101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB3841

 

Introduced 2/14/2020, by Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/26-12  from Ch. 122, par. 26-12

    Amends the School Code. In regards to punitive action against a truant minor, provides that a truant minor may not be removed from the attendance rolls until all appropriate and available services have been utilized to compel the student to return to school. Sets forth the measures a school district must take prior to the removal of the student from the attendance rolls. Sets forth the services the school district must provide to a student who is homeless or who has a documented disability prior to the removal of the student from the attendance rolls or prior to referring a person who has custody or control of the student to a municipality. Effective July 1, 2021.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3841LRB101 19944 CMG 69469 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
526-12 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/26-12)  (from Ch. 122, par. 26-12)
7    Sec. 26-12. Punitive action.
8    (a) No punitive action, including out-of-school
9suspensions, expulsions, or court action, shall be taken
10against truant minors for such truancy unless appropriate and
11available supportive services and other school resources have
12been provided to the student. Supportive services provided to
13the student shall be trauma-informed and shall respond to the
14individual needs of the student. A Notwithstanding the
15provisions of Section 10-22.6 of this Code, a truant minor may
16not be removed from the attendance rolls expelled for
17nonattendance unless he or she has accrued 15 consecutive days
18of absences without valid cause and: the student cannot be
19located by the school district or
20        (1) the school district has located the student but
21    cannot, after exhausting appropriate and all available
22    supportive services, compel the student to return to
23    school; or .

 

 

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1        (2) the student cannot be located by the school
2    district after all of the following steps have been taken:
3            (A) The school district has called all telephone
4        numbers on file for the student, including emergency
5        contacts.
6            (B) The school district has sent a letter by
7        certified mail to the student's last-known address
8        that requests the student's parent or legal guardian to
9        telephone or to come to the school to discuss the
10        student's non-attendance. The letter shall provide
11        information on how to contact the school. The letter
12        shall state that if the student does not return to
13        school by a specified date, or if the parent or legal
14        guardian has not contacted the school, the student is
15        at risk of being removed from the attendance rolls. The
16        letter shall be written in the native language of the
17        student's parent or guardian if it is feasible to do
18        so. The school district must send copies of the letter
19        to all electronic mail addresses on file for the parent
20        or legal guardian.
21            (C) The school district has waited at least 7 days
22        after the letter described in subparagraph (B) was
23        either received or was returned as undeliverable.
24    (a-5) If a school removes a student from attendance rolls
25for non-attendance pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section,
26the school district must send a letter by certified mail to the

 

 

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1student's last known address that explains to the student's
2parent or guardian that the student has a legal right to
3re-enroll and sets forth the process of re-enrollment. The
4letter must also explain that a student who is experiencing
5homelessness or housing insecurity may be eligible for
6immediate re-enrollment without producing records normally
7required to enroll. The letter must be sent within 24 hours of
8the removal of the student from the attendance rolls. The
9letter shall be written in the native language of the student's
10parent or guardian if it is feasible to do so.
11    (b) A school district may not refer a truant, chronic
12truant, or truant minor to any other local public entity, as
13defined under Section 1-206 of the Local Governmental and
14Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, for that local public
15entity to issue the child a fine or a fee as punishment for his
16or her truancy.
17    (c) A school district may refer any person having custody
18or control of a truant, chronic truant, or truant minor to any
19other local public entity, as defined under Section 1-206 of
20the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort
21Immunity Act, for that local public entity to issue the person
22a fine or fee for the child's truancy only if the school
23district's truant officer, regional office of education, or
24intermediate service center has been notified of the truant
25behavior and the school district, regional office of education,
26or intermediate service center has offered all appropriate and

 

 

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1available supportive services and other school resources to the
2child.
3    (c-5) Before a school district may remove the following
4categories of students from the attendance rolls or refer a
5person having custody or control of a child to a municipality,
6as defined under Section 1-1-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code,
7the school district must provide the following appropriate and
8available services:
9        (1) For any child who is a homeless child, as defined
10    under Section 1-5 of the Education for Homeless Children
11    Act, a meeting between the child, the person having custody
12    or control of the child, relevant school personnel, and a
13    homeless liaison to discuss any barriers to the child's
14    attendance due to the child's transitional living
15    situation and to construct a plan that removes these
16    barriers.
17        (2) For any child with a documented disability, a
18    meeting between the child, the person having custody or
19    control of the child, and relevant school personnel to
20    review the child's current needs and address the
21    appropriateness of the child's placement and services. For
22    any child subject to Article 14 of this Code, this meeting
23    shall be an individualized education program meeting and
24    shall include relevant members of the individualized
25    education program team. For any child with a disability
26    under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973

 

 

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1    (29 U.S.C. 794), this meeting shall be a Section 504 plan
2    review and include relevant members of the Section 504 plan
3    team.
4        (3) For any child currently being evaluated by a school
5    district for a disability or for whom the school has a
6    basis of knowledge that the child is a child with a
7    disability under 20 U.S.C. 1415(k)(5), the completion of
8    the evaluation and determination of the child's
9    eligibility for special education services.
10    (d) Before a school district may remove a student from the
11attendance rolls for non-attendance or refer a person having
12custody or control of a child to a local public entity under
13this Section, the school district must document any appropriate
14and available supportive services offered to the child. In the
15event a meeting under this Section does not occur, a school
16district must have documentation that it made reasonable
17efforts to convene the meeting at a mutually convenient time
18and date for the school district and the person having custody
19or control of the child and, but for the conduct of that
20person, the meeting would have occurred.
21(Source: P.A. 100-810, eff. 1-1-19; 100-825, eff. 8-13-18;
22101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
 
23    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
242021.