Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB2148

LRB104 09497 LNS 19558 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB2148

Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Adriane Johnson

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/10-19.05

Amends the School Code. Provides that pupils absent from school due to the following valid causes may be counted as in attendance for the number of clock hours and days that the pupil was absent due to the valid cause: (1) illness, including the mental or behavioral health of the student up to 5 days for mental and behavioral health; (2) attendance at a verified medical or therapeutic appointment; and (3) death in the immediate family.

A BILL FOR

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 Section 10-19.05 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/10-19.05)

Sec. 10-19.05. Daily pupil attendance calculation.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, for a pupil of legal school age and in kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12, a day of attendance shall be counted only for sessions of not less than 5 clock hours of school work per day under direct supervision of (i) teachers or (ii) non-teaching personnel or volunteer personnel when engaging in non-teaching duties and supervising in those instances specified in subsection (a) of Section 10-22.34 and paragraph 10 of Section 34-18. Days of attendance by pupils through verified participation in an e-learning program adopted by a school board and verified by the regional office of education or intermediate service center for the school district under Section 10-20.56 of this Code shall be considered as full days of attendance under this Section.

(b) A pupil regularly enrolled in a public school for only a part of the school day may be counted on the basis of one-sixth of a school day for every class hour of instruction of 40 minutes or more attended pursuant to such enrollment, unless a pupil is enrolled in a block-schedule format of 80 minutes or more of instruction, in which case the pupil may be counted on the basis of the proportion of minutes of school work completed each day to the minimum number of minutes that school work is required to be held that day.

(c) A session of 4 or more clock hours may be counted as a day of attendance upon certification by the regional superintendent of schools and approval by the State Superintendent of Education to the extent that the district has been forced to use daily multiple sessions.

(d) A session of 3 or more clock hours may be counted as a day of attendance (1) when the remainder of the school day or at least 2 hours in the evening of that day is utilized for an in-service training program for teachers, up to a maximum of 10 days per school year, provided that a district conducts an in-service training program for teachers in accordance with Section 10-22.39 of this Code, or, in lieu of 4 such days, 2 full days may be used, in which event each such day may be counted as a day required for a legal school calendar pursuant to Section 10-19 of this Code; (2) when, of the 5 days allowed under item (1), a maximum of 4 days are used for parent-teacher conferences, or, in lieu of 4 such days, 2 full days are used, in which case each such day may be counted as a calendar day required under Section 10-19 of this Code, provided that the full-day, parent-teacher conference consists of (i) a minimum of 5 clock hours of parent-teacher conferences, (ii) both a minimum of 2 clock hours of parent-teacher conferences held in the evening following a full day of student attendance and a minimum of 3 clock hours of parent-teacher conferences held on the day immediately following evening parent-teacher conferences, or (iii) multiple parent-teacher conferences held in the evenings following full days of student attendance in which the time used for the parent-teacher conferences is equivalent to a minimum of 5 clock hours; and (3) when days in addition to those provided in items (1) and (2) are scheduled by a school pursuant to its school improvement plan adopted under Article 34 or its revised or amended school improvement plan adopted under Article 2, provided that (i) such sessions of 3 or more clock hours are scheduled to occur at regular intervals, (ii) the remainder of the school days in which such sessions occur are utilized for in-service training programs or other staff development activities for teachers, and (iii) a sufficient number of minutes of school work under the direct supervision of teachers are added to the school days between such regularly scheduled sessions to accumulate not less than the number of minutes by which such sessions of 3 or more clock hours fall short of 5 clock hours. Days scheduled for in-service training programs, staff development activities, or parent-teacher conferences may be scheduled separately for different grade levels and different attendance centers of the district.

(e) A session of not less than one clock hour of teaching hospitalized or homebound pupils on-site or by telephone to the classroom may be counted as a half day of attendance; however, these pupils must receive 4 or more clock hours of instruction to be counted for a full day of attendance.

(f) A session of at least 4 clock hours may be counted as a day of attendance for first grade pupils and pupils in full-day kindergartens, and a session of 2 or more hours may be counted as a half day of attendance by pupils in kindergartens that provide only half days of attendance.

(g) For children with disabilities who are below the age of 6 years and who cannot attend 2 or more clock hours because of their disability or immaturity, a session of not less than one clock hour may be counted as a half day of attendance; however, for such children whose educational needs require a session of 4 or more clock hours, a session of at least 4 clock hours may be counted as a full day of attendance.

(h) A recognized kindergarten that provides for only a half day of attendance by each pupil shall not have more than one half day of attendance counted in any one day. However, kindergartens may count 2 and a half days of attendance in any 5 consecutive school days. When a pupil attends such a kindergarten for 2 half days on any one school day, the pupil shall have the following day as a day absent from school, unless the school district obtains permission in writing from the State Superintendent of Education. Attendance at kindergartens that provide for a full day of attendance by each pupil shall be counted the same as attendance by first grade pupils. Only the first year of attendance in one kindergarten shall be counted, except in the case of children who entered the kindergarten in their fifth year whose educational development requires a second year of kindergarten as determined under rules of the State Board of Education.

(i) On the days when the State's final accountability assessment is administered under subsection (c) of Section 2-3.64a-5 of this Code, the day of attendance for a pupil whose school day must be shortened to accommodate required testing procedures may be less than 5 clock hours and shall be counted toward the 176 days of actual pupil attendance required under Section 10-19 of this Code, provided that a sufficient number of minutes of school work in excess of 5 clock hours are first completed on other school days to compensate for the loss of school work on the examination days.

(j) Pupils enrolled in a remote educational program established under Section 10-29 of this Code may be counted on the basis of a one-fifth day of attendance for every clock hour of instruction attended in the remote educational program, provided that, in any month, the school district may not claim for a student enrolled in a remote educational program more days of attendance than the maximum number of days of attendance the district can claim (i) for students enrolled in a building holding year-round classes if the student is classified as participating in the remote educational program on a year-round schedule or (ii) for students enrolled in a building not holding year-round classes if the student is not classified as participating in the remote educational program on a year-round schedule.

(j-5) The clock hour requirements of subsections (a) through (j) of this Section do not apply if the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act. The State Superintendent of Education may establish minimum clock hour requirements under Sections 10-30 and 34-18.66 if the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.

(j-10) Pupils absent from school due to the following valid causes listed under Section 26-2a may be counted as in attendance for the number of clock hours and days that the pupil was absent due to the valid cause:

(1) illness, including the mental or behavioral health of the student up to 5 days for mental and behavioral health as per paragraph 2 of Section 26-1;

(2) attendance at a verified medical or therapeutic appointment; and

(3) death in the immediate family.

(k) Pupil participation in any of the following activities shall be counted toward the calculation of clock hours of school work per day:

(1) Instruction in a college course in which a student is dually enrolled for both high school credit and college credit.

(2) Participation in a Supervised Career Development Experience, as defined in Section 10 of the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act, or any work-based learning experience in which student participation and learning outcomes are directed by an educator licensed under Article 21B for assessment of competencies. Participation in a work-based learning experience may include, but is not limited to, scheduled events of State FFA associations, the National FFA Organization, and 4-H programs as part of organized competitions or exhibitions. The student and the student's parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for obtaining assignments missed while the student was participating in a Supervised Career Development Experience or other work-based learning experience pursuant to this paragraph (2) from the student's teacher.

(3) Participation in a youth apprenticeship, as jointly defined in rules of the State Board of Education and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, in which student participation and outcomes are directed by an educator licensed under Article 21B for assessment of competencies. The student and the student's parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for obtaining assignments missed while the student was participating in a youth apprenticeship pursuant to this paragraph (3) from the student's teacher.

(4) Participation in a blended learning program approved by the school district in which course content, student evaluation, and instructional methods are supervised by an educator licensed under Article 21B.

(Source: P.A. 103-560, eff. 1-1-24.)