California Bill to Prevent Child Abuse in Schools Passes Assembly (AB 349)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today, the California State Assembly took action to prevent child abuse in our schools and track those accused of crimes against children, by passing AB 349 with a bipartisan vote of 71-0. The bill creates a landmark, statewide, information system to help prevent repeat offenders from retaining employment at a different school. Currently, there is no institutional reporting system for allegations against classified school employees that do not lead to an arrest or prosecution.AB 349 also requires reporting to the Department of Education whenever a classified employee – such as a teacher’s aide, bus driver, office assistant, or groundskeeper – is dismissed, resigns, is suspended, retires, or fired as a result of a child abuse allegation or while an investigation of alleged abuse is pending. Curren