103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB3862

 

Introduced 2/17/2023, by Rep. Harry Benton

 

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

    Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that school boards shall ensure that the Individualized Education Program process is transparent for all students and the families of students. Provides that school boards shall adopt a policy to ensure equitable and clear access to the Individualized Education Program process.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB3862LRB103 30315 RJT 56743 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    School boards shall ensure that the Individualized
16Education Program process is transparent for all students and
17the families of students. School boards shall adopt a policy
18to ensure equitable and clear access to the Individualized
19Education Program process.
20    Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, a school board
21shall post on its Internet website, if any, and incorporate
22into its student handbook or newsletter notice that students
23with disabilities who do not qualify for an individualized
24education program, as required by the federal Individuals with
25Disabilities Education Act and implementing provisions of this
26Code, may qualify for services under Section 504 of the

 

 

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1federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 if the child (i) has a
2physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or
3more major life activities, (ii) has a record of a physical or
4mental impairment, or (iii) is regarded as having a physical
5or mental impairment. Such notice shall identify the location
6and phone number of the office or agent of the school district
7to whom inquiries should be directed regarding the
8identification, assessment, and placement of such children.
9The notice shall also state that any parent who is deaf or does
10not typically communicate using spoken English and who
11participates in a Section 504 meeting with a representative of
12a local educational agency shall be entitled to the services
13of an interpreter.
14    For a school district organized under Article 34 only,
15beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the school district
16shall, in collaboration with its primary office overseeing
17special education, publish on the school district's publicly
18available website any proposed changes to its special
19education policies, directives, guidelines, or procedures that
20impact the provision of educational or related services to
21students with disabilities or the procedural safeguards
22afforded to students with disabilities or their parents or
23guardians made by the school district or school board. Any
24policy, directive, guideline, or procedural change that
25impacts those provisions or safeguards that is authorized by
26the school district's primary office overseeing special

 

 

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1education or any other administrative office of the school
2district must be published on the school district's publicly
3available website no later than 45 days before the adoption of
4that change. Any policy directive, guideline, or procedural
5change that impacts those provisions or safeguards that is
6authorized by the school board must be published on the school
7district's publicly available website no later than 30 days
8before the date of presentation to the school board for
9adoption. The school district's website must allow for virtual
10public comments on proposed special education policy,
11directive, guideline, or procedural changes that impact the
12provision of educational or related services to students with
13disabilities or the procedural safeguards afforded to students
14with disabilities or their parents or guardians from the date
15of the notification of the proposed change on the website
16until the date the change is adopted by the school district or
17until the date the change is presented to the school board for
18adoption. After the period for public comment is closed, the
19school district must maintain all public comments for a period
20of not less than 2 years from the date the special education
21change is adopted. The public comments are subject to the
22Freedom of Information Act. The school board shall, at a
23minimum, advertise the notice of the change and availability
24for public comment on its website. The State Board of
25Education may add additional reporting requirements for the
26district beyond policy, directive, guideline, or procedural

 

 

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1changes that impact the provision of educational or related
2services to students with disabilities or the procedural
3safeguards afforded to students with disabilities or their
4parents or guardians if the State Board determines it is in the
5best interest of the students enrolled in the district
6receiving special education services.
7    School boards shall immediately provide upon request by
8any person written materials and other information that
9indicates the specific policies, procedures, rules and
10regulations regarding the identification, evaluation or
11educational placement of children with disabilities under
12Section 14-8.02 of the School Code. Such information shall
13include information regarding all rights and entitlements of
14such children under this Code, and of the opportunity to
15present complaints with respect to any matter relating to
16educational placement of the student, or the provision of a
17free appropriate public education and to have an impartial due
18process hearing on the complaint. The notice shall inform the
19parents or guardian in the parents' or guardian's native
20language, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so, of their
21rights and all procedures available pursuant to this Act and
22federal Public Law 94-142; it shall be the responsibility of
23the State Superintendent to develop uniform notices setting
24forth the procedures available under this Act and federal
25Public Law 94-142, as amended, to be used by all school boards.
26The notice shall also inform the parents or guardian of the

 

 

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1availability upon request of a list of free or low-cost legal
2and other relevant services available locally to assist
3parents or guardians in exercising rights or entitlements
4under this Code. For a school district organized under Article
534 only, the school district must make the entirety of its
6special education Procedural Manual and any other guidance
7documents pertaining to special education publicly available,
8in print and on the school district's website, in both English
9and Spanish. Upon request, the school district must make the
10Procedural Manual and other guidance documents available in
11print in any other language and accessible for individuals
12with disabilities.
13    Any parent or guardian who is deaf, or does not normally
14communicate using spoken English, who participates in a
15meeting with a representative of a local educational agency
16for the purposes of developing an individualized educational
17program shall be entitled to the services of an interpreter.
18    No student with a disability or, in a school district
19organized under Article 34 of this Code, child with a learning
20disability may be denied promotion, graduation or a general
21diploma on the basis of failing a minimal competency test when
22such failure can be directly related to the disabling
23condition of the student. For the purpose of this Act,
24"minimal competency testing" is defined as tests which are
25constructed to measure the acquisition of skills to or beyond
26a certain defined standard.

 

 

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1    Effective July 1, 1966, high school districts are
2financially responsible for the education of pupils with
3disabilities who are residents in their districts when such
4pupils have reached age 15 but may admit children with
5disabilities into special educational facilities without
6regard to graduation from the eighth grade after such pupils
7have reached the age of 14 1/2 years. Upon a pupil with a
8disability attaining the age of 14 1/2 years, it shall be the
9duty of the elementary school district in which the pupil
10resides to notify the high school district in which the pupil
11resides of the pupil's current eligibility for special
12education services, of the pupil's current program, and of all
13evaluation data upon which the current program is based. After
14an examination of that information the high school district
15may accept the current placement and all subsequent timelines
16shall be governed by the current individualized educational
17program; or the high school district may elect to conduct its
18own evaluation and multidisciplinary staff conference and
19formulate its own individualized educational program, in which
20case the procedures and timelines contained in Section 14-8.02
21shall apply.
22(Source: P.A. 101-515, eff. 8-23-19; 102-1072, eff. 6-10-22.)