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Illinois Compiled Statutes

Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

SCHOOLS
(105 ILCS 5/) School Code.

105 ILCS 5/24-3

    (105 ILCS 5/24-3) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-3)
    Sec. 24-3. Attendance at teachers' institute. The days in any school year spent by a teacher or educational support personnel during the term time spent in attendance upon a teachers' institute or equivalent professional educational experiences held under the direction of the county superintendent of schools shall be considered time expended in the service of the district and no deduction of wages shall be made for such attendance. The board may make a pro-rata deduction from the salary of any teacher or educational support personnel who fail or refuse to attend such institute, unless, in the case of educational support personnel, they are exempt from attending. The boards shall close the schools for county institute.
(Source: P.A. 97-525, eff. 1-1-12.)

105 ILCS 5/24-3.5

    (105 ILCS 5/24-3.5)
    Sec. 24-3.5. Attendance for federal advocacy work. Any teacher who is a member of a statewide association representing teachers and who is elected by the association's membership to represent the association in federal advocacy work may spend up to 10 days during a school term representing the association in federal advocacy work. No deduction of wages may be made for such absence, and the statewide association shall reimburse the employing school district for the cost of the need for a substitute teacher as the result of the teacher's absence.
(Source: P.A. 103-308, eff. 1-1-24.)

105 ILCS 5/24-4

    (105 ILCS 5/24-4) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-4)
    Sec. 24-4. The color, race, sex, nationality, religion or religious affiliation of any applicant seeking employment either as a superintendent, principal, teacher or otherwise in the public elementary or high schools, shall not be considered either a qualification or disqualification for any such employment. Nor shall color, race, sex, nationality, religion or religious affiliation be considered in assigning any person to an office or position or to any school in the school system. If any member of a school board, superintendent, principal or other school officer violates the foregoing provision or directly or indirectly requires, asks or seeks information concerning the color, race, sex, nationality, religion or religious affiliation of any person in connection with his employment or assignment, or if any person, agency, bureau, corporation or association employed or maintained to obtain or aid in obtaining employment of the kind described, directly or indirectly requires, asks, seeks, indicates or transmits orally or in writing information concerning the color, race, sex, nationality, religion or religious affiliation of an applicant for such employment, with the intent to influence such appointment, he shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $500, to be recovered by the person aggrieved thereby in any court of competent jurisdiction, and he shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
(Source: P.A. 81-1509.)

105 ILCS 5/24-4.1

    (105 ILCS 5/24-4.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-4.1)
    Sec. 24-4.1. Residence requirements.) Residency within any school district shall not be considered in determining the employment or the compensation of a teacher or whether to retain, promote, assign or transfer that teacher.
(Source: P.A. 82-381.)

105 ILCS 5/24-5

    (105 ILCS 5/24-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-5)
    Sec. 24-5. Physical fitness and professional growth.
    (a) In this Section, "employee" means any employee of a school district, a student teacher, an employee of a contractor that provides services to students or in schools, or any other individual subject to the requirements of Section 10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of this Code.
    (b) This subsection (b) does not apply to substitute teacher employees. School boards shall require of new employees evidence of physical fitness to perform duties assigned and freedom from communicable disease. Such evidence shall consist of a physical examination by a physician licensed in Illinois or any other state to practice medicine and surgery in all its branches, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or a licensed physician assistant not more than 90 days preceding time of presentation to the board, and the cost of such examination shall rest with the employee. A new or existing employee may be subject to additional health examinations, including screening for tuberculosis, as required by rules adopted by the Department of Public Health or by order of a local public health official. The board may from time to time require an examination of any employee by a physician licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in all its branches, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or a licensed physician assistant and shall pay the expenses thereof from school funds.
    (b-5) School boards may require of new substitute teacher employees evidence of physical fitness to perform duties assigned and shall require of new substitute teacher employees evidence of freedom from communicable disease. Evidence may consist of a physical examination by a physician licensed in Illinois or any other state to practice medicine and surgery in all its branches, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or a licensed physician assistant not more than 90 days preceding time of presentation to the board, and the cost of such examination shall rest with the substitute teacher employee. A new or existing substitute teacher employee may be subject to additional health examinations, including screening for tuberculosis, as required by rules adopted by the Department of Public Health or by order of a local public health official. The board may from time to time require an examination of any substitute teacher employee by a physician licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in all its branches, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or a licensed physician assistant and shall pay the expenses thereof from school funds.
    (c) School boards may require teachers in their employ to furnish from time to time evidence of continued professional growth.
(Source: P.A. 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; 100-855, eff. 8-14-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)

105 ILCS 5/24-6

    (105 ILCS 5/24-6)
    Sec. 24-6. Sick leave. The school boards of all school districts, including special charter districts, but not including school districts in municipalities of 500,000 or more, shall grant their full-time teachers, and also shall grant such of their other employees as are eligible to participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund under the "600-Hour Standard" established, or under such other eligibility participation standard as may from time to time be established, by rules and regulations now or hereafter promulgated by the Board of that Fund under Section 7-198 of the Illinois Pension Code, as now or hereafter amended, sick leave provisions not less in amount than 10 days at full pay in each school year. If any such teacher or employee does not use the full amount of annual leave thus allowed, the unused amount shall be allowed to accumulate to a minimum available leave of 180 days at full pay, including the leave of the current year. Sick leave shall be interpreted to mean personal illness, mental or behavioral health complications, quarantine at home, or serious illness or death in the immediate family or household. The school board may require a certificate from a physician licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in all its branches, a mental health professional licensed in Illinois providing ongoing care or treatment to the teacher or employee, a chiropractic physician licensed under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, a licensed physician assistant, or, if the treatment is by prayer or spiritual means, a spiritual adviser or practitioner of the teacher's or employee's faith as a basis for pay during leave after an absence of 3 days for personal illness or as the school board may deem necessary in other cases. If the school board does require a certificate as a basis for pay during leave of less than 3 days for personal illness, the school board shall pay, from school funds, the expenses incurred by the teachers or other employees in obtaining the certificate.
    Sick leave shall also be interpreted to mean birth, adoption, placement for adoption, and the acceptance of a child in need of foster care. Teachers and other employees to which this Section applies are entitled to use up to 30 days of paid sick leave because of the birth of a child that is not dependent on the need to recover from childbirth. Paid sick leave because of the birth of a child may be used absent medical certification for up to 30 working school days, which days may be used at any time within the 12-month period following the birth of the child. The use of up to 30 working school days of paid sick leave because of the birth of a child may not be diminished as a result of any intervening period of nonworking days or school not being in session, such as for summer, winter, or spring break or holidays, that may occur during the use of the paid sick leave. For paid sick leave for adoption, placement for adoption, or the acceptance of a child in need of foster care, the school board may require that the teacher or other employee to which this Section applies provide evidence that the formal adoption process or the formal foster care process is underway, and such sick leave is limited to 30 days unless a longer leave has been negotiated with the exclusive bargaining representative. Paid sick leave for adoption, placement for adoption, or the acceptance of a child in need of foster care need not be used consecutively once the formal adoption process or the formal foster care process is underway, and such sick leave may be used for reasons related to the formal adoption process or the formal foster care process prior to taking custody of the child or accepting the child in need of foster care, in addition to using such sick leave upon taking custody of the child or accepting the child in need of foster care.
    If, by reason of any change in the boundaries of school districts, or by reason of the creation of a new school district, the employment of a teacher is transferred to a new or different board, the accumulated sick leave of such teacher is not thereby lost, but is transferred to such new or different district.
    Any sick leave used by a teacher or employee during the 2021-2022 school year shall be returned to a teacher or employee who receives all doses required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as defined in Section 10-20.83 of this Code, if:
        (1) the sick leave was taken because the teacher or
    
employee was restricted from being on school district property because the teacher or employee:
            (A) had a confirmed positive COVID-19 diagnosis
        
via a molecular amplification diagnostic test, such as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19;
            (B) had a probable COVID-19 diagnosis via an
        
antigen diagnostic test;
            (C) was in close contact with a person who had a
        
confirmed case of COVID-19 and was required to be excluded from school; or
            (D) was required by the school or school district
        
policy to be excluded from school district property due to COVID-19 symptoms; or
        (2) the sick leave was taken to care for a child of
    
the teacher or employee who was unable to attend elementary or secondary school because the child:
            (A) had a confirmed positive COVID-19 diagnosis
        
via a molecular amplification diagnostic test, such as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19;
            (B) had a probable COVID-19 diagnosis via an
        
antigen diagnostic test;
            (C) was in close contact with a person who had a
        
confirmed case of COVID-19 and was required to be excluded from school; or
            (D) was required by the school or school district
        
policy to be excluded from school district property due to COVID-19 symptoms.
    For purposes of return of sick leave used in the 2021-2022 school year pursuant this Section, an "employee" is a teacher or employee employed by the school district on or after April 5, 2022 (the effective date of Public Act 102-697).
    Leave shall be returned to a teacher or employee pursuant to this Section provided that the teacher or employee has received all required doses to meet the definition of "fully vaccinated against COVID-19" under Section 10-20.83 of this Code no later than 5 weeks after April 5, 2022 (the effective date of Public Act 102-697).
    No school may rescind any sick leave returned to a teacher or employee on the basis of a revision to the definition of "fully vaccinated against COVID-19" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Public Health, provided that the teacher or employee received all doses required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as defined in Section 10-20.83 of this Code, at the time the sick leave was returned to the teacher or employee.
    For purposes of this Section, "immediate family" shall include parents, spouse, brothers, sisters, children, grandparents, grandchildren, parents-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and legal guardians.
(Source: P.A. 102-275, eff. 8-6-21; 102-697, eff. 4-5-22; 102-866, eff. 5-13-22; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)

105 ILCS 5/24-6.1

    (105 ILCS 5/24-6.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-6.1)
    Sec. 24-6.1. Sabbatical leave. Every school board may grant a sabbatical leave of absence to a teacher, principal or superintendent performing contractual continued service, for a period of at least 4 school months but not in excess of one school term, for resident study, research, travel or other purposes designed to improve the school system. The grant of a sabbatical leave by a school board shall constitute a finding that the leave is deemed to benefit the school system by improving the quality and level of experience of the teaching force.
    This leave may be granted after completion of at least 6 years of satisfactory service as a full time teacher, principal or superintendent and may again be granted after completion of a subsequent period of 6 years of such service. However, 2 sabbatical leaves, each consisting of at least 4 months but totaling no more than the equivalent of one school year, may be granted within a 6 year period. A leave granted for a period of one school year or less shall bar a further sabbatical leave until completion of 6 years additional satisfactory service, except that 2 leaves which total no more than the equivalent of one school year shall bar a further sabbatical leave only until the completion of 6 years additional satisfactory service following the completion of the first such leave. The leave shall be conditional upon a plan for resident study, research, travel or other activities proposed by the applicant and deemed by the board to benefit the school system, which plan shall be approved by the board and not thereafter modified without the approval of the board.
    Before a leave is granted pursuant to this Section, the applicant shall agree in writing that if at the expiration of such leave he does not return to and perform contractual continued service in the district for at least one school year after his return, all sums of money received from the board during his sabbatical leave will be refunded to the board unless such return and performance is prevented by illness or incapacity.
    During absence pursuant to such leave, such teacher, principal or superintendent shall receive the same basic salary as if in actual service, except that there may be deducted therefrom an amount equivalent to the amount payable for substitute service. However, such salary after deduction for substitute service shall in no case be less than the minimum provided by Section 24-8 of this Act or 1/2 of the basic salary, whichever is greater. The person on leave shall not engage in any activity for which salary or compensation is paid unless the activity is directly related to the purpose for which the leave is granted and is approved by the board. A sabbatical leave may be granted to enable the applicant, if otherwise eligible, to accept scholarships for study or research. Unless justified by illness or incapacity, failure of any person granted a leave under this Section to devote the entire period to the purposes for which the leave was granted shall constitute a cause for removal from teaching service.
    Upon expiration of a leave granted pursuant to this Section, and upon presentation of evidence satisfactory to the board showing compliance with the conditions of the leave, the teacher, principal or superintendent shall be returned to a position equivalent to that formerly occupied. The contractual continued service status of the person on sabbatical leave shall not be affected.
    Absence during a leave granted pursuant to this Section shall not be construed as a discontinuance of service for any purpose, including progression on the salary schedule if one is in effect in the district. The board shall pay the contribution to the Teachers' Retirement System required of the person on leave computed on the annual full-time salary rate under which the member last received earnings immediately prior to the leave or a proportionate part of such rate for a partial year of sabbatical leave credit.
    This Section in no way limits the power of the board to grant leaves for other purposes.
(Source: P.A. 83-186.)

105 ILCS 5/24-6.2

    (105 ILCS 5/24-6.2) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-6.2)
    Sec. 24-6.2. Association president leave. Each school board shall grant paid leaves of absence to the local association president of a state teacher association that is an exclusive bargaining agent in the district, or his or her teacher designee, for the purpose of attending meetings, workshops or seminars designated by the State Board of Education, the regional superintendent of schools, the general superintendent of schools in a school district subject to the provisions of Article 34, or the superintendent of schools in any school district having a population of less than 500,000 inhabitants to deal with issues arising from the education reform legislation of the 84th General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 84-1401.)