093_HB2584

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning education.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by  changing
 5    Sections 26-1 and  26-2 as follows:

 6        (105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)
 7        Sec.  26-1.   Compulsory  school age; exemptions. Whoever
 8    has custody or control of any child between the ages of 7 and
 9    18 16 years (unless the child has already graduated from high
10    school) shall cause such child to attend some  public  school
11    in  the district wherein the child resides the entire time it
12    is in session during  the  regular  school  term,  except  as
13    provided  in  Section  10-19.1,  and during a required summer
14    school program established under Section 10-22.33B; provided,
15    that the following children shall not be required  to  attend
16    the public schools:
17        1.  Any  child  attending a private or a parochial school
18    where children are taught the branches of education taught to
19    children  of  corresponding  age  and  grade  in  the  public
20    schools, and where  the  instruction  of  the  child  in  the
21    branches of education is in the English language;
22        2.  Any  child  who  is  physically or mentally unable to
23    attend school, such disability being certified to the  county
24    or  district  truant  officer  by  a competent physician or a
25    Christian Science practitioner residing  in  this  State  and
26    listed  in  the  Christian Science Journal; or who is excused
27    for temporary absence for cause by the principal  or  teacher
28    of the school which the child attends; the exemptions in this
29    paragraph  (2)  do not apply to any female who is pregnant or
30    the mother of one or more children, except where a female  is
31    unable  to  attend  school due to a complication arising from
 
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 1    her pregnancy and  the  existence  of  such  complication  is
 2    certified  to  the  county  or  district  truant officer by a
 3    competent physician;
 4        3.  Any child necessarily and lawfully employed according
 5    to the provisions of the law regulating child  labor  may  be
 6    excused   from   attendance   at   school   by   the   county
 7    superintendent of schools or the superintendent of the public
 8    school  which the child should be attending, on certification
 9    of the facts by and the recommendation of the school board of
10    the public school district in which  the  child  resides.  In
11    districts  having part time continuation schools, children so
12    excused shall attend such schools at least 8 hours each week;
13        4.  Any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while  in
14    attendance at confirmation classes;
15        5.  Any child absent from a public school on a particular
16    day  or  days  or  at a particular time of day for the reason
17    that he is unable to attend classes or to participate in  any
18    examination,  study  or work requirements on a particular day
19    or days or at a particular time of day, because the tenets of
20    his religion forbid secular activity on a particular  day  or
21    days or at a particular time of day.  Each school board shall
22    prescribe  rules  and  regulations  relative  to absences for
23    religious holidays including, but not limited to, a  list  of
24    religious holidays on which it shall be mandatory to excuse a
25    child;  but nothing in this paragraph 5 shall be construed to
26    limit the right of any school board, at  its  discretion,  to
27    excuse  an  absence  on  any  other  day  by  reason  of  the
28    observance  of  a  religious  holiday.   A  school  board may
29    require the parent or guardian  of  a  child  who  is  to  be
30    excused  from  attending  school  due  to the observance of a
31    religious holiday to give notice, not exceeding  5  days,  of
32    the  child's  absence to the school principal or other school
33    personnel.  Any child excused  from  attending  school  under
34    this  paragraph  5  shall not be required to submit a written
 
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 1    excuse for such absence after returning to school.
 2    (Source: P.A. 89-610, eff. 8-6-96.)

 3        (105 ILCS 5/26-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-2)
 4        Sec. 26-2.  Enrolled pupils below 7 or 18 or over 16. Any
 5    person having custody or control of a child who is below  the
 6    age  of  7 years or is 18 years of age or above the age of 16
 7    years and who is enrolled in any of grades 1 through  12,  in
 8    the public school shall cause him to attend the public school
 9    in  the  district  wherein  he  resides when it is in session
10    during the regular school term unless  he  is  excused  under
11    paragraphs 2, 3, 4 or 5 of Section 26-1.
12        A   school   district  shall  deny  reenrollment  in  its
13    secondary schools to any child 18 years of age or  above  the
14    age  of  16 years who has dropped out of school and who could
15    not, because of age  and  lack  of  credits,  attend  classes
16    during  the normal school year and graduate before his or her
17    twenty-first birthday. A district may,  however,  enroll  the
18    child   in  an  alternative  learning  opportunities  program
19    established under Article  13B.  No  child  shall  be  denied
20    reenrollment for the above reasons unless the school district
21    first  offers  the  child due process as required in cases of
22    expulsion under  Section  10-22.6.   If  a  child  is  denied
23    reenrollment  after  being  provided  with  due  process, the
24    school district must provide counseling  to  that  child  and
25    must  direct  that child to alternative educational programs,
26    including adult education programs, that lead  to  graduation
27    or  receipt  of  a  GED  diploma.   No  child  may  be denied
28    reenrollment   in   violation   of   the   Individuals   with
29    Disabilities Education Act or the Americans with Disabilities
30    Act.
31    (Source: P.A. 92-42, eff. 1-1-02.)

32        (105 ILCS 5/26-14 rep.)
 
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 1        Section 10.  The School  Code  is  amended  by  repealing
 2    Section 26-14.

 3        Section  99.   Effective  date.  This Act takes effect on
 4    July 1, 2003.