contract as a separate special agenda item; notification(a) This section applies to: (1) a school corporation;(3) a state accredited nonpublic school; and(4) an entity with which the school corporation, charter school, or state accredited nonpublic school contracts for services; concerning employees of the school corporation, charter school, state accredited nonpublic school, or entity who are likely to have direct, ongoing contact with children within the scope of the employees' employment.
(b) Subject to section 10(k) of this chapter and subsection (f), a school corporation, charter school, state accredited nonpublic school, or entity may not employ or contract with, and shall terminate the employment of or contract with, an individual convicted of any of the following offenses: (1) Murder (IC 35-42-1-1).(2) Causing suicide (IC 35-42-1-2).(3) Assisting suicide (IC 35-42-1-2.5).(4) Voluntary manslaughter (IC 35-42-1-3).(5) Aggravated battery (IC 35-42-2-1.5).(6) Kidnapping (IC 35-42-3-2).(7) A sex offense (as defined in IC 11-8-8-5.2).(8) Carjacking (IC 35-42-5-2) (repealed).(9) Arson (IC 35-43-1-1).(10) Public indecency (IC 35-45-4-1(a)(3), IC 35-45-4-1(a)(4), and IC 35-45-4-1(b)) committed:(A) after June 30, 2003; or(B) before July 1, 2003, if the person committed the offense by, in a public place, engaging in sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct (as defined in IC 35-31.5-2-221.5).(11) Neglect of a dependent as a Class B felony (for a crime committed before July 1, 2014) or a Level 1 felony or Level 3 felony (for a crime committed after June 30, 2014) (IC 35-46-1-4(b)(2) and IC 35-46-1-4(b)(3)).(12) Child selling (IC 35-46-1-4(d)).(13) An offense relating to material or a performance that is harmful to minors or obscene under IC 35-49-3. If an entity described in subsection (a)(4) obtains information that an individual employed by the entity who works at a particular school corporation, charter school, or state accredited nonpublic school has been convicted of an offense described in this subsection, the entity shall immediately notify the school corporation, charter school, or state accredited nonpublic school of the employee's conviction.
(c) After June 30, 2023, a school corporation, charter school, state accredited nonpublic school, or entity may employ or contract with an individual convicted of any of the following offenses if a majority of the members elected or appointed to the governing body of the school corporation, or the equivalent body for a charter school, approves the employment or contract as a separate, special agenda item, or if the school administrator of a state accredited nonpublic school informs the administrator's appointing authority of the hiring: (1) An offense relating to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated under IC 9-30-5.(2) Reckless homicide (IC 35-42-1-5).(3) Battery (IC 35-42-2-1).(4) Domestic battery (IC 35-42-2-1.3).(5) Criminal confinement (IC 35-42-3-3).(6) Public indecency (IC 35-45-4-1(a)(1) or IC 35-45-4-1(a)(2)) committed: (A) after June 30, 2003; or(B) before July 1, 2003, if the person committed the offense by, in a public place, engaging in sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct (as defined in IC 35-31.5-2-221.5).(7) Contributing to the delinquency of a minor (IC 35-46-1-8).(8) An offense involving a weapon under IC 35-47 or IC 35-47.5.(9) An offense relating to controlled substances under IC 35-48-4, other than an offense involving marijuana or paraphernalia used to consume marijuana.(d) An individual employed by a school corporation, charter school, state accredited nonpublic school, or entity described in subsection (a) shall notify the governing body of the school, if during the course of the individual's employment, the individual: (1) is convicted in Indiana or another jurisdiction of an offense described in subsection (b) or subsection (c); or(2) is the subject of a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect.(e) A school corporation, charter school, state accredited nonpublic school, or entity may use information obtained under section 10 of this chapter concerning an individual being the subject of a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect as grounds to not employ or contract with the individual.(f) A school corporation, charter school, state accredited nonpublic school, or entity is not required to consider whether information concerning an individual's conviction: (1) requires the school or entity to: (B) not contract with; or(2) constitutes grounds to terminate the employment of or contract with; an individual under subsection (b) if the individual's conviction is reversed, vacated, or set aside.
(g) Nothing in this section prohibits a school corporation, charter school, state accredited nonpublic school, or entity from establishing procedures to verify the accuracy of the information obtained under section 10 of this chapter concerning an individual's conviction.(h) A school corporation, charter school, or state accredited nonpublic school may not hire or contract with an individual:(1) who is required to wear an ankle monitor as the result of a criminal conviction;(2) who entered into an agreement to settle an allegation of misconduct relating to the health, safety, or well-being of a student at a school corporation, charter school, or state accredited nonpublic school, if the agreement included a nondisclosure agreement covering the alleged misconduct; or(3) who, in an academic environment, engaged in a course of conduct involving repeated or continuing contact with a child that is intended to prepare or condition the child for sexual activity (as defined in IC 35-42-4-13); unless a majority of the members elected or appointed to the governing body of the school corporation, or the equivalent body for a charter school, approves the hire or contract as a separate, special agenda item, or unless the school administrator of a state accredited nonpublic school informs the administrator's appointing authority of the hiring.
(i) For purposes of subsection (h), "misconduct relating to the health, safety, or well-being of a student" includes:(1) engaging in a pattern of flirtatious or otherwise inappropriate comments;(2) making any effort to gain unreasonable access to, and time alone with, any student with no discernable educational purpose;(3) engaging in any behavior that can reasonably be construed as involving an inappropriate and overly personal and intimate relationship with, conduct toward, or focus on a student;(4) telling explicit sexual jokes and stories;(5) making sexually related comments;(6) engaging in sexual kidding or teasing;(7) engaging in sexual innuendos or making comments with double entendre;(8) inappropriate physical touching;(9) using spoken, written, or any electronic communication to importune, invite, participate with, or entice a person to expose or touch the person's own or another person's intimate body parts or to observe the student's intimate body parts via any form of computer network or system, any social media platform, telephone network, or data network or by text message or instant messaging;(10) sexual advances or requests for sexual favors;(11) physical or romantic relationship including but not limited to sexual intercourse or oral sexual intercourse;(12) discussion of one's personal romantic or sexual feelings or activities;(13) discussion, outside of a professional teaching or counseling context endorsed or required by an employing school district, of a student's romantic or sexual feelings or activities;(14) displaying, sharing, or transmitting pornographic or sexually explicit materials;(15) any physical contact that the student previously has indicated is unwelcome, unless such contact is professionally required, such as to teach a sport or other skill, or to protect the safety of the student or others;(16) other than for purposes of addressing student dress code violations or concerns, referencing the physical appearance or clothes of a student in a way that could be interpreted as sexual; and(17) self-disclosure or physical exposure of a sexual, romantic, or erotic nature.Added by P.L. 110-2023,SEC. 4, eff. 7/1/2023.