3. a. The Commissioner of Education shall develop, within the limit of funds appropriated, a virtual applicant profile system that allows job applicants to store and manage commonly required employment information in a secure format for use when applying to a position with a public school or an approved private school for students with disabilities using school-specific application systems. The system shall be fully operational within 12 months of the effective date of this act.
b. Information contained in the virtual applicant profile system may include, but need not be limited to name, date of birth, education, employment history, and teacher certifications and endorsements.
c. The commissioner may contract with a private vendor to effectuate the purposes of this section.
d. The commissioner may reconstruct an existing Internet website or web portal operated by the Department of Education to meet the requirements established pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
e. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a public school, an approved private school for students with disabilities, or an employee thereof from using its own application process or from requiring additional materials from applicants who apply for employment.