Sen. Robert F. Martwick
Filed: 2/19/2020
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1 | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2473
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2473 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections | ||||||
5 | 26-1 and 26-2a as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)
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7 | Sec. 26-1. Compulsory school age; exemptions. Whoever has | ||||||
8 | custody or control of any child (i) between the ages of 7 and | ||||||
9 | 17
years (unless the child has already graduated from high | ||||||
10 | school) for school years before the 2014-2015 school year or | ||||||
11 | (ii) between the ages
of 6 (on or before September 1) and 17 | ||||||
12 | years (unless the child has already graduated from high school) | ||||||
13 | beginning with the 2014-2015 school year
shall cause such child | ||||||
14 | to attend some public school in the district
wherein the child | ||||||
15 | resides the entire time it is in session during the
regular | ||||||
16 | school term, except as provided in Section 10-19.1, and during |
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1 | a
required summer school program established under Section | ||||||
2 | 10-22.33B; provided,
that
the following children shall not be | ||||||
3 | required to attend the public schools:
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4 | 1. Any child attending a private or a parochial school | ||||||
5 | where children
are taught the branches of education taught | ||||||
6 | to children of corresponding
age and grade in the public | ||||||
7 | schools, and where the instruction of the child
in the | ||||||
8 | branches of education is in the English language;
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9 | 2. Any child who is physically or mentally unable to | ||||||
10 | attend school, such
disability being certified to the | ||||||
11 | county or district truant officer by a
competent physician | ||||||
12 | licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in | ||||||
13 | all its branches, a chiropractic physician licensed under | ||||||
14 | the Medical Practice Act of 1987, a licensed advanced | ||||||
15 | practice registered nurse, a licensed physician assistant, | ||||||
16 | or a Christian Science practitioner residing in this
State | ||||||
17 | and listed in the Christian Science Journal; or who is | ||||||
18 | excused for
temporary absence for cause by
the principal or | ||||||
19 | teacher of the school which the child attends , with absence | ||||||
20 | for cause by illness being required to include the mental | ||||||
21 | or behavioral health of the child for up to 5 days, in | ||||||
22 | which case the child shall be given the opportunity to make | ||||||
23 | up any school work missed during the mental or behavioral | ||||||
24 | health absence ; the exemptions
in this paragraph (2) do not | ||||||
25 | apply to any female who is pregnant or the
mother of one or | ||||||
26 | more children, except where a female is unable to attend
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1 | school due to a complication arising from her pregnancy and | ||||||
2 | the existence
of such complication is certified to the | ||||||
3 | county or district truant officer
by a competent physician;
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4 | 3. Any child necessarily and lawfully employed | ||||||
5 | according to the
provisions of the law regulating child | ||||||
6 | labor may be excused from attendance
at school by the | ||||||
7 | county superintendent of schools or the superintendent of
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8 | the public school which the child should be attending, on | ||||||
9 | certification of
the facts by and the recommendation of the | ||||||
10 | school board of the public
school district in which the | ||||||
11 | child resides. In districts having part-time
continuation | ||||||
12 | schools, children so excused shall attend such schools at
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13 | least 8 hours each week;
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14 | 4. Any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while in | ||||||
15 | attendance at
confirmation classes;
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16 | 5. Any child absent from a public school on a | ||||||
17 | particular day or days
or at a particular time of day for | ||||||
18 | the reason that he is unable to attend
classes or to | ||||||
19 | participate in any examination, study or work requirements | ||||||
20 | on
a particular day or days or at a particular time of day, | ||||||
21 | because the tenets
of his religion forbid secular activity | ||||||
22 | on a particular day or days or at a
particular time of day. | ||||||
23 | Each school board shall prescribe rules and
regulations | ||||||
24 | relative to absences for religious holidays including, but | ||||||
25 | not
limited to, a list of religious holidays on which it | ||||||
26 | shall be mandatory to
excuse a child; but nothing in this |
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1 | paragraph 5 shall be construed to limit
the right of any | ||||||
2 | school board, at its discretion, to excuse an absence on
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3 | any other day by reason of the observance of a religious | ||||||
4 | holiday. A school
board may require the parent or guardian | ||||||
5 | of a child who is to be excused
from attending school due | ||||||
6 | to the observance of a religious holiday to give
notice, | ||||||
7 | not exceeding 5 days, of the child's absence to the school
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8 | principal or other school personnel. Any child excused from | ||||||
9 | attending
school under this paragraph 5 shall not be | ||||||
10 | required to submit a written
excuse for such absence after | ||||||
11 | returning to school; | ||||||
12 | 6. Any child 16 years of age or older who (i) submits | ||||||
13 | to a school district evidence of necessary and lawful | ||||||
14 | employment pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Section and (ii) | ||||||
15 | is enrolled in a graduation incentives program pursuant to | ||||||
16 | Section 26-16 of this Code or an alternative learning | ||||||
17 | opportunities program established pursuant to Article 13B | ||||||
18 | of this Code;
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19 | 7. A child in any of grades 6 through 12 absent from a | ||||||
20 | public school on a particular day or days or at a | ||||||
21 | particular time of day for the purpose of sounding "Taps" | ||||||
22 | at a military honors funeral held in this State for a | ||||||
23 | deceased veteran. In order to be excused under this | ||||||
24 | paragraph 7, the student shall notify the school's | ||||||
25 | administration at least 2 days prior to the date of the | ||||||
26 | absence and shall provide the school's administration with |
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1 | the date, time, and location of the military
honors | ||||||
2 | funeral. The school's administration may waive this 2-day | ||||||
3 | notification requirement if the student did not receive at | ||||||
4 | least 2 days advance notice, but the student shall notify | ||||||
5 | the school's administration as soon as possible of the | ||||||
6 | absence. A student whose absence is excused under this | ||||||
7 | paragraph 7 shall be counted as if the student attended | ||||||
8 | school for purposes of calculating the average daily | ||||||
9 | attendance of students in the school district. A student | ||||||
10 | whose absence is excused under this paragraph 7 must be | ||||||
11 | allowed a reasonable time to make up school work missed | ||||||
12 | during the absence. If the student satisfactorily | ||||||
13 | completes the school work, the day of absence shall be | ||||||
14 | counted as a day of compulsory attendance and he or she may | ||||||
15 | not be penalized for that absence; and | ||||||
16 | 8. Any child absent from a public school on a | ||||||
17 | particular day or days or at a particular time of day for | ||||||
18 | the reason that his or her parent or legal guardian is an | ||||||
19 | active duty member of the uniformed services and has been | ||||||
20 | called to duty for, is on leave from, or has immediately | ||||||
21 | returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat-support | ||||||
22 | postings. Such a student shall be granted 5 days of excused | ||||||
23 | absences in any school year and, at the discretion of the | ||||||
24 | school board, additional excused absences to visit the | ||||||
25 | student's parent or legal guardian relative to such leave | ||||||
26 | or deployment of the parent or legal guardian. In the case |
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1 | of excused absences pursuant to this paragraph 8, the | ||||||
2 | student and parent or legal guardian shall be responsible | ||||||
3 | for obtaining assignments from the student's teacher prior | ||||||
4 | to any period of excused absence and for ensuring that such | ||||||
5 | assignments are completed by the student prior to his or | ||||||
6 | her return to school from such period of excused absence. | ||||||
7 | (Source: P.A. 99-173, eff. 7-29-15; 99-804, eff. 1-1-17; | ||||||
8 | 100-185, eff. 8-18-17; 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; 100-863, eff. | ||||||
9 | 8-14-18.)
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10 | (105 ILCS 5/26-2a) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-2a) | ||||||
11 | Sec. 26-2a. A "truant" is defined as a child who is subject | ||||||
12 | to compulsory school
attendance and who is absent without valid | ||||||
13 | cause, as defined under this Section, from such attendance for | ||||||
14 | more than 1% but less than 5% of the past 180 school days. | ||||||
15 | "Valid cause" for absence shall be illness , including the | ||||||
16 | mental or behavioral health of the student , observance of a | ||||||
17 | religious
holiday, death in the immediate family,
or family | ||||||
18 | emergency , and shall include such other situations beyond the | ||||||
19 | control
of the student , as determined by the board of education | ||||||
20 | in each district,
or such other circumstances which cause | ||||||
21 | reasonable concern to the parent
for the mental, emotional, or | ||||||
22 | physical health or safety of the student. | ||||||
23 | "Chronic or habitual truant" shall be defined as a child | ||||||
24 | who is subject to compulsory
school attendance and who is | ||||||
25 | absent without valid cause from such attendance
for 5% or more |
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1 | of the previous 180 regular attendance days. | ||||||
2 | "Truant minor" is defined as a chronic truant to whom | ||||||
3 | supportive
services, including prevention, diagnostic, | ||||||
4 | intervention and remedial
services, alternative programs and | ||||||
5 | other school and community resources
have been provided and | ||||||
6 | have failed to result in the cessation of chronic
truancy, or | ||||||
7 | have been offered and refused. | ||||||
8 | A "dropout" is defined as any child enrolled in grades 9 | ||||||
9 | through 12 whose
name has been removed from the district | ||||||
10 | enrollment roster for any reason
other than the student's | ||||||
11 | death, extended illness, removal for medical non-compliance, | ||||||
12 | expulsion, aging out, graduation, or completion of a
program of | ||||||
13 | studies and who has not transferred to another public or | ||||||
14 | private school and is not known to be home-schooled by his or | ||||||
15 | her parents or guardians or continuing school in another | ||||||
16 | country. | ||||||
17 | "Religion" for the purposes of this Article, includes all | ||||||
18 | aspects of
religious observance and practice, as well as | ||||||
19 | belief. | ||||||
20 | (Source: P.A. 100-810, eff. 1-1-19; 100-918, eff. 8-17-18; | ||||||
21 | 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)".
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