HB4378 SFA #1 WELD 3-4

Hager  7871

Senator Weld moved to amend the Senate Education Committee amendment on pages three and four, section six, lines twenty-eight through forty, by striking out all of subsection (c) and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (c), to read as follows:

(c) A teacher, as defined by §18-1-1(g) of this code, and including any individual holding a license granted pursuant to §18A-3-2a of this code, shall maintain a professional relationship with all students at all times, both in and out of the classroom. Following a hearing as provided in subsection (a) of this section, any teacher found to have committed any act of sexual abuse of a student or minor or to have engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a student or minor; committed an act of cruelty to children or an act of child endangerment or solicited, encouraged, engaged in or consummated an inappropriate relationship with any student, minor, or individual; exploited a student by engaging in any of the aforementioned illegal or inappropriate conduct which then escalated into a relationship with the exploited student within 12 months of that student’s graduation; or engaged in grooming a student or minor shall have his or her license revoked for a period of time not less than five years. For the purposes of this subsection, “grooming a student or minor” means befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a student or minor, which may include the family of the student or minor, to lower the student’s or minor’s inhibitions with the objective of committing sexual abuse, child trafficking, child prostitution, the production of child pornography, or any other offense for which a license shall be revoked under this subsection.

Adopted

Rejected