(105 ILCS 5/14-6.01) (from Ch. 122, par. 14-6.01)
Sec. 14-6.01.
Powers and duties of school boards.
School boards of
one or more school districts establishing and maintaining any of the
educational facilities described in this Article shall, in connection
therewith, exercise similar powers and duties as are prescribed by law
for the establishment, maintenance and management of other recognized
educational facilities. Such school boards shall include only eligible
children in the program and shall comply with all the requirements of
this Article and all rules and regulations established by the State
Board of Education. Such school boards shall accept in part-time
attendance children with disabilities of the types
described in Sections
14-1.02 through 14-1.07 who are enrolled in nonpublic schools. A
request for part-time attendance must be submitted by a parent or
guardian of the disabled child and may be made
only to those public
schools located in the district where the child attending the nonpublic
school resides; however, nothing in this Section shall be construed as
prohibiting an agreement between the district where the child resides
and another public school district to provide special educational
services if such an arrangement is deemed more convenient and
economical. Special educational services shall be provided to such
students as soon as possible after the identification, evaluation and
placement procedures provided in Section 14-8.02, but no later than the
beginning of the next school semester following the completion of such
procedures. Transportation for students in part time attendance shall be
provided only if required in the child's individualized educational program
on the basis of the child's disabling condition or as the
special education
program location may require.
A school board shall publish a public notice in its newsletter of
general circulation or in the newsletter of another governmental entity of
general circulation in the district or if neither is available in the
district, then in a newspaper of general circulation in the district, the
right of all children with disabilities to a free
appropriate public education
as provided under this Code. Such notice shall identify the location and
phone number of the office or agent of the school district to whom
inquiries should be directed regarding the identification, assessment and
placement of such children.
School boards shall immediately provide upon request by any person
written materials and other information that indicates the specific
policies, procedures, rules and regulations regarding the identification,
evaluation or educational placement of children with
disabilities under Section
14-8.02 of the School Code. Such information shall include information
regarding all rights and entitlements of such children under this Code, and
of the opportunity to present complaints with respect to any matter
relating to educational placement of the student, or the provision of a
free appropriate public education and to have an impartial due process
hearing on the complaint. The notice shall inform the parents or guardian
in the parents' or guardian's native language, unless it is clearly not
feasible to do so, of their rights and all procedures available pursuant to
this Act and federal Public Law 94-142; it shall be the responsibility of
the State Superintendent to develop uniform notices setting forth the
procedures available under this Act and federal Public Law 94-142, as
amended, to be used by all school boards. The notice shall also inform the
parents or guardian of the availability upon request of a list of free or
low-cost legal and other relevant services available locally to assist
parents or guardians in exercising rights or entitlements under this Code.
Any parent or guardian who is deaf, or does not normally communicate
using spoken English, who participates in a meeting with a representative
of a local educational agency for the purposes of developing an
individualized educational program shall be entitled to the services of
an interpreter.
No disabled student may be denied promotion,
graduation or a general
diploma on the basis of failing a minimal competency test when such failure
can be directly related to the disabling
condition of the student. For the
purpose of this Act, "minimal competency testing" is defined as tests which
are constructed to measure the acquisition of skills to or beyond a certain
defined standard.
Effective July 1, 1966, high school districts are financially
responsible for the education of pupils with disabilities who
are residents in their
districts when such pupils have reached age 15 but may admit
children with disabilities into special educational facilities without
regard to graduation
from the eighth grade after such pupils have reached the age of 14 1/2 years.
Upon a disabled pupil's attaining the age of 14 1/2 years,
it shall be
the duty of the elementary school district in which the pupil resides to
notify the high school district in which the pupil resides of the pupil's
current eligibility for special education services, of the pupil's current
program, and of all evaluation data upon which the current program is
based. After an examination of that information the high school district
may accept the current placement and all subsequent timelines shall be
governed by the current individualized educational program; or the high
school district may elect to conduct its own evaluation and
multidisciplinary staff conference and formulate its own individualized
educational program, in which case the procedures and timelines contained
in Section 14-8.02 shall apply.
(Source: P.A. 89-397, eff. 8-20-95.)
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