Public Act 102-0854
 
SB3709 EnrolledLRB102 22596 CMG 31739 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
10-23.5 and 24-11 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-23.5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-23.5)
    Sec. 10-23.5. Educational support personnel employees.
    (a) To employ such educational support personnel employees
as it deems advisable and to define their employment duties;
provided that residency within any school district shall not
be considered in determining the employment or the
compensation of any such employee, or whether to retain,
promote, assign or transfer such employee. If an educational
support personnel employee is removed or dismissed or the
hours he or she works are reduced as a result of a decision of
the school board (i) to decrease the number of educational
support personnel employees employed by the board or (ii) to
discontinue some particular type of educational support
service, written notice shall be mailed to the employee and
also given to the employee either by certified mail, return
receipt requested, or personal delivery with receipt, at least
30 days before the employee is removed or dismissed or the
hours he or she works are reduced, together with a statement of
honorable dismissal and the reason therefor if applicable.
However, if a reduction in hours is due to an unforeseen
reduction in the student population, then the written notice
must be mailed and given to the employee at least 5 days before
the hours are reduced. The employee with the shorter length of
continuing service with the district, within the respective
category of position, shall be dismissed first unless an
alternative method of determining the sequence of dismissal is
established in a collective bargaining agreement or contract
between the board and any exclusive bargaining agent and
except that this provision shall not impair the operation of
any affirmative action program in the district, regardless of
whether it exists by operation of law or is conducted on a
voluntary basis by the board. If the board has any vacancies
for the following school term or within one calendar year from
the beginning of the following school term, the positions
thereby becoming available within a specific category of
position shall be tendered to the employees so removed or
dismissed from that category or any other category of
position, so far as they are qualified to hold such positions.
Each board shall, in consultation with any exclusive employee
representative or bargaining agent, each year establish a
list, categorized by positions, showing the length of
continuing service of each full time educational support
personnel employee who is qualified to hold any such
positions, unless an alternative method of determining a
sequence of dismissal is established as provided for in this
Section, in which case a list shall be made in accordance with
the alternative method. Copies of the list shall be
distributed to the exclusive employee representative or
bargaining agent on or before February 1 of each year.
    If an educational support personnel employee is removed or
dismissed as a result of a decision of the board to decrease
the number of educational support personnel employed by the
board or to discontinue some particular type of educational
support service and he or she accepts the tender of a vacancy
within one calendar year from the beginning of the following
school term, then that employee shall maintain any rights
accrued during his or her previous service with the school
district.
    Where an educational support personnel employee is
dismissed by the board as a result of a decrease in the number
of employees or the discontinuance of the employee's job, the
employee shall be paid all earned compensation on or before
the next regular pay date following his or her last day of
employment.
    The provisions of this amendatory Act of 1986 relating to
residency within any school district shall not apply to cities
having a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants.
    (b) In the case of a new school district or districts
formed in accordance with Article 11E of this Code, a school
district or districts that annex all of the territory of one or
more entire other school districts in accordance with Article
7 of this Code, or a school district receiving students from a
deactivated school facility in accordance with Section
10-22.22b of this Code, or a special education cooperative
that dissolves or reorganizes in accordance with Section
10-22.31 of this Code, the employment of educational support
personnel in the new, annexing, or receiving school district
immediately following the reorganization shall be governed by
this subsection (b). Lists of the educational support
personnel employed in the individual districts or special
education cooperative for the school year immediately prior to
the effective date of the new district or districts,
annexation, or deactivation, dissolution, or reorganization
shall be combined for the districts forming the new district
or districts, for the annexed and annexing districts, or for
the deactivating and receiving districts, or for the
dissolving or reorganizing special education cooperative, as
the case may be. The combined list shall be categorized by
positions, showing the length of continuing service of each
full-time educational support personnel employee who is
qualified to hold any such position. If there are more
full-time educational support personnel employees on the
combined list than there are available positions in the new,
annexing, or receiving school district, then the employing
school board shall first remove or dismiss those educational
support personnel employees with the shorter length of
continuing service within the respective category of position,
following the procedures outlined in subsection (a) of this
Section. In the case of a special education cooperative that
dissolves or reorganizes, the districts that are parties to
the joint agreement shall follow the procedures outlined in
subsection (a) of this Section. The employment and position of
each educational support personnel employee on the combined
list not so removed or dismissed shall be transferred to the
new, annexing, or receiving school board, and the new,
annexing, or receiving school board is subject to this Code
with respect to any educational support personnel employee so
transferred as if the educational support personnel employee
had been the new, annexing, or receiving board's employee
during the time the educational support personnel employee was
actually employed by the school board of the district from
which the employment and position were transferred.
    The changes made by Public Act 95-148 shall not apply to
the formation of a new district or districts in accordance
with Article 11E of this Code, the annexation of one or more
entire districts in accordance with Article 7 of this Code, or
the deactivation of a school facility in accordance with
Section 10-22.22b of this Code effective on or before July 1,
2007.
(Source: P.A. 101-46, eff. 7-12-19.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/24-11)  (from Ch. 122, par. 24-11)
    Sec. 24-11. Boards of Education - Boards of School
Inspectors - Contractual continued service.
    (a) As used in this and the succeeding Sections of this
Article:
    "Teacher" means any or all school district employees
regularly required to be licensed under laws relating to the
licensure of teachers.
    "Board" means board of directors, board of education, or
board of school inspectors, as the case may be.
    "School term" means that portion of the school year, July
1 to the following June 30, when school is in actual session.
    "Program" means a program of a special education joint
agreement.
    "Program of a special education joint agreement" means
instructional, consultative, supervisory, administrative,
diagnostic, and related services that are managed by a special
educational joint agreement designed to service 2 or more
school districts that are members of the joint agreement.
    "PERA implementation date" means the implementation date
of an evaluation system for teachers as specified by Section
24A-2.5 of this Code for all schools within a school district
or all programs of a special education joint agreement.
    (b) This Section and Sections 24-12 through 24-16 of this
Article apply only to school districts having less than
500,000 inhabitants.
    (c) Any teacher who is first employed as a full-time
teacher in a school district or program prior to the PERA
implementation date and who is employed in that district or
program for a probationary period of 4 consecutive school
terms shall enter upon contractual continued service in the
district or in all of the programs that the teacher is legally
qualified to hold, unless the teacher is given written notice
of dismissal by certified mail, return receipt requested, by
the employing board at least 45 days before the end of any
school term within such period.
    (d) For any teacher who is first employed as a full-time
teacher in a school district or program on or after the PERA
implementation date, the probationary period shall be one of
the following periods, based upon the teacher's school terms
of service and performance, before the teacher shall enter
upon contractual continued service in the district or in all
of the programs that the teacher is legally qualified to hold,
unless the teacher is given written notice of dismissal by
certified mail, return receipt requested, by the employing
board at least 45 days before the end of any school term within
such period:
        (1) 4 consecutive school terms of service in which the
    teacher receives overall annual evaluation ratings of at
    least "Proficient" in the last school term and at least
    "Proficient" in either the second or third school term;
        (2) 3 consecutive school terms of service in which the
    teacher receives 3 overall annual evaluations of
    "Excellent"; or
        (3) 2 consecutive school terms of service in which the
    teacher receives 2 overall annual evaluations of
    "Excellent" service, but only if the teacher (i)
    previously attained contractual continued service in a
    different school district or program in this State, (ii)
    voluntarily departed or was honorably dismissed from that
    school district or program in the school term immediately
    prior to the teacher's first school term of service
    applicable to the attainment of contractual continued
    service under this subdivision (3), and (iii) received, in
    his or her 2 most recent overall annual or biennial
    evaluations from the prior school district or program,
    ratings of at least "Proficient", with both such ratings
    occurring after the school district's or program's PERA
    implementation date. For a teacher to attain contractual
    continued service under this subdivision (3), the teacher
    shall provide official copies of his or her 2 most recent
    overall annual or biennial evaluations from the prior
    school district or program to the new school district or
    program within 60 days from the teacher's first day of
    service with the new school district or program. The prior
    school district or program must provide the teacher with
    official copies of his or her 2 most recent overall annual
    or biennial evaluations within 14 days after the teacher's
    request. If a teacher has requested such official copies
    prior to 45 days after the teacher's first day of service
    with the new school district or program and the teacher's
    prior school district or program fails to provide the
    teacher with the official copies required under this
    subdivision (3), then the time period for the teacher to
    submit the official copies to his or her new school
    district or program must be extended until 14 days after
    receipt of such copies from the prior school district or
    program. If the prior school district or program fails to
    provide the teacher with the official copies required
    under this subdivision (3) within 90 days from the
    teacher's first day of service with the new school
    district or program, then the new school district or
    program shall rely upon the teacher's own copies of his or
    her evaluations for purposes of this subdivision (3).
    If the teacher does not receive overall annual evaluations
of "Excellent" in the school terms necessary for eligibility
to achieve accelerated contractual continued service in
subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection (d), the teacher
shall be eligible for contractual continued service pursuant
to subdivision (1) of this subsection (d). If, at the
conclusion of 4 consecutive school terms of service that count
toward attainment of contractual continued service, the
teacher's performance does not qualify the teacher for
contractual continued service under subdivision (1) of this
subsection (d), then the teacher shall not enter upon
contractual continued service and shall be dismissed. If a
performance evaluation is not conducted for any school term
when such evaluation is required to be conducted under Section
24A-5 of this Code, then the teacher's performance evaluation
rating for such school term for purposes of determining the
attainment of contractual continued service shall be deemed
"Proficient", except that, during any time in which the
Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health
emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency Act, this default to "Proficient" does not
apply to any teacher who has entered into contractual
continued service and who was deemed "Excellent" on his or her
most recent evaluation. During any time in which the Governor
has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency
pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management
Agency Act and unless the school board and any exclusive
bargaining representative have completed the performance
rating for teachers or mutually agreed to an alternate
performance rating, any teacher who has entered into
contractual continued service, whose most recent evaluation
was deemed "Excellent", and whose performance evaluation is
not conducted when the evaluation is required to be conducted
shall receive a teacher's performance rating deemed
"Excellent". A school board and any exclusive bargaining
representative may mutually agree to an alternate performance
rating for teachers not in contractual continued service
during any time in which the Governor has declared a disaster
due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, as long as the
agreement is in writing.
    (e) For the purposes of determining contractual continued
service, a school term shall be counted only toward attainment
of contractual continued service if the teacher actually
teaches or is otherwise present and participating in the
district's or program's educational program for 120 days or
more, provided that the days of leave under the federal Family
Medical Leave Act that the teacher is required to take until
the end of the school term shall be considered days of teaching
or participation in the district's or program's educational
program. A school term that is not counted toward attainment
of contractual continued service shall not be considered a
break in service for purposes of determining whether a teacher
has been employed for 4 consecutive school terms, provided
that the teacher actually teaches or is otherwise present and
participating in the district's or program's educational
program in the following school term.
    (f) If the employing board determines to dismiss the
teacher in the last year of the probationary period as
provided in subsection (c) of this Section or subdivision (1)
or (2) of subsection (d) of this Section, but not subdivision
(3) of subsection (d) of this Section, the written notice of
dismissal provided by the employing board must contain
specific reasons for dismissal. Any full-time teacher who does
not receive written notice from the employing board at least
45 days before the end of any school term as provided in this
Section and whose performance does not require dismissal after
the fourth probationary year pursuant to subsection (d) of
this Section shall be re-employed for the following school
term.
    (g) Contractual continued service shall continue in effect
the terms and provisions of the contract with the teacher
during the last school term of the probationary period,
subject to this Act and the lawful regulations of the
employing board. This Section and succeeding Sections do not
modify any existing power of the board except with respect to
the procedure of the discharge of a teacher and reductions in
salary as hereinafter provided. Contractual continued service
status shall not restrict the power of the board to transfer a
teacher to a position which the teacher is qualified to fill or
to make such salary adjustments as it deems desirable, but
unless reductions in salary are uniform or based upon some
reasonable classification, any teacher whose salary is reduced
shall be entitled to a notice and a hearing as hereinafter
provided in the case of certain dismissals or removals.
    (h) If, by reason of any change in the boundaries of school
districts, by reason of a special education cooperative
reorganization or dissolution in accordance with Section
10-22.31 of this Code, or by reason of the creation of a new
school district, the position held by any teacher having a
contractual continued service status is transferred from one
board to the control of a new or different board, then the
contractual continued service status of the teacher is not
thereby lost, and such new or different board is subject to
this Code with respect to the teacher in the same manner as if
the teacher were its employee and had been its employee during
the time the teacher was actually employed by the board from
whose control the position was transferred.
    (i) The employment of any teacher in a program of a special
education joint agreement established under Section 3-15.14,
10-22.31 or 10-22.31a shall be governed by this and succeeding
Sections of this Article. For purposes of attaining and
maintaining contractual continued service and computing length
of continuing service as referred to in this Section and
Section 24-12, employment in a special educational joint
program shall be deemed a continuation of all previous
licensed employment of such teacher for such joint agreement
whether the employer of the teacher was the joint agreement,
the regional superintendent, or one of the participating
districts in the joint agreement.
    (j) For any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a
full-time teacher in a program of a special education joint
agreement, whether the program is operated by the joint
agreement or a member district on behalf of the joint
agreement, in the event of a reduction in the number of
programs or positions in the joint agreement in which the
notice of dismissal is provided on or before the end of the
2010-2011 school term, the teacher in contractual continued
service is eligible for employment in the joint agreement
programs for which the teacher is legally qualified in order
of greater length of continuing service in the joint
agreement, unless an alternative method of determining the
sequence of dismissal is established in a collective
bargaining agreement. For any teacher employed after July 1,
1987 as a full-time teacher in a program of a special education
joint agreement, whether the program is operated by the joint
agreement or a member district on behalf of the joint
agreement, in the event of a reduction in the number of
programs or positions in the joint agreement in which the
notice of dismissal is provided during the 2011-2012 school
term or a subsequent school term, the teacher shall be
included on the honorable dismissal lists of all joint
agreement programs for positions for which the teacher is
qualified and is eligible for employment in such programs in
accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of Section 24-12 of
this Code and the applicable honorable dismissal policies of
the joint agreement.
    (k) For any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a
full-time teacher in a program of a special education joint
agreement, whether the program is operated by the joint
agreement or a member district on behalf of the joint
agreement, in the event of the dissolution of a joint
agreement, in which the notice to teachers of the dissolution
is provided during the 2010-2011 school term, the teacher in
contractual continued service who is legally qualified shall
be assigned to any comparable position in a member district
currently held by a teacher who has not entered upon
contractual continued service or held by a teacher who has
entered upon contractual continued service with a shorter
length of contractual continued service. Any teacher employed
after July 1, 1987 as a full-time teacher in a program of a
special education joint agreement, whether the program is
operated by the joint agreement or a member district on behalf
of the joint agreement, in the event of the dissolution of a
joint agreement in which the notice to teachers of the
dissolution is provided during the 2011-2012 school term or a
subsequent school term, the teacher who is qualified shall be
included on the order of honorable dismissal lists of each
member district and shall be assigned to any comparable
position in any such district in accordance with subsections
(b) and (c) of Section 24-12 of this Code and the applicable
honorable dismissal policies of each member district.
    (l) The governing board of the joint agreement, or the
administrative district, if so authorized by the articles of
agreement of the joint agreement, rather than the board of
education of a school district, may carry out employment and
termination actions including dismissals under this Section
and Section 24-12.
    (m) The employment of any teacher in a special education
program authorized by Section 14-1.01 through 14-14.01, or a
joint educational program established under Section 10-22.31a,
shall be under this and the succeeding Sections of this
Article, and such employment shall be deemed a continuation of
the previous employment of such teacher in any of the
participating districts, regardless of the participation of
other districts in the program.
    (n) Any teacher employed as a full-time teacher in a
special education program prior to September 23, 1987 in which
2 or more school districts participate for a probationary
period of 2 consecutive years shall enter upon contractual
continued service in each of the participating districts,
subject to this and the succeeding Sections of this Article,
and, notwithstanding Section 24-1.5 of this Code, in the event
of the termination of the program shall be eligible for any
vacant position in any of such districts for which such
teacher is qualified.
(Source: P.A. 101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 102-552, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.