SACRAMENTO, Calif --- Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 949 by Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D – Carson), known as the Background Checks for Sole Proprietors on School Districts Act. AB 949 seeks to ensure student safety by requiring all sole proprietors to have a criminal background check prior to working on a school campus.
“We want to make sure our students are in a safe and protected educational environment” said Asm. Gipson. “AB 949 provides further safeguards, and adds sole proprietors to an already existing list of groups required to obtain a criminal background check.”
As of 2011, state law required all agencies that receive criminal history information from the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) to designate at least one “Custodian of Records” duly processed and approved by the CA DOJ, to the be the person responsible for the security, storage, dissemination, and destruction of criminal response information as described in California Penal Code 11102.2.
Sole Proprietors are essentially self-employed and there would seem not to meet the definition of an employee of the school nor an employee of any vendor entity that can use its DOJ-confirmed Custodian of Records to conduct the clearance.
AB 949 looks to clarify how schools obtain, or ensure the performance of, criminal background clearances for sole proprietors who contract with a school site.
AB 949 is supported by the Los Angeles Unified School District (Sponsor), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and California School Employees Association.
Mike A. Gipson represents the 64th Assembly District that includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Gardena, Harbor Gateway, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, South Los Angeles, Torrance, Watts/Willowbrook and Wilmington.