H 7899Curriculum and Standards

Education - Teachers' Tenure

Schools must report fired non-licensed staff to a state list that other schools can check before hiring them.

Held for study

Population
Affected

Introduced Feb 27, 2026Committee House Education

Plain-English Summary

This legislation mandates that all schools in Rhode Island—including public, private, charter, and mayoral academies—report to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education whenever a "noncredentialled employee" (staff who do not require an educational license) is terminated for "good and just cause." The Department is required to maintain a confidential list of these terminated individuals and the reasons for their termination. This list will be accessible only to school hiring authorities to vet potential employees. The requirement does not apply to contract non-renewals or layoffs due to budget cuts.

For younger readers

Sometimes, people who work at schools but aren't teachers (like office workers or custodians) get fired because they did something wrong. This new rule says that when this happens, the school must tell the state education leaders. The state will keep a private list of these people's names and why they were fired. When other schools want to hire someone new, they can check this list to make sure the person wasn't fired for bad behavior at another school. This helps keep students safe. Regular people cannot see this list.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Non-credentialed school employeesSchool Principals and SuperintendentsSchool CommitteesPrivate and Charter School AdministratorsStudents

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

There is a risk regarding Procedural Due Process. Creating a state-maintained list that restricts future employment opportunities implicates a liberty interest in one's reputation and ability to work. If the "good and just cause" determination lacks sufficient hearing procedures or a specific appeal mechanism regarding inclusion on the list (particularly for at-will employees in private settings), it could be challenged under the Due Process Clause, though the non-public nature of the list mitigates "stigma-plus" claims.

Estimated cost

Amount unknown

Estimated revenue

None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Increases the safety of students and the school community by creating a mechanism to prevent individuals with a history of misconduct from moving between schools undetected.
Standardizes background checks and safety protocols across all types of educational institutions, ensuring private and charter schools are held to the same safety standards as public schools.
Provides a centralized system to track misconduct among support staff, potentially helping to identify and remove bad actors who might otherwise exploit a lack of communication between districts.
Creates a government-maintained "blacklist" that could permanently damage the future employability of low-wage workers based on "good and just cause," a standard that can be subjective and inconsistently applied.
Lacks explicit, detailed appeals processes within the text of the bill for individuals placed on the list, raising significant due process concerns for workers who may be wrongfully accused.
Disproportionately impacts lower-income, non-unionized support staff compared to licensed professionals (teachers/administrators) who often have more robust union protections and established review boards.

For Conservatives

Enhances school security and student protection by ensuring that individuals fired for cause are identified and prevented from obtaining employment in other schools.
Empowers school administrators and hiring authorities with critical information to make better personnel decisions and protect their institutions from potential liability.
Closes loopholes that allowed bad actors to move between public and private sectors, ensuring that private schools have access to the same disciplinary data as public districts.
Establishes a new government database that tracks private employment matters, representing an expansion of state surveillance and bureaucracy.
Interferes with the operational autonomy of private and religious schools by mandating they report internal personnel decisions to a state government agency.
Creates a system that could be weaponized by administrators to punish employees for political or personal disagreements by permanently marking their record with the state.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 37 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 16-13 of the General Laws entitled "Teachers’ Tenure" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 16-13-10. Termination for cause -- Noncredentialled employees -- List maintained.

(a) Whenever a noncredentialled employee’s employment with a school is terminated for good and just cause by a principal, superintendent, school committee or other governing body of a public school, a private school, a school district, a charter public school, or a mayoral academy (hereinafter collectively referred to as a “school”), the school’s governing body shall, within sixty

(60) days of the termination, or in cases where the termination is appealed, within sixty (60) days after the conclusion of the appeal filed by the terminated noncredentialled employee, and the termination is upheld, furnish the Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education (the “department”) with the identity of the terminated noncredentialled employee and the good and just cause for the termination. Provided, this section shall not apply to:

(1) The nonrenewal of a contract of a noncredentialled employee pursuant to § 16-13-2; or

(2) The termination of a noncredentialled employee due to fiscal exigency or program reorganization.

(b) The department shall maintain a list of those noncredentialled employees who have been terminated for good and just cause as well as the good and just cause for the termination (the “list”), and shall update the list monthly to include any additional names and cause submitted pursuant to the provisions of this section. The department shall establish a tracking system for reporting these names and causes, as well as to provide access to these names and causes, to hiring authorities. This list shall be accessible only to the hiring authority of any private, parochial, charter, or public school or school district.

(c) The list shall not be a public record pursuant to chapter 2 of title 38 ("access to public records"). This section shall not abrogate or modify any existing statutory or common law privileges or immunities.

(d) As used herein, the term “noncredentialled employee” means any person working within or for a school whose employment with the school does not require an educational license or certificate issued by the department. The following persons are excluded from the definition of a “noncredentialled employee” if those persons are working within or for a school using any of the licenses listed herein:

(1) A teacher as defined in §16-13-1;

(2) An athletic coach as described in chapter 11.1 of title 16 (“athletic coaches”);

(3) A teaching assistant as defined in §16-11.2-1;

(4) A superintendent, assistant superintendent, or equivalent similar position, as defined in §16-2-10;

(5) An administrator including, but not limited to, a principal, vice principal, or similar building-level administrator as defined in §16-12.1-2; and

(6) Any other person who is employed in or for a school in a position that requires possession of a certificate or license issued by the department.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.