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1    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
3represented in the General Assembly:
  



 
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by adding Section 
526-19 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/26-19 new)
7    Sec. 26-19. Chronic absenteeism in preschool children.
8    (a) In this Section, "Chronic absence" has the meaning 
9ascribed to that term in Section 26-18 of this Code.
10    (b) The General Assembly makes all of the following 
11findings: 
12        (1) The early years are an extremely important period 
13    in a child's learning and development.
14        (2) Missed learning opportunities in the early years 
15    make it difficult for a child to enter kindergarten ready 
16    for success.
17        (3) Attendance patterns in the early years serve as 
18    predictors of chronic absenteeism and reduced educational 
19    outcomes in later school years.  Therefore, it is crucial 
20    that the implications of chronic absence be understood and 
21    reviewed regularly in all publicly funded early childhood 
22    programs receiving State funds under Section 2-3.71 of this 
23    Code. 
 
 
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1    (c) Beginning July 1, 2019, any publicly funded early 
2childhood program receiving State funds under Section 2-3.71 of 
3this Code shall collect and review its chronic absence data and 
4determine what support and resources are needed to positively 
5engage chronically absent students and their families to 
6encourage the habit of daily attendance and promote success.
7    (d) Publicly funded early childhood programs receiving 
8State funds under Section 2-3.71 of this Code are encouraged to 
9do all of the following: 
10        (1) Provide support to students who are at risk of 
11    reaching or exceeding chronic absence levels.
12        (2) Make resources available to families, such as those 
13    available through the State Board of Education's Family 
14    Engagement Framework, to support and encourage families to 
15    ensure their children's daily program attendance.
16        (3) Include information about chronic absenteeism as 
17    part of their preschool to kindergarten transition 
18    resources. 
19    (e) On or before July 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, an 
20early childhood program shall report all data collected under 
21subsection (c) of this Section to the State Board of Education, 
22which shall make the report publicly available via the Illinois 
23Early Childhood Asset Map Internet website and the Preschool 
24for All Program or Preschool for All Expansion Program 
25triennial report. 
 
 
26    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 
 
 
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12019.