HB4208 EngrossedLRB100 16263 AXK 31386 b

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 changing Section
52-3.162 and by adding Section 2-3.173 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.162)
7    Sec. 2-3.162. Student discipline report; school discipline
8improvement plan.
9    (a) On or before October 31, 2015 and on or before October
1031 of each subsequent year, the State Board of Education,
11through the State Superintendent of Education, shall prepare a
12report on student discipline in all school districts in this
13State, including State-authorized charter schools. This report
14shall include data from all public schools within school
15districts, including district-authorized charter schools. This
16report must be posted on the Internet website of the State
17Board of Education. The report shall include data on the
18issuance of out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and
19removals to alternative settings in lieu of another
20disciplinary action, disaggregated by race and ethnicity,
21gender, age, grade level, whether a student is an English
22learner, incident type, and discipline duration.
23    (b) The State Board of Education shall analyze the data

 

 

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1under subsection (a) of this Section on an annual basis and
2determine the top 20% of school districts qualifying under any
3of for the following metrics:
4        (1) Total number of out-of-school suspensions divided
5    by the total district enrollment by the last school day in
6    September for the year in which the data was collected,
7    multiplied by 100.
8        (2) Total number of out-of-school expulsions divided
9    by the total district enrollment by the last school day in
10    September for the year in which the data was collected,
11    multiplied by 100.
12        (3) Racial disproportionality, defined as the
13    overrepresentation of students of color or white students
14    in comparison to the total number of students of color or
15    white students on October 1st of the school year in which
16    data are collected, with respect to the use of
17    out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, which must be
18    calculated using the same method as the U.S. Department of
19    Education's Office for Civil Rights uses.
20    The analysis must be based on data collected over 3
21consecutive school years, beginning with the 2014-2015 school
22year.
23    (c) On or before October 31, 2018 and on or before October
2431 of each subsequent year, the State Board of Education shall
25notify each school district Beginning with the 2017-2018 school
26year, the State Board of Education shall require each of the

 

 

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1school districts that are identified in the top 20% of any of
2the metrics described in this subsection (b) of this Section
3for 3 consecutive school years that the school district must
4submit a plan in conformance with subsection (d) of this
5Section.
6    (d) School districts identified in the top 20% of any of
7the metrics described in subsection (b) of this Section for 3
8consecutive school years must, in a manner prescribed by the
9State Board of Education, submit a plan to the State Board of
10Education that identifies to submit a plan identifying the
11strategies the school district will implement to reduce the use
12of exclusionary disciplinary practices or racial
13disproportionality or both, if applicable. School districts
14that no longer meet the criteria described in any of the
15metrics described in this subsection (b) for 3 consecutive
16years shall no longer be required to submit a plan.
17    This plan may be combined with any other improvement plans
18required under federal or State law.
19    The plan must be approved at a public school board meeting
20no later than 90 days after notification from the State Board
21of Education pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section and
22must be posted on the school district's Internet website.
23Within one calendar year after the school board's approval of
24the plan, the school district shall submit to the State Board
25of Education, in a manner prescribed by the State Board of
26Education, and post on the district's Internet website a

 

 

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1progress report describing the implementation of the plan and
2the results achieved. Additional annual progress reports shall
3be required until a school district no longer meets the
4criteria in any of the metrics described in subsection (b) of
5this Section for 3 consecutive school years.
6    (e) The calculation of the top 20% of any of the metrics
7described in this subsection (b) of this Section shall exclude
8all school districts, State-authorized charter schools, and
9special charter districts that issued fewer than a total of 10
10out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, whichever is
11applicable, during the school year. The calculation of the top
1220% of the metric described in subdivision (3) of this
13subsection (b) of this Section shall exclude all school
14districts with an enrollment of fewer than 50 white students or
15fewer than 50 students of color.
16    The plan must be approved at a public school board meeting
17and posted on the school district's Internet website. Within
18one year after being identified, the school district shall
19submit to the State Board of Education and post on the
20district's Internet website a progress report describing the
21implementation of the plan and the results achieved.
22(Source: P.A. 98-1102, eff. 8-26-14; 99-30, eff. 7-10-15;
2399-78, eff. 7-20-15; revised 9-25-17.)
 
24    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.173 new)
25    Sec. 2-3.173. Safe Schools and Healthy Learning

 

 

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1Environments Program.
2    (a) The General Assembly recognizes that (i) many K-12
3students around the State are arrested in school and sent into
4the justice system, often for minor offenses that do not pose a
5serious threat to school safety; (ii) some schools across the
6State have become overly reliant on law enforcement personnel
7to handle routine school disciplinary matters; (iii) many
8student behaviors that result in arrest in some schools are
9addressed without involving the justice system in others; (iv)
10the overcriminalization of K-12 students has had significant
11negative consequences for students, families, and entire
12communities; (v) these dynamics, known as the
13"school-to-prison pipeline", have disproportionately affected
14students of color; (vi) these practices impose substantial
15economic costs on both localities and the State overall; and
16(vii) eliminating unnecessary school-based arrests and law
17enforcement presence in school while promoting the use of
18developmentally appropriate alternatives will protect school
19safety, improve school climate, raise academic achievement,
20and save taxpayer dollars.
21    (b) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation,
22is authorized to award competitive grants on an annual basis
23under a Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Program.
24The goal of this grant program is to promote school safety and
25healthy learning environments by reducing the reliance on law
26enforcement to address school disciplinary matters and

 

 

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1implement alternative strategies that will better address the
2full range of students' intellectual, social, emotional,
3physical, psychological, and moral developmental needs. To
4receive a grant under this program, school districts must
5develop plans for implementing evidence-based and promising
6practices that are aligned with this goal, including, but not
7limited to, hiring restorative justice practitioners, school
8psychologists, social workers, and other mental and behavioral
9health specialists, providing drug and alcohol treatment
10services and wraparound services for youth, training for school
11staff on alternatives to law enforcement involvement for
12school-based offenses that include restorative justice
13approaches, conflict resolution techniques, and expanded use
14of school support personnel and community-based services,
15trauma-informed approaches to meeting students' developmental
16needs, and addressing the effects of toxic stress. For purposes
17of this subsection (b), "promising practices" means practices
18that present, based on preliminary information, potential for
19becoming evidence-based practices.
20    Grant funds shall not be used to increase the use of
21school-based law enforcement or security personnel. Nothing in
22this Section shall prohibit school districts from involving law
23enforcement personnel when necessary and allowed by law.
24    (c) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation
25of the grant program, shall annually disseminate a request for
26applications to this program and funds shall be distributed

 

 

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1annually. The criteria to be considered by the State Board of
2Education in awarding the funds shall be (i) the arrest rates
3in the target schools over the preceding 3 years, which shall
4be calculated as the number of arrests divided by the number of
5students; (ii) the ratio of school-based law enforcement
6personnel to students in the target schools over the preceding
73 years; and (iii) the degree to which the proposal articulates
8a strong, comprehensive approach for eliminating unnecessary
9school-based arrests and the over-reliance on law enforcement
10to address school disciplinary matters while building safer and
11healthier learning environments.
12    For criterion (i), applicant school districts shall be
13ranked from highest arrest rates to lowest, with higher arrest
14rates receiving priority. For criterion (ii), applicant school
15districts shall be ranked from the highest ratio of
16school-based law enforcement to students to the lowest ratio,
17with the higher ratios receiving priority. For criterion (iii),
18applicant school districts shall be ranked on the basis of the
19strength of their overall strategy, with all school districts
20that fail to articulate a sound approach being excluded from
21consideration. The State Board of Education shall determine a
22scoring system for each criterion based on the relative ranking
23of the applicant school districts. Applicant school districts'
24overall cumulative scores shall be based on the following
25weights: criterion (i): 40%; criterion (ii): 20%; and criterion
26(iii): 40%. If the appropriated funds are insufficient to

 

 

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1provide funds to all selected grantees, the State Board of
2Education shall have discretion to choose the number of school
3districts that will receive funds as well as the amount of
4their grant awards, with the highest-scoring school districts
5receiving priority. If the appropriated funds exceed what is
6required to provide funding to all qualified applicants, the
7surplus shall be rolled over to be used for grants the
8following year.
9    (d) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation
10to the grant program, shall produce an annual report on the
11results of the Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments
12Program in cooperation with the school districts participating
13in the program. The report shall include both quantitative and
14qualitative information on the progress being made in reducing
15unnecessary school-based arrests and the over-reliance on law
16enforcement to address school disciplinary matters, and the
17effects of the program on school safety and school climate. The
18report shall include the number of school-based arrests made
19within participating schools during the 3 school years prior to
20the grant compared to the number of school-based arrests made
21during the school year the grant was awarded. This report shall
22be posted on the State Board of Education's website by October
2331 of each year, beginning in 2019.
24    (e) The State Board of Education may adopt rules necessary
25for the implementation of this program.
 
26    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,

 

 

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12018.