093_SB0879

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning education.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by changing
 5    Sections 26-1 and  26-2 as follows:

 6        (105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)
 7        Sec. 26-1.  Compulsory school  age;  exemptions.  Whoever
 8    has custody or control of any child between the ages of 7 and
 9    18  16  years  shall  cause  such child to attend some public
10    school in the district wherein the child resides  the  entire
11    time  it is in session during the regular school term, except
12    as provided in Section 10-19.1, and during a required  summer
13    school program established under Section 10-22.33B; provided,
14    that  the  following children shall not be required to attend
15    the public schools:
16        1.  Any child attending a private or a  parochial  school
17    where children are taught the branches of education taught to
18    children  of  corresponding  age  and  grade  in  the  public
19    schools,  and  where  the  instruction  of  the  child in the
20    branches of education is in the English language;
21        2.  Any child who is physically  or  mentally  unable  to
22    attend  school, such disability being certified to the county
23    or district truant officer by  a  competent  physician  or  a
24    Christian  Science  practitioner  residing  in this State and
25    listed in the Christian Science Journal; or  who  is  excused
26    for  temporary  absence for cause by the principal or teacher
27    of the school which the child attends; the exemptions in this
28    paragraph (2) do not apply to any female who is  pregnant  or
29    the  mother of one or more children, except where a female is
30    unable to attend school due to a  complication  arising  from
31    her  pregnancy  and  the  existence  of  such complication is
 
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 1    certified to the county  or  district  truant  officer  by  a
 2    competent physician;
 3        3.  Any child necessarily and lawfully employed according
 4    to  the  provisions  of the law regulating child labor may be
 5    excused   from   attendance   at   school   by   the   county
 6    superintendent of schools or the superintendent of the public
 7    school which the child should be attending, on  certification
 8    of the facts by and the recommendation of the school board of
 9    the  public  school  district  in which the child resides. In
10    districts having part time continuation schools, children  so
11    excused shall attend such schools at least 8 hours each week;
12        4.  Any  child over 12 and under 14 years of age while in
13    attendance at confirmation classes;
14        5.  Any child absent from a public school on a particular
15    day or days or at a particular time of  day  for  the  reason
16    that  he is unable to attend classes or to participate in any
17    examination, study or work requirements on a  particular  day
18    or days or at a particular time of day, because the tenets of
19    his  religion  forbid secular activity on a particular day or
20    days or at a particular time of day.  Each school board shall
21    prescribe rules and  regulations  relative  to  absences  for
22    religious  holidays  including, but not limited to, a list of
23    religious holidays on which it shall be mandatory to excuse a
24    child; but nothing in this paragraph 5 shall be construed  to
25    limit  the  right  of any school board, at its discretion, to
26    excuse  an  absence  on  any  other  day  by  reason  of  the
27    observance of  a  religious  holiday.   A  school  board  may
28    require  the  parent  or  guardian  of  a  child who is to be
29    excused from attending school due  to  the  observance  of  a
30    religious  holiday  to  give notice, not exceeding 5 days, of
31    the child's absence to the school principal or  other  school
32    personnel.   Any  child  excused  from attending school under
33    this paragraph 5 shall not be required to  submit  a  written
34    excuse for such absence after returning to school.
 
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 1        6.  Any child who has already graduated from high school.
 2    (Source: P.A. 89-610, eff. 8-6-96.)

 3        (105 ILCS 5/26-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-2)
 4        Sec. 26-2.  Enrolled pupils below 7 or 18 or over 16. Any
 5    person  having custody or control of a child who is below the
 6    age of 7 years or is 18 years of age or above the age  of  16
 7    years  and  who is enrolled in any of grades 1 through 12, in
 8    the public school shall cause him to attend the public school
 9    in the district wherein he resides  when  it  is  in  session
10    during  the  regular  school  term unless he is excused under
11    paragraphs 2, 3, 4 or 5 of Section 26-1.
12        A  school  district  shall  deny  reenrollment   in   its
13    secondary  schools  to any child 18 years of age or above the
14    age of 16 years who has dropped out of school and  who  could
15    not,  because  of  age  and  lack  of credits, attend classes
16    during the normal school year and graduate before his or  her
17    twenty-first  birthday.  A  district may, however, enroll the
18    child  in  an  alternative  learning  opportunities   program
19    established  under  Article  13B.  No  child  shall be denied
20    reenrollment for the above reasons unless the school district
21    first offers the child due process as required  in  cases  of
22    expulsion  under  Section  10-22.6.   If  a  child  is denied
23    reenrollment after  being  provided  with  due  process,  the
24    school  district  must  provide  counseling to that child and
25    must direct that child to alternative  educational  programs,
26    including  adult  education programs, that lead to graduation
27    or receipt  of  a  GED  diploma.   No  child  may  be  denied
28    reenrollment   in   violation   of   the   Individuals   with
29    Disabilities Education Act or the Americans with Disabilities
30    Act.
31    (Source: P.A. 92-42, eff. 1-1-02.)

32        (105 ILCS 5/26-14 rep.)
 
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 1        Section  10.  The  School  Code  is  amended by repealing
 2    Section 26-14.