The House of Representatives passed HB 930 this week, which makes extensive changes to the Professional Educator Discipline Act. Among the changes, HB 930: expands the jurisdiction of the Professional Standards and Practices Commission to include educators holding Private Academic School certification and educators working for independent contractors in public schools; expands the bases for discipline to include founded and indicated reports of child abuse as well as “grooming” behaviors such as sending a student sexually explicit text messages; shortens the time period for mandatory reporting to Pennsylvania Department of Education; requires an educator arrested or indicted for or convicted of certain enumerated crimes to report the indictment, arrest or conviction to the employing school entity within 72 hours; prohibits school entities from entering into confidential settlement agreements that interfere with a school entity’s mandatory reporting; and eliminates the current statute of limitations for the filing of misconduct complaints.

Source: PSBA Legislative Report, April 11, 2013.