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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.