KY House unanimously approves bill increasing disclosure of teacher sexual misconduct
A House Bill making it more difficult for Kentucky teachers who have been accused of prior sexual misconduct to move from school district to school district passed the House Thursday.
The House voted unanimously to pass House Bill 288. It will now move to the Senate.
The House Education Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to approve House Bill 288. The legislation would ban nondisclosure agreements about teacher misconduct involving minors, including sexual misconduct.
The bill would also increase disclosure requirements about past misconduct. Applicants for jobs must disclose if they have been the subject of an investigation in the prior 12 months. It would also require that past investigations into teacher misconduct remain in a teacher’s file.
School districts must talk to all previous schools a teacher has been employed at before hiring an individual, the bill says. School districts would not be sued for releasing information about a teachers’ prior misconduct, according to the bill.
Much of the bill also applies to private schools that are accredited by the Kentucky Department of Education.
In addition, the omnibus bill would also require teachers to receive training regarding appropriate boundaries and conduct between teachers and students every five years.
The Kentucky Department of Education has until 2024 to develop the training.
Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, the bill’s sponsor, said Thursday the bill was in response to a Lexington Herald-Leader series of stories on teacher sexual misconduct. Tipton is the chairman of the House Education Committee.
“The purpose of of House Bill 288 is to protect Kentucky students and to protect teacher due process rights,” Tipton said. “There is no area where this is not taking place,” he said of teacher misconduct in Kentucky.
House Bill 288 strengthens existing laws, he said.
In a September series, the Herald-Leader obtained 194 cases of teachers who voluntarily surrendered or had their license revoked or suspended from 2016 to 2021. Of those, 118 — 61% — lost their license due to sexual misconduct. The overwhelming majority of those cases involved male teachers and teenage girls.
Currently, Kentucky requires teachers to have training on sexual abuse but that training is not specific to misconduct between school staff and students.
At least 12 states and Washington D.C. have strengthened screening tools so teachers who have been accused of misconduct in one district can’t move to another district, according to MassKids, a group that tracks laws regarding teacher misconduct.
In December, the Herald-Leader reported a teacher who had been accused of inappropriate behavior in Paris Independent School District got a job in Jessamine County. The teacher, Jason Earlywine, later was accused of making inappropriate comments to female students at Jessamine County and was eventually terminated for lying about the prior allegations of inappropriate conduct at Paris Independent. Earlywine, who has vigorously denied the allegations, lost his teacher’s license in October.
In another case highlighted by the Herald-Leader, Eric Smart, a former researcher at the University of Kentucky was investigated and disciplined for sexual harassment at the university in 2009. Later, Smart got a job teaching at Bourbon County High School. Two former Bourbon County High School students have filed a complaint with the Education Professional Standards Board, which oversees teacher licenses, alleging Smart sexually harassed them. That case is still pending. Numerous students and staff told the newspaper they had complained about Smart’s behavior in the past.
