102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB3859

 

Introduced 2/22/2021, by Rep. Fred Crespo

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/14-6.01  from Ch. 122, par. 14-6.01

    Amends the Children with Disabilities Articles of the School Code. Provides that the Chicago school district shall publish on the district's website any proposed changes to the district's policy and procedural manuals, which must be published on the district's website no later than 45 days before the adoption of that change, unless this would prevent the district from following State or federal laws (rather than providing that the Chicago school district shall publish on the district's website any proposed changes to its special education policies, directives, guidelines, or procedures that impact the provision of educational or related services to students with disabilities or the procedural safeguards afforded to students with disabilities or their parents or guardians made by the district or school board and providing that any policy, directive, guideline, or procedural change that impacts those provisions or safeguards that is authorized by the district's primary office overseeing special education or any other administrative office must be published on the district's website no later than 45 days before the adoption of that change). Makes other changes concerning this process. Provides that school boards shall provide (rather than 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. Requires these materials and other information to be provided within 10 school days from the receipt of the request by the school board. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3859LRB102 14192 CMG 19544 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
514-6.01 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/14-6.01)  (from Ch. 122, par. 14-6.01)
7    Sec. 14-6.01. Powers and duties of school boards. School
8boards of one or more school districts establishing and
9maintaining any of the educational facilities described in
10this Article shall, in connection therewith, exercise similar
11powers and duties as are prescribed by law for the
12establishment, maintenance, and management of other recognized
13educational facilities. Such school boards shall include only
14eligible children in the program and shall comply with all the
15requirements of this Article and all rules and regulations
16established by the State Board of Education. Such school
17boards shall accept in part-time attendance children with
18disabilities of the types described in Sections 14-1.02
19through 14-1.07 who are enrolled in nonpublic schools. A
20request for part-time attendance must be submitted by a parent
21or guardian of the child with a disability and may be made only
22to those public schools located in the district where the
23child attending the nonpublic school resides; however, nothing

 

 

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1in this Section shall be construed as prohibiting an agreement
2between the district where the child resides and another
3public school district to provide special educational services
4if such an arrangement is deemed more convenient and
5economical. Special education and related services must be
6provided in accordance with the student's IEP no later than 10
7school attendance days after notice is provided to the parents
8pursuant to Section 300.503 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
9Regulations and implementing rules adopted by the State Board
10of Education. Transportation for students in part time
11attendance shall be provided only if required in the child's
12individualized educational program on the basis of the child's
13disabling condition or as the special education program
14location may require.
15    Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, a school board
16shall post on its Internet website, if any, and incorporate
17into its student handbook or newsletter notice that students
18with disabilities who do not qualify for an individualized
19education program, as required by the federal Individuals with
20Disabilities Education Act and implementing provisions of this
21Code, may qualify for services under Section 504 of the
22federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 if the child (i) has a
23physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or
24more major life activities, (ii) has a record of a physical or
25mental impairment, or (iii) is regarded as having a physical
26or mental impairment. Such notice shall identify the location

 

 

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1and phone number of the office or agent of the school district
2to whom inquiries should be directed regarding the
3identification, assessment and placement of such children.
4    For a school district organized under Article 34 only,
5beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the school district
6shall, in collaboration with its primary office overseeing
7special education, publish on the school district's publicly
8available website any proposed changes to the school
9district's policy and procedural manuals, which its special
10education policies, directives, guidelines, or procedures that
11impact the provision of educational or related services to
12students with disabilities or the procedural safeguards
13afforded to students with disabilities or their parents or
14guardians made by the school district or school board. Any
15policy, directive, guideline, or procedural change that
16impacts those provisions or safeguards that is authorized by
17the school district's primary office overseeing special
18education or any other administrative office of the school
19district must be published on the school district's publicly
20available website no later than 45 days before the adoption of
21that change, unless this would prevent the school district
22from following State or federal laws. Any policy directive,
23guideline, or procedural change that impacts those provisions
24or safeguards that is authorized by the school board must be
25published on the school district's publicly available website
26no later than 30 days before the date of presentation to the

 

 

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1school board for adoption. The school district's website must
2allow for virtual public comments for a period of 30 days on
3proposed special education policy, directive, guideline, or
4procedural changes that impact the provision of educational or
5related services to students with disabilities or the
6procedural safeguards afforded to students with disabilities
7or their parents or guardians from the date of the
8notification of the proposed change on the website until the
9date the change is adopted by the school district or until the
10date the change is presented to the school board for adoption.
11After the period for public comment is closed, the school
12district must maintain all public comments for a period of not
13less than 2 years from the date the special education change is
14adopted. The public comments are subject to the Freedom of
15Information Act. The school board shall, at a minimum,
16advertise the notice of the change and availability for public
17comment on its website. The State Board of Education may
18clarify or add additional reporting requirements for the
19district beyond policy, directive, guideline, or procedural
20changes that impact the provision of educational or related
21services to students with disabilities or the procedural
22safeguards afforded to students with disabilities or their
23parents or guardians if the State Board determines it is in the
24best interest of the students enrolled in the district
25receiving special education services.
26    School boards shall immediately provide upon request by

 

 

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1any person written materials and other information that
2indicates the specific policies, procedures, rules and
3regulations regarding the identification, evaluation or
4educational placement of children with disabilities under
5Section 14-8.02 of the School Code. These materials and other
6information shall be provided within 10 school days from the
7receipt of the request by the school board. Such information
8shall include information regarding all rights and
9entitlements of such children under this Code, and of the
10opportunity to present complaints with respect to any matter
11relating to educational placement of the student, or the
12provision of a free appropriate public education and to have
13an impartial due process hearing on the complaint. The notice
14shall inform the parents or guardian in the parents' or
15guardian's native language, unless it is clearly not feasible
16to do so, of their rights and all procedures available
17pursuant to this Act and federal Public Law 94-142; it shall be
18the responsibility of the State Superintendent to develop
19uniform notices setting forth the procedures available under
20this Act and federal Public Law 94-142, as amended, to be used
21by all school boards. The notice shall also inform the parents
22or guardian of the availability upon request of a list of free
23or low-cost legal and other relevant services available
24locally to assist parents or guardians in exercising rights or
25entitlements under this Code. For a school district organized
26under Article 34 only, the school district must make the

 

 

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1entirety of its special education Procedural Manual and any
2other guidance documents pertaining to special education
3publicly available, in print and on the school district's
4website, in both English and Spanish. Upon request, the school
5district must make the Procedural Manual and other guidance
6documents available in print in any other language and
7accessible for individuals with disabilities.
8    Any parent or guardian who is deaf, or does not normally
9communicate using spoken English, who participates in a
10meeting with a representative of a local educational agency
11for the purposes of developing an individualized educational
12program shall be entitled to the services of an interpreter.
13    No student with a disability or, in a school district
14organized under Article 34 of this Code, child with a learning
15disability may be denied promotion, graduation or a general
16diploma on the basis of failing a minimal competency test when
17such failure can be directly related to the disabling
18condition of the student. For the purpose of this Act,
19"minimal competency testing" is defined as tests which are
20constructed to measure the acquisition of skills to or beyond
21a certain defined standard.
22    Effective July 1, 1966, high school districts are
23financially responsible for the education of pupils with
24disabilities who are residents in their districts when such
25pupils have reached age 15 but may admit children with
26disabilities into special educational facilities without

 

 

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1regard to graduation from the eighth grade after such pupils
2have reached the age of 14 1/2 years. Upon a pupil with a
3disability attaining the age of 14 1/2 years, it shall be the
4duty of the elementary school district in which the pupil
5resides to notify the high school district in which the pupil
6resides of the pupil's current eligibility for special
7education services, of the pupil's current program, and of all
8evaluation data upon which the current program is based. After
9an examination of that information the high school district
10may accept the current placement and all subsequent timelines
11shall be governed by the current individualized educational
12program; or the high school district may elect to conduct its
13own evaluation and multidisciplinary staff conference and
14formulate its own individualized educational program, in which
15case the procedures and timelines contained in Section 14-8.02
16shall apply.
17(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 100-1112, eff. 8-28-18;
18101-515, eff. 8-23-19.)
 
19    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
20becoming law.