LYNWOOD — Legislation that was influenced by the arrest of a former local high school principal now facing 18 charges of lewd acts with minors was approved by the state Senate this week and is currently headed toward the governor’s desk for signature.

Authored by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, the bill aims to protect students from individuals who have been convicted of a serious offense resulting in the revocation or denial of a teaching credential.

Specifically, the bill allows the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to make an all points bulletin available in an electronic format when a teacher’s credential is suspended or revoked.

Currently such bulletins are distributed to schools after each commission meeting. But often it takes weeks for schools to receive notices of the suspension or revocation of a teacher’s credential.

The bill, AB 2685, updates the commission’s ability to notify schools through electronic distribution.

The bill allows for the commission’s anticipated move to a cumulative database that will be updated in real time. That means that revocations and suspensions will be updated on a continuing basis, and will be sent out sooner.

AB 2685 also ensures that all schools, public and private, have the tools to quickly and effectively identify teachers whom are not eligible to teach.

According to De La Torre’s staff, the bill is based on what happened in the Lynwood Unified School District last year when Jonas Silverio, the former principal at Firebaugh High School, was charged with committing lewd acts on a child that apparently wasn’t his first brush with the law.

Silverio was originally placed on administrative leave by the school district in May 2009 while the district investigated allegations against him. But the Commission on Teacher Credentialing wasn’t notified about the Silverio case until after he was arrested nearly two months later.

Concerns over the situation grew rapidly when authorities revealed that Silverio had a prior conviction that dated back to 1995 on similar charges, and yet still he cleared the commission’s credentialing board.

A search of criminal records turned up a 1995 conviction against Silverio in Glendale Superior Court for one count of lewd acts on a child. In that case, Silverio apparently pleaded no contest to that one count in January 1995. That felony, however was dismissed and reduced to a misdemeanor the following April, and Silverio was placed on non-supervised probation for three years by the court.

According to the case file, on Aug. 26, 1995, the misdemeanor charge was “expunged,” or formally erased from Silverio’s record.

Silverio, according to the commission, didn't apply for a credential until 1998.

AB 2685 will provide public and private schools access to the most up-to-date information regarding the status of teacher credentialing. The bill is supported by the California Association of Private School Organizations, the California State Sheriffs’ Association, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Crime Victims United of California, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and the Child Abuse Prevention Center.

The bill also requires public, private and now charter schools to notify the commission when teachers and other employees who interact with students are convicted of a serious crime involving a minor, including sexual offenses.

Currently, the law requires all schools to notify the commission when a credentialed individual is placed on administrative leave or convicted of a serious crime. But charter schools and private school employees, including teachers, are not credentialed by the commission. Therefore, charter and private schools were not required to notify the commission when a non-credentialed individual is convicted for the same offenses — until now.

“Our children need to be protected from individuals who have hurt children in the past,” De La Torre said. “Regardless of whether a child is in a public school, a charter school or a private school, parents need the assurance that our state is taking steps to protect their children from people who may hurt them.”

Assembly Bill 2685 ensures that teachers and administrators at private and charter schools who commit serious felonies against children are prevented from interacting with minors by revoking or denying those individuals a credential.

“Not having a credential does not dismiss the background checks for teachers, employees and administrators at charter and private schools. Parents expect us to close this loophole,” De La Torre said.

De La Torre said that he understands how parents in Lynwood would be outraged that an individual with a history of sexually abusing children could have been granted a credential.

However, not only did Silverio’s conviction stem from an incident that took place at a private school where he was not required to hold a teaching credential, but when he applied to the commission in 1998, it was approved, authorities said, because his record was expunged in August 1995 when he married his victim.

Silverio is due back in court on Sept. 7 in Dept. D at Compton Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. where he is scheduled to be sentenced.