Evanston/Skokie School District 65 officials are working with police and state officials to devise a bill requiring communication between police and school districts statewide about school employees’ criminal records.

Under the prospective bill, police would be required to inform the districts if an employee were arrested or convicted of a crime. District 65 officials began discussing the possibility of the legislation following the arrests of two District 65 employees: a Kingsley Elementary School janitor who allegedly placed a loaded gun in the girls’ bathroom in January and a janitor at Lincolnwood Elementary School who allegedly sold illegal drugs on school property in October.

School officials did not know that both men had been arrested prior to these incidents while working for the district.

“I certainly think that if the police departments have information that relates to the safety of children in the schools, then the school authorities should have that,” said District 65 school board member and Kingsley Elementary parent Jonathan Baum.

Though the bill still is in the preliminary stages, district and state officials said they are gathering questions and ideas that need to be addressed while drafting the bill.

“This is a complex issue that involves collective bargaining rights and existing laws for notifying employers of possible criminal activity,” said State Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, D-Evanston. “It’s a bit of a knot to untangle, but we’re still researching.”

The bill would be modeled after a Chicago Police Department policy that alerts the Chicago Public School Bureau of Safety and Security if there is an arrest within the district. This policy has been relatively successful, said Mike Vaughn, a Chicago Public Schools spokesman.

“It’s been effective,” Vaughn said. “It helps us be aware of when we have to take appropriate action to have someone removed from the school if they’ve committed a crime.”

Chicago police officials said the policy also creates a positive relationship between police and the district. Dave Bayless, the director of news affairs for Chicago police, said the district informs them of any problems they feel police can remedy.

“It’s part of the information sharing process,” Bayless said. “They let us know when there are challenges in schools so we can make the right decisions on how to handle them and in turn we (tell) them about all kinds of things, including when employees are arrested.”

But police and state officials said the policy fails to address certain privacy rights of citizens. Evanston Police Department Chief Frank Kaminski said there is a line between what school districts need to know and the individual rights of those arrested.

“That’s a conversation that has to occur so we’re not overstepping our bounds,” Kaminski said.

State Rep. Julie Hamos, D-Evanston, echoed Kaminski’s concerns, saying that if not written carefully, the bill could threaten the career of those who are “innocent until proven guilty.”

“I’m not too excited about police picking up people and arresting them and sending their name all over the place to employers,” Hamos said.

Kaminski said even if the bill is passed and made into a statewide law, it doesn’t account for an employee’s mobility.

“What about school employees in the summer?” he said. “If they go to summer homes in another state, the state law wouldn’t apply.”

State officials said although development of the bill is already in the works, districts cannot expect a law to be passed anytime soon. Hamos said the process could take at least nine months.

“We need to research it,” Shoenberg said. “I would prefer to take a little longer and make it right the first time rather than make grand announcements and then fall short.”

The Daily’s Marissa Conrad contributed to this report.

Reach Kate Ward at [email protected].