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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate File 517 Requires School Employee Child Abuse Reporting, Mandatory Leave, and License Revocation
Last action · June 16, 2025: Referred to Education. S.J. 1057 .
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 517 includes public and nonpublic school employees and agents under Iowa's legal definition of a person responsible for the care of a child, requiring mandatory reporting of alleged child abuse to health agencies and law enforcement. The bill mandates that school districts place accused employees on administrative leave during assessments and terminate their employment upon a founded finding of child abuse, while requiring the Board of Educational Examiners to deny or revoke licenses for substantiated offenders.
School district employees and agents face mandatory administrative leave, property bans during abuse assessments, automatic termination upon founded abuse findings, and permanent professional license revocation, while public and nonpublic schools must institute formal reporting and investigative procedures.
- Iowa code section 232.68 establishes definitions related to child in need of assistance and child abuse reporting. context
- The Board of Educational Examiners licenses practitioners and oversees professional ethics and standards for educators in Iowa public and nonpublic schools. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Public school employees and agents
Public school employees are newly classified as persons responsible for the care of a child, subject to mandatory administrative leave during investigations, employment termination upon founded abuse, and license revocation.
Nonpublic school employees and agents
Nonpublic school employees face mandatory administrative leave during abuse assessments, employment termination upon founded abuse findings, and reporting requirements.
Public school districts and nonpublic school authorities
School authorities must prescribe handling procedures for abuse reports, assist health departments, place accused staff on administrative leave, and terminate employees upon receiving founded abuse notices.
Board of Educational Examiners
The board receives child abuse assessment results, gains access to disposition data for licensees, and is mandated to deny or revoke licenses for individuals with founded abuse records.
Key Facts
- Public and nonpublic school employees and agents are added to the statutory definition of 'a person responsible for the care of a child' for child abuse reporting.
- Child protection workers are granted confidential access to interview children in public, private, or nonpublic schools during assessments.
- Children aged 10 or older may terminate contact with a child protection worker by stating their wish to discontinue the contact.
- The Department of Health and Human Services must report child abuse assessment results to the Board of Educational Examiners if the alleged perpetrator holds a license or certificate from the board and the abuse is founded.
Show all 11 facts
- School districts and nonpublic school authorities must receive notice from the department if an employee under their authority is the subject of a founded child abuse finding.
- The Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Education, must adopt rules prescribing handling procedures for child abuse reports involving school employees.
- Schools must report alleged child abuse committed by employees to the Department of Health and Human Services and, if it constitutes a criminal act, to law enforcement.
- The Board of Educational Examiners, school districts, and nonpublic school authorities are granted access to child abuse disposition data concerning current or prospective employees.
- The Board of Educational Examiners must deny or revoke the license or certification of any person listed in the central registry for child abuse information or found to have committed child abuse in another jurisdiction.
- School boards and nonpublic school authorities must place any employee or agent on administrative leave and prohibit them from entering school property during an ongoing child abuse assessment.
- School boards and nonpublic school authorities must terminate the employment of any employee or agent who receives notice of a founded child abuse finding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a school employee who is accused of child abuse?
Must schools report suspected abuse to law enforcement?
What is the penalty if an employee is found to have committed child abuse?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed both. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
34 actions- Jun 16, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Education. S.J. 1057 .
- Jun 16, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Education. S.J. 1057 .
- Apr 3, 2025SenatePlaced on calendar under unfinished business. S.J. 689 .
- Apr 3, 2025SenatePlaced on calendar under unfinished business. S.J. 689 .
- Mar 21, 2025HouseWithdrawn. H.J. 772 .
- Mar 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note.
Show 28 earlier actions
- Mar 20, 2025SenateIntroducedRead first time, attached to SF 517 . S.J. 602 .
- Mar 20, 2025HouseMessage from House. S.J. 602 .
- Mar 20, 2025SenateAttached to HF 389 . S.J. 602 .
- Mar 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseImmediate message. H.J. 748 .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseFloorPassed House , yeas 96, nays 0. H.J. 747 .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseFloorAmendment H-1128 adopted, as amended. H.J. 747 .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseFloorAmendment H-1133 to amendment H-1128 filed, adopted. H.J. 747 .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseAmendment H-1091 withdrawn. H.J. 747 .
- Mar 18, 2025HouseAmendment H-1128 filed. H.J. 721 .
- Mar 17, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note.
- Mar 17, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note.
- Mar 14, 2025HouseAmendment H-1091 filed. H.J. 660 .
- Mar 5, 2025SenateCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 517 . S.J. 423 .
- Mar 5, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 423 .
- Mar 5, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 417 .
- Feb 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
- Feb 17, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/20/2025 10:00AM Room 315.
- Feb 13, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. H.J. 318 .
- Feb 13, 2025Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 389 .
- Feb 11, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee: Salmon, Campbell, and Zimmer.
- Feb 11, 2025HouseCommittee vote: Yeas, 23. Nays, 0. H.J. 295 .
- Feb 11, 2025HouseCommittee report, recommending passage. H.J. 295 .
- Feb 10, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 6, 2025HouseSubcommittee Meeting: 02/10/2025 12:00PM House Lounge.
- Feb 6, 2025HouseSubcommittee: Boden, Kniff McCulla and Wessel-Kroeschell. H.J. 264 .
- Feb 5, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education. S.J. 202 .
- Jan 30, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education. H.J. 155 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Inclusion of School Staff as Care Providers
The legislation broadens the traditional legal scope of a 'person responsible for the care of a child' to explicitly incorporate school employees and agents.
Successor Legislation from SF 221
Senate File 517 was introduced as a successor to Senate File 221, refining child abuse reporting and school employee procedures.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz50Current news / social attention level
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