HB2142 - School safety; ESAs; fingerprinting; revisions

Senate Engrossed House Bill ADE; school safety; center; programs (now: school safety; ESAs; fingerprinting; revisions) State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session 2026 HOUSE BILL 2142 AN ACT amending sections 15-106, 15-154, 15-154.02 and 15-155, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 15, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-249.20; amending sections 15-2402, 15-2403, 15-2404, 41-619.51, 41-1750, 41-1758, 41-1758.01, 41-1758.02 and 41-1758.08, Arizona Revised Statutes; appropriating monies; relating to kindergarten through grade twelve education. (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE) Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Section 15-106, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE 15-106. Identity verified fingerprints; definition A. An applicant who applies for a new teaching certificate in order to teach in a school district, a participant in field experience or student teaching in this state, an applicant who applies for a renewal of an existing teaching certificate in order to continue teaching in a school district, an applicant who is required for the first time to be fingerprinted in order to teach in a charter school and an applicant who is required to renew fingerprints in order to continue teaching in a charter school pursuant to section 15-183, an applicant who is required to be fingerprinted pursuant to section 15-512 , any person who is required to obtain and maintain a fingerprint clearance card pursuant to chapter 19 of this title and any person who is contracted by this state, by a school district or by a charter school to provide tutoring services shall submit for an identity verified fingerprint card that will be used by the department of public safety to process the fingerprint clearance card pursuant to title 41, chapter 12, article 3.1 as follows: 1. The applicant shall submit a request for an application packet from the department of public safety. 2. The application packet shall be contained in an envelope specified by the department of public safety and shall include the following: (a) A blank applicant fingerprint card. (b) An application for a fingerprint clearance card. (c) Instructions for the return of returning the application packet. 3. A school district , or charter school or qualified school may contract for fingerprinting services through an entity or entities and shall provide a copy of the instructions to the entity or entities as provided by the department of public safety regarding the submission of identity verified fingerprints. If a school district , or charter school or qualified school elects to provide fingerprinting services, the school district , or charter school or qualified school shall authorize an individual employed by the school district , or charter school or qualified school to administer the services. 4. The department of public safety shall provide instructions to law enforcement agencies , and public schools and qualified schools regarding the submission of identity verified fingerprints. The department of public safety shall reject the application for a fingerprint clearance card if the application is not correct or is not submitted according to the instructions provided by the department of public safety. 5. The applicant, at the time that identity verified fingerprints are taken, shall provide the law enforcement agency, school district, charter school , qualified school or other entity with a completed application form for a fingerprint clearance card, the fingerprint card with the requisite demographic information and the required fee in the form of a money order or cashier's check made out to the department of public safety. The law enforcement agency, school district, charter school , qualified school or other entity shall verify the identity of the applicant through recognized means of photographic identification and a comparison of the demographic information on the photographic identification against the demographic information on the application form and the fingerprint card. The authorized person taking the fingerprints shall enter on the application form a description of the photographic identification presented by the applicant. The law enforcement agency, school district, charter school , qualified school or other entity shall place the completed fingerprint card, the completed application form or any other form required by the department of public safety and the fee provided by the applicant in the postage prepaid envelope provided by the department of public safety and mail it to the fingerprinting division in the department of public safety. A law enforcement agency, school district, charter school , qualified school or other entity may charge the applicant a reasonable fee for services provided pursuant to this section. 6. Fingerprints submitted electronically or through an internet-based system pursuant to section 41-1758.01 shall include a completed application for a fingerprint clearance card, the requisite applicant demographic information and the required fee, and shall be identity verified in accordance with instructions provided by the department of public safety. The department shall reject the application for a fingerprint clearance card if the application is not correct or is not submitted according to the department's instructions. The entity or entities contracted by the department shall comply with: (a) All information privacy and security measures and submission standards established by the department. (b) The information technology security policy approved by the department. 7. The department of public safety shall process the application packet in the same manner prescribed for fingerprint clearance cards issued pursuant to title 41, chapter 12, article 3.1. 8. The department of public safety shall provide for digital storage and retrieval of identity verified fingerprints taken pursuant to this section. The fingerprints taken pursuant to this section shall be digitally designated in the fingerprint archive as identity verified fingerprint records. 9. A person who has a set of identity verified fingerprints on file with the department of public safety pursuant to this section shall is not be required to submit a new set of fingerprints to the department of public safety to renew the person's fingerprint clearance card. On receipt of the required application form and fee for a renewal fingerprint clearance card from a person required to submit identity verified fingerprints, the department of public safety shall attempt to use the electronic copy of the applicant's identity verified fingerprints that are retained pursuant to this section to conduct the state and national criminal records checks. The department of public safety may require the applicant to submit a new set of identity verified fingerprints if the department of public safety determines that the original fingerprints submitted have been lost or damaged or are found to be otherwise of insufficient quality to conduct a valid technical fingerprint search either by the department of public safety or the federal bureau of investigation. 10. A person who participates in a teacher preparation program that is approved by the state board of education and who does not participate in field experience or student teaching in this state shall is not be required to obtain a fingerprint clearance card pursuant to this section. B. For the purposes of this section, "qualified school" has the same meaning prescribed in section 15-2401. END_STATUTE Sec. 2. Section 15-154, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE 15-154. School safety program; purpose; school safety center; program proposals; requirements; annual report; public records exemption; fingerprint clearance cards; definitions A. The school safety program is established within the school safety center within the department of education to support, promote and enhance safe and effective learning environments for all students by supporting the costs of placing school resource officers, juvenile probation officers, school safety officers, school counselors and school social workers on school campuses . The school safety program may also support the costs of purchasing safety technology, safety training and infrastructure improvements for school campuses as provided in subsection D of this section. A school district or charter school may apply to participate in the school safety program as provided in this section for up to three fiscal years by submitting by April 15 a program proposal to the department of education school safety center . A school district or charter school that receives approval for a three-year program under this subsection may annually submit a modified spending plan for its approved program. B. A program proposal submitted by a school district or charter school for supporting the costs of placing school resource officers, juvenile probation officers or school safety officers, or any combination of these officers, on a school campus shall contain: 1. A detailed description of the school safety needs of the charter school or school district. 2. A plan to provide the current school building blueprints, floor plans and school safety assessments for each school site to the local law enforcement agency, emergency medical services provider and fire department that provides services to the school site. 3. A plan for implementing a law-related education program or a plan that demonstrates the existence of a law-related education program as a school safety prevention strategy. 4. A plan to use trained school resource officers, juvenile probation officers or school safety officers, or any combination of these officers, in the school. 5. A plan to train school resource officers, juvenile probation officers or school safety officers, or any combination of these officers, on the family educational rights and privacy act, civil rights and adolescent mental health issues. 6. If the school district or charter school has already participated in the school safety program, information on the success, compliance and implementation of the most recent grant. C. A program proposal submitted by a school district or charter school for supporting the costs of placing school counselors or school social workers, or both, on a school campus shall contain: 1. A detailed description of the school safety needs of the charter school or school district. 2. A plan to provide the current school building blueprints, floor plans and school safety assessments for each school site to the local law enforcement agency, emergency medical services provider and fire department that provides services to the school site. 3. A plan for implementing a school guidance and counseling program that includes the following: (a) A detailed description of the relationship between the school counselor or the school social worker, or both, and local community resources. (b) A plan for using school counselor and school social worker services in the school, or both. (c) A detailed description of the methods for evaluating the effectiveness of the school guidance and counseling plan. (d) Policies on confidentiality under the school guidance and counseling plan. (e) Policies on notifying parents and other family members of issues or concerns as identified in the school guidance and counseling plan. (f) A detailed description of the school's, school district's or charter school's referral procedures to the appropriate community entities and state agencies. 4. If the school district or charter school has already participated in the school safety program, information on the success, compliance and implementation of the most recent approved program proposal. D. If a school district or charter school whose program proposal pursuant to subsection B or C of this section was approved by the state board of education cannot place one or more of the school resource officers, juvenile probation officers, school safety officers, school counselors or school social workers, or any combination of these individuals, as included in the approved program proposal, the school district or charter school may submit an alternative program proposal for supporting the costs of purchasing safety technology, safety training and infrastructure improvements for its school campus or campuses. An alternative program proposal submitted pursuant to this subsection shall contain: 1. A detailed description of the safety needs of the school district or charter school. 2. A detailed description of the proposed expenditures and capital improvements, including: (a) The safety needs that each proposed expenditure will address. (b) The specific technology or training program that the school district or charter school seeks to acquire. (c) For infrastructure improvements, all costs associated with the improvements, including architectural and engineering fees, safety evaluations and equipment for securing entrances and exits. 3. Any other information requested by the department of education school safety center . E. The department of education school safety center shall review and administer the school resource officers, juvenile probation officers and school safety officers program proposals in cooperation with the courts, law enforcement agencies and law-related education providers awarded a contract pursuant to section 41-2534, subject to review and approval by the state board of education. The department of education school safety center shall use relevant crime statistics to assess the needs of each program proposal and shall visit school districts and charter schools that submit program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the program proposals. The department of education school safety center shall contract to provide guidelines, curricula and support resources for school resource officers, juvenile probation officers and school safety officers to use in implementing a law-related education program. F. The department of education school safety center shall review and administer the school counselors and school social workers program proposals in cooperation with school administrators, principals, teachers, parents and community mental health professionals. The department of education school safety center shall use relevant school-level academic, social and emotional statistics to assess the needs of each program proposal and shall visit school districts and charter schools that submit program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the program proposals. G. The department of education school safety center shall review and administer the safety technology, safety training and infrastructure improvements program proposals. The department school safety center shall use relevant crime statistics to assess the needs [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]