Full Text of SB1852 94th General Assembly
SB1852 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 SB1852
Introduced 2/25/2005, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the establishment of an impartial due process
hearing system. Effective immediatley.
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A BILL FOR
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SB1852 |
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LRB094 05828 AMC 35882 b |
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 |
| 14-8.02a as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/14-8.02a)
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| Sec. 14-8.02a. Impartial due process hearing; civil | 8 |
| action.
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| (a) This Section (rather than the
the impartial due process | 10 |
| procedures of
subsections (h) through (o) of
Section 14-8.02, | 11 |
| which shall continue to apply only to those impartial due
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| process hearings that are requested under this Article before | 13 |
| July 1, 1997)
shall apply to all impartial due process hearings | 14 |
| requested on or after July
1, 1997.
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| (b) The State Board of Education shall establish an | 16 |
| impartial due process
hearing system, including a corps of | 17 |
| hearing officers, in accordance with this
Section and shall, | 18 |
| with the advice and approval of the Advisory Council on
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| Education of Children with Disabilities, promulgate rules and | 20 |
| regulations
consistent with this Section to establish the | 21 |
| qualifications of hearing
officers and the rules and procedures | 22 |
| for due process hearings. The State
Board of Education shall | 23 |
| recruit candidates for due process hearing officers
who meet | 24 |
| the criteria set forth in this Section. Candidates shall be | 25 |
| screened
by a 7-member Screening Committee consisting of the | 26 |
| following: the Attorney
General, or his or her designee; the | 27 |
| State Superintendent
of Education, or his or her designee; 3 | 28 |
| members appointed by the State
Superintendent of Education, one | 29 |
| of whom shall be a parent of a student
eligible for special | 30 |
| education, another of whom shall be a director of special
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| education for an Illinois school district or special education | 32 |
| joint agreement,
and the other of whom shall be an adult with a |
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| disability; and 2 members
appointed by the Attorney General, | 2 |
| one of whom shall be a parent of a student
eligible for special | 3 |
| education and the other of whom shall be an experienced
special | 4 |
| education hearing officer who is not a candidate for | 5 |
| appointment under
this Section. The members of the Screening | 6 |
| Committee shall be appointed no
later than 60 days following | 7 |
| the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996.
The | 8 |
| chairperson of the Advisory Council on Education of Children | 9 |
| with
Disabilities or his or her designee shall serve on the | 10 |
| Screening Committee as
an ex-officio non-voting member. Three | 11 |
| members of the Screening Committee
shall be appointed for | 12 |
| initial terms of 2 years, and 4 members shall be
appointed for | 13 |
| initial terms of 3 years, by using a lottery system. Subsequent
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| appointments and reappointments shall be for terms for 3 years. | 15 |
| The Screening
Committee shall elect a chairperson from among | 16 |
| its voting members. Members of
the Screening Committee shall | 17 |
| serve without compensation but shall be
reimbursed by the State | 18 |
| Board of Education for their expenses. The
Screening Committee | 19 |
| shall review applications and supporting information,
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| interview candidates, and recommend applicants to the Advisory | 21 |
| Council on
Education of Children with Disabilities based upon | 22 |
| objective criteria it
develops and makes available to the | 23 |
| public. The number of candidates
recommended shall equal 150% | 24 |
| of the number deemed necessary by the State Board
of Education.
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| (c) The application process shall require each applicant to | 26 |
| provide a
comprehensive disclosure of his or her professional | 27 |
| background and work
experience. Applicants must hold at least a | 28 |
| masters level degree, a juris
doctor degree, or a bachelors | 29 |
| degree with relevant experience. Current
employees of the State | 30 |
| Board of Education, local school districts, special
education | 31 |
| cooperatives, regional service areas or centers, regional | 32 |
| educational
cooperatives, state-operated elementary and | 33 |
| secondary schools, or private
providers of special education | 34 |
| facilities or programs shall be disqualified
from serving as | 35 |
| impartial due process hearing officers. Nothing in this
Section | 36 |
| shall be construed to prohibit retired school personnel and |
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| part-time
contractual school personnel who serve in a | 2 |
| consulting capacity from serving as
hearing officers. | 3 |
| Applications by individuals on the State Board of
Education's | 4 |
| list of eligible Level I due process hearing officers or Level | 5 |
| II
review officers when the initial recruitment of due process | 6 |
| hearing officers is
conducted under this Section shall be | 7 |
| considered if they meet the
qualifications under this | 8 |
| subsection.
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| (d) The State Board of Education shall, through a | 10 |
| competitive application
process, enter into a contract with an | 11 |
| outside entity to establish and conduct
mandatory training | 12 |
| programs for impartial due process hearing officers and an
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| annual evaluation of each impartial due process hearing officer | 14 |
| that shall
include a written evaluation report. The invitation | 15 |
| for applications shall set
forth minimum qualifications for | 16 |
| eligible applicants. Each contract under this
subsection may be | 17 |
| renewed on an annual basis subject to appropriations. The
State | 18 |
| Board of Education shall conduct a
new competitive application | 19 |
| process at least once every 3 years after the
initial contract | 20 |
| is granted. The Screening Committee established pursuant to
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| subsection (b) of this Section shall review the training | 22 |
| proposals and
forward them, with recommendations in rank order, | 23 |
| to the State Board of
Education. All impartial hearing
officer | 24 |
| candidates recommended to the Advisory Council on Education of | 25 |
| Children
with Disabilities shall successfully complete initial | 26 |
| and all follow-up
trainings, as established by the contract | 27 |
| between the State Board of Education
and the training entity, | 28 |
| in order to be eligible to serve as an impartial due
process | 29 |
| hearing officer. The training curriculum shall include, at a | 30 |
| minimum,
instruction in federal and State law, rules, and | 31 |
| regulations, federal
regulatory interpretations and court | 32 |
| decisions regarding special education and
relevant general | 33 |
| education issues, diagnostic procedures, information about
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| disabilities, and techniques for conducting effective and | 35 |
| impartial hearings,
including order of presentation.
The | 36 |
| training shall be conducted in an unbiased manner by education |
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| and legal
experts, including qualified individuals from | 2 |
| outside the public education
system. Upon the completion of | 3 |
| initial impartial due process hearing officer
training, the | 4 |
| Advisory Council on Education of Children with Disabilities,
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| applying objective selection criteria it has developed and made | 6 |
| available to
the public, shall go into executive session and | 7 |
| select the number of active
impartial due process hearing | 8 |
| officers deemed necessary by
the State Board of Education from | 9 |
| those candidates who have successfully
completed the initial | 10 |
| training. Fifty percent of the impartial due process
hearing | 11 |
| officers appointed shall serve initial terms of 2 years, and | 12 |
| the
remaining 50% shall serve initial terms of one year, such | 13 |
| terms to be
determined by using a lottery system. After the | 14 |
| initial term all
reappointments shall be for a term of 2 years. | 15 |
| The Screening Committee, based
on its objective selection | 16 |
| criteria and the annual evaluation reports prepared
by the | 17 |
| training entity, shall recommend whether the hearing officers | 18 |
| whose
terms are expiring should be reappointed and shall | 19 |
| transmit its recommendations
to the State Board of Education.
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| If, at any time, the
State Board of Education, with the advice | 21 |
| of the Advisory Council on Education
of Children with | 22 |
| Disabilities, determines that additional hearing officers are
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| needed, the hearing officer selection process described in this | 24 |
| Section shall
be reopened to select the number of additional | 25 |
| hearing officers deemed
necessary by the State Board of | 26 |
| Education.
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| Impartial due process hearing officers shall receive a base | 28 |
| annual stipend
and per diem allowance for each hearing at a | 29 |
| rate established by the State
Board of Education.
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| The State Board of Education shall provide impartial due | 31 |
| process hearing
officers with access to relevant court | 32 |
| decisions, impartial hearing officer
decisions with | 33 |
| child-specific identifying
information deleted, statutory and | 34 |
| regulatory changes, and federal regulatory
interpretations. | 35 |
| The State Board of Education shall index and maintain a
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| reporting system of impartial due process hearing decisions and |
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| shall make such
decisions available for review by the public | 2 |
| after deleting child-specific
identifying information.
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| (e) An impartial due process hearing officer shall be | 4 |
| terminated by the
State Board of Education for just cause if, | 5 |
| after written notice is provided,
appropriate timely | 6 |
| corrective action is not taken. For purposes of this
subsection | 7 |
| just cause shall be (1) failure or refusal to accept assigned | 8 |
| cases
without good cause; (2) failure or refusal to fulfill | 9 |
| duties as a hearing
officer in a timely manner; (3) consistent | 10 |
| disregard for applicable laws and
regulations in the conduct of | 11 |
| hearings; (4) consistent failure to conduct
himself or herself | 12 |
| in a patient, dignified, and courteous manner to parties,
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| witnesses, counsel, and other participants in hearings; (5) | 14 |
| failure to accord
parties or their representatives a full and | 15 |
| fair opportunity to be heard in
matters coming before him or | 16 |
| her; (6) violating applicable laws regarding
privacy and | 17 |
| confidentiality of records or information; (7) manifesting, by
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| words or conduct, bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, | 19 |
| religion, disability,
or national origin; (8) failure to recuse | 20 |
| himself or
herself from a hearing in which he or she has a | 21 |
| personal, professional, or
financial conflict of interest | 22 |
| which he or she knew or should have known
existed at any time | 23 |
| prior to or during the hearing; (9) conviction in any
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| jurisdiction of any felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral | 25 |
| turpitude; and
(10) falsification of a material fact on his or | 26 |
| her application to serve as a
due process hearing officer. In | 27 |
| addition, an impartial hearing officer who, as
a result of | 28 |
| events occurring after appointment, no longer meets the minimum
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| requirements set forth in this Section, shall be disqualified | 30 |
| to complete the
balance of his or her contract term.
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| The State Board of Education shall monitor, review, and | 32 |
| evaluate the
impartial due process hearing system on a regular | 33 |
| basis by a process that
includes a review of written decisions | 34 |
| and evaluations by participants in
impartial due process | 35 |
| hearings and their representatives. The State Board of
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| Education shall prepare an annual written report no later than |
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| July 1 of each
year, beginning in 1998, evaluating the | 2 |
| impartial due process hearing system.
The reports shall be | 3 |
| submitted to the members of the State Board of Education,
the | 4 |
| State Superintendent of Education, the Advisory Council on | 5 |
| Education of
Children with Disabilities, and the Screening | 6 |
| Committee and shall be made
available to the public.
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| The training entity under subsection (d) shall conduct | 8 |
| annual evaluations of
each hearing officer and shall prepare | 9 |
| written evaluation reports to be
provided to the Screening | 10 |
| Committee for its consideration in the reappointment
process. | 11 |
| The evaluation
process shall include a review of written | 12 |
| decisions and evaluations by
participants in impartial due | 13 |
| process hearings and their representatives. Each
hearing | 14 |
| officer shall be provided with a copy of his or her evaluation | 15 |
| report
and shall have an opportunity to review the report with | 16 |
| the training entity and
submit written comments.
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| (f) An impartial due process hearing shall be convened upon | 18 |
| the request of a
parent or guardian, student if at least 18 | 19 |
| years of age or emancipated, or a
school district. A school | 20 |
| district shall
make a request in writing to the State Board of | 21 |
| Education and promptly mail a
copy of the request to the | 22 |
| parents or guardian of the student at their last
known address. | 23 |
| A request made by the parent, guardian, or student shall be
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| made in writing to the superintendent of the school district in | 25 |
| which the
student resides, who shall forward the request
to the | 26 |
| State Board of Education within 5 days of receipt of the
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| request. Within 5 days after receipt of the request the State | 28 |
| Board of
Education shall appoint a due process hearing officer | 29 |
| using a rotating
appointment system and shall notify the | 30 |
| hearing officer of his or her
appointment. No person who is an | 31 |
| employee of a school district that is
involved in the education | 32 |
| or care of the student shall conduct the hearing. A
hearing | 33 |
| officer having a personal or professional interest that would | 34 |
| conflict
with his or her objectivity in the hearing shall so | 35 |
| notify the State Board of
Education and shall be replaced by | 36 |
| the next scheduled impartial due process
hearing officer under |
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| the rotation system. For purposes of this subsection
an | 2 |
| assigned hearing officer shall be considered to have a conflict | 3 |
| of interest
if, at any time prior to the issuance of his or her | 4 |
| written decision, he or she
knows or should know that he or she | 5 |
| may receive remuneration from a party
to the hearing within 3 | 6 |
| years following the conclusion of the due process
hearing. A | 7 |
| party to a due process hearing shall be permitted one | 8 |
| substitution
of hearing officer as a matter of right, in | 9 |
| accordance with procedures
established by the rules adopted by | 10 |
| the State Board of Education under this
Section. The State | 11 |
| Board of Education shall randomly select and appoint
another | 12 |
| hearing officer within 5 days after receiving notice that the | 13 |
| appointed
hearing officer is ineligible to serve or upon | 14 |
| receiving a proper request for
substitution of hearing officer. | 15 |
| If a party withdraws its request for a due
process hearing | 16 |
| after a hearing officer has been appointed, that hearing
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| officer shall retain jurisdiction over a subsequent hearing | 18 |
| that involves the
same parties and is requested within one year | 19 |
| from the date of withdrawal of
the previous request, unless | 20 |
| that hearing
officer is unavailable.
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| A former employee or current resident of the school | 22 |
| district, special
education cooperative, or other public | 23 |
| entity involved in the due process
hearing shall recuse himself | 24 |
| or herself. A hearing officer shall disclose any
actual or | 25 |
| potential conflicts of
interests to the parties upon learning | 26 |
| of those conflicts. Any party may raise
facts that constitute a | 27 |
| conflict of interest for the hearing officer at any
time before | 28 |
| or during the hearing and may move for recusal.
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| For purposes of this Section, "days" shall be computed in | 30 |
| accordance with
Section 1.11 of the Statute on Statutes.
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| (g) Impartial due process hearings shall be conducted | 32 |
| pursuant to this
Section and rules and regulations promulgated | 33 |
| by the State Board of Education
consistent with this Section | 34 |
| and other governing laws and regulations. The
hearing shall be | 35 |
| closed to the public unless the parents or guardian request
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| that the hearing be open to the public. The parents or guardian |
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| involved in
the hearing shall have the right to have the | 2 |
| student who is the subject of the
hearing present. The hearing | 3 |
| shall be held at a time and place which are
reasonably | 4 |
| convenient to the parties involved. Upon the request of
a | 5 |
| party, the hearing officer shall hold the hearing at a location | 6 |
| neutral to
the parties if the hearing officer determines that | 7 |
| there is no cost for
securing the use of the neutral location. | 8 |
| Once appointed, the impartial due
process hearing officer shall | 9 |
| not communicate with the State Board of Education
or its | 10 |
| employees concerning the
hearing, except that, where | 11 |
| circumstances require, communications for
administrative | 12 |
| purposes that do not deal with substantive or procedural | 13 |
| matters
or issues on the merits are authorized, provided that | 14 |
| the hearing officer
promptly notifies all parties of the | 15 |
| substance of the communication as a matter
of record.
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| The hearing officer shall convene a prehearing conference | 17 |
| no later than 14
days before the scheduled date for the due | 18 |
| process hearing for the general
purpose of aiding in the fair, | 19 |
| orderly, and expeditious conduct of the hearing.
The hearing | 20 |
| officer shall provide the parties with written notice of the
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| prehearing conference at least 10 days in advance of the | 22 |
| conference. The
written notice shall require the parties to | 23 |
| notify the hearing officer by a
date certain whether they | 24 |
| intend to participate in the prehearing conference.
The hearing | 25 |
| officer may conduct the prehearing conference in person or by
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| telephone. Each party shall disclose at the prehearing | 27 |
| conference (1) whether
it is represented by legal counsel or | 28 |
| intends to retain legal counsel; (2)
the matters it believes to | 29 |
| be in dispute in the case and the specific relief
being sought; | 30 |
| (3) whether there are any additional evaluations for the | 31 |
| student
that it intends to
introduce into the
hearing record | 32 |
| that have not been previously disclosed to the other parties;
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| (4) a list of all documents it intends to introduce into the | 34 |
| hearing record,
including the date and a brief description of | 35 |
| each document; and (5) the names
of all witnesses it intends to | 36 |
| call to testify at the hearing. The hearing
officer shall |
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| specify the order of presentation to be used at the hearing. If
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| the
prehearing conference is held by telephone, the parties | 3 |
| shall transmit the
information required in this paragraph in | 4 |
| such a manner that it is available to
all parties at the time | 5 |
| of the prehearing conference. The State Board of
Education | 6 |
| shall, by
rule, establish additional procedures for the conduct | 7 |
| of prehearing
conferences.
The
impartial due process hearing | 8 |
| officer shall not initiate or participate in any
ex parte | 9 |
| communications with the parties, except to arrange the date, | 10 |
| time,
and location of the prehearing conference and due process | 11 |
| hearing and to
receive confirmation of whether a party intends | 12 |
| to participate in the
prehearing conference. The parties shall | 13 |
| disclose and provide to each other
any evidence which they | 14 |
| intend to submit into the hearing record no later than
5 days | 15 |
| before the hearing. Any party to a hearing has the right to | 16 |
| prohibit
the introduction of any evidence at the hearing that | 17 |
| has not been disclosed to
that party at least 5 days before the | 18 |
| hearing.
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| The school district shall present evidence that the special | 20 |
| education needs
of the child have been appropriately identified | 21 |
| and that the special education
program and related services | 22 |
| proposed to meet the needs of the child are
adequate, | 23 |
| appropriate, and available. Any party to the hearing shall have | 24 |
| the
right to (1) be represented
by counsel and be accompanied | 25 |
| and advised by individuals with special knowledge
or training | 26 |
| with respect to the problems of children with disabilities, at | 27 |
| the
party's own expense; (2) present evidence and confront and | 28 |
| cross-examine
witnesses; (3) move for the exclusion of | 29 |
| witnesses from the hearing until they
are called to testify, | 30 |
| provided, however, that this provision may not be
invoked to | 31 |
| exclude the individual designated by a party to assist that | 32 |
| party or
its representative in the presentation of the case; | 33 |
| (4) obtain a written or
electronic verbatim record of
the | 34 |
| proceedings within 30 days of receipt of a written request from | 35 |
| the parents
by the school district; and (5) obtain a written | 36 |
| decision, including findings
of fact and conclusions of law, |
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| within 10 days after the conclusion of the
hearing.
If at | 2 |
| issue, the school district shall present evidence that it has
| 3 |
| properly identified and evaluated the nature and
severity of | 4 |
| the student's suspected or identified disability and that, if | 5 |
| the
student has been or should have been determined eligible | 6 |
| for special education
and related services, that it is | 7 |
| providing or has offered a free appropriate
public education to | 8 |
| the student in the least restrictive environment,
consistent | 9 |
| with
procedural safeguards and in accordance with an | 10 |
| individualized educational
program.
At any time prior to the | 11 |
| conclusion of the hearing, the impartial due
process hearing | 12 |
| officer shall have the authority to require additional
| 13 |
| information and order independent evaluations for the
student | 14 |
| at the expense of the school district. The State Board of | 15 |
| Education
and the school district shall share equally the costs | 16 |
| of providing a written or
electronic verbatim record of the | 17 |
| proceedings. Any party may request that the
due process hearing | 18 |
| officer issue a subpoena to compel the testimony of
witnesses | 19 |
| or the production of documents relevant to the
resolution of | 20 |
| the hearing. Whenever a person refuses to comply with any
| 21 |
| subpoena issued under this Section, the circuit court of the | 22 |
| county in which
that hearing is pending, on application of the | 23 |
| impartial hearing officer or the
party requesting the issuance | 24 |
| of the subpoena, may compel compliance through
the contempt | 25 |
| powers of
the court in the same manner as if the requirements | 26 |
| of a subpoena issued by the
court had been disobeyed.
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| (h) The impartial hearing officer shall issue a written | 28 |
| decision, including
findings of fact and conclusions of law, | 29 |
| within 10 days after the
conclusion of the hearing and mail a | 30 |
| copy of the decision to the parents,
guardian, or student (if | 31 |
| the student requests the hearing), the school
district, the | 32 |
| director of special education, legal representatives of the
| 33 |
| parties, and the State Board of Education. Unless the hearing | 34 |
| officer has
granted specific extensions of time at the request | 35 |
| of a party, a final
decision, including the clarification of a | 36 |
| decision requested under this
subsection, shall be reached and |
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| mailed to the parties named above not later
than 45 days after | 2 |
| the request for hearing is received by the school district,
| 3 |
| public agency, or the State Board of Education, whichever is | 4 |
| sooner. The
decision shall specify the educational and related | 5 |
| services that shall be
provided to the student in accordance | 6 |
| with the student's needs.
The hearing officer shall retain | 7 |
| jurisdiction for the sole purpose of
considering a request for | 8 |
| clarification of the final decision submitted in
writing by a | 9 |
| party to the impartial hearing officer within 5 days after | 10 |
| receipt
of the decision.
A copy of the request for | 11 |
| clarification shall specify the portions of the
decision for | 12 |
| which clarification is sought and shall be mailed to all | 13 |
| parties
of record and to the State Board of Education. The | 14 |
| request shall
operate to stay implementation of those portions | 15 |
| of the decision for which
clarification is sought, pending | 16 |
| action on the request by the hearing officer,
unless the | 17 |
| parties otherwise agree. The hearing officer shall issue a
| 18 |
| clarification of the specified portion of the decision or issue | 19 |
| a partial or
full denial of the request in writing within 10 | 20 |
| days of receipt of the request
and mail copies to all parties | 21 |
| to whom the decision was mailed. This
subsection does not | 22 |
| permit a party to request, or authorize a hearing officer
to | 23 |
| entertain, reconsideration of the decision itself. The statute | 24 |
| of
limitations for seeking review of the decision shall be | 25 |
| tolled from the date
the request is submitted until the date | 26 |
| the hearing officer acts upon the
request. Upon the filing of a | 27 |
| civil action pursuant to subsection (i) of this
Section, the | 28 |
| hearing officer shall no longer exercise jurisdiction over the
| 29 |
| case. The hearing officer's decision shall be binding upon the | 30 |
| school district
and the parents or guardian unless a civil | 31 |
| action is commenced.
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| (i) Any party to an impartial due process hearing aggrieved | 33 |
| by the final
written decision of the impartial due process | 34 |
| hearing officer shall have the
right to commence a civil action | 35 |
| with respect to the issues presented in the
impartial due | 36 |
| process hearing. That civil action shall be brought in any
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| court of competent jurisdiction within 120 days after a copy of | 2 |
| the
decision of the impartial due process hearing officer is | 3 |
| mailed to the party as
provided in
subsection (h). The civil | 4 |
| action authorized by this subsection shall not be
exclusive of | 5 |
| any rights or causes of action otherwise
available. The | 6 |
| commencement of a civil action under this subsection shall
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| operate as a supersedeas. In any action brought under this | 8 |
| subsection the
Court shall receive the records of the impartial | 9 |
| due process hearing, shall
hear additional evidence at the | 10 |
| request of a party, and, basing its decision on
the | 11 |
| preponderance of the evidence, shall grant such relief as the | 12 |
| court
determines is appropriate. In any instance where a school | 13 |
| district willfully
disregards applicable regulations or | 14 |
| statutes regarding a child covered by this
Article, and which | 15 |
| disregard has been detrimental to the child, the school
| 16 |
| district shall be liable for any reasonable attorney's fees | 17 |
| incurred by the
parent or guardian in connection with | 18 |
| proceedings under this Section.
| 19 |
| (j) During the pendency of any administrative or judicial | 20 |
| proceeding
conducted
pursuant to this Section, unless the | 21 |
| school district and the
parents or guardian of the student | 22 |
| otherwise agree, the student shall remain in
his or her present | 23 |
| educational placement and continue in his or her present
| 24 |
| eligibility status and special education and related services, | 25 |
| if any. If the
hearing officer orders a change in the | 26 |
| eligibility status, educational
placement, or special | 27 |
| education and related services of the student, that
change | 28 |
| shall not be implemented until 30 days have elapsed following | 29 |
| the date
the hearing officer's
decision is mailed to the | 30 |
| parties in order to allow any party aggrieved by the
decision | 31 |
| to commence a civil action to stay
implementation of the | 32 |
| decision. If applying for initial admission to the
school | 33 |
| district, the student shall, with the consent of the parents or
| 34 |
| guardian, be placed in the school district program until all | 35 |
| such proceedings
have been completed. The costs for any special | 36 |
| education and related services
or placement incurred following |
|
|
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| 1 |
| 60 school days after the initial request for
evaluation shall | 2 |
| be borne by the school district if the services or placement
is | 3 |
| in accordance with the final determination as to the special | 4 |
| education and
related services or placement that must be | 5 |
| provided to the child, provided that
during that 60 day period | 6 |
| there have been no delays caused by the child's
parent or | 7 |
| guardian.
| 8 |
| (k) Whenever the parents or guardian of a child of the type | 9 |
| described in
Section 14-1.02 are not known, are unavailable, or | 10 |
| the child is a ward of the
State, a person shall be assigned to | 11 |
| serve as surrogate parent for the child in
matters relating to | 12 |
| the identification, evaluation, and educational placement
of | 13 |
| the child and the provision of a free appropriate public | 14 |
| education to the
child. Persons shall be assigned as surrogate | 15 |
| parents by the State
Superintendent of Education. The State | 16 |
| Board of Education shall promulgate
rules and regulations | 17 |
| establishing qualifications of those persons and their
| 18 |
| responsibilities and the procedures to be followed in making | 19 |
| assignments of
persons as surrogate parents.
Surrogate parents | 20 |
| shall not be employees of the school district, an agency
| 21 |
| created by joint agreement under Section 10-22.31, an agency | 22 |
| involved in the
education or care of the student, or the State | 23 |
| Board of Education.
Services of any person assigned as | 24 |
| surrogate parent shall terminate if the
parent or guardian | 25 |
| becomes available unless otherwise requested by the parents
or | 26 |
| guardian. The assignment of a person as surrogate parent at no | 27 |
| time
supersedes, terminates, or suspends the parents' or | 28 |
| guardians' legal authority
relative to the child. Any person | 29 |
| participating in good faith as surrogate
parent on behalf of | 30 |
| the child before school officials or a hearing officer
shall | 31 |
| have immunity from civil or criminal liability that otherwise | 32 |
| might
result by reason of that participation, except in cases | 33 |
| of willful and
wanton misconduct.
| 34 |
| (l) At all stages of the hearing the hearing officer shall | 35 |
| require that
interpreters be made available by the school | 36 |
| district for persons who are deaf
or for persons whose normally |
|
|
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LRB094 05828 AMC 35882 b |
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| 1 |
| spoken language is other than English.
| 2 |
| (m) If any provision of this Section or its application to | 3 |
| any person or
circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity of | 4 |
| that provision or application
does not affect other provisions | 5 |
| or applications of the Section that can be
given effect without | 6 |
| the invalid application or provision, and to this end the
| 7 |
| provisions of this Section are severable, unless otherwise | 8 |
| provided by this
Section.
| 9 |
| (Source: P.A. 89-652, eff. 8-14-96.)
| 10 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 |
| becoming law.
|
|