SB2138 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 11422 CMG 16755 b

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2138

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/26-12

from Ch. 122, par. 26-12

Amends the School Code. In regards to punitive action against a truant minor, provides that a truant minor may not be removed from the attendance rolls until all appropriate and available services have been utilized to compel the student to return to school. Sets forth the measures a school district must take prior to the removal of the student from the attendance rolls. Sets forth the services the school district must provide to a student who is homeless or who has a documented disability prior to the removal of the student from the attendance rolls or prior to referring a person who has custody or control of the student to a municipality. Effective July 1, 2022.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

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 26-12 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/26-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-12)

Sec. 26-12. Punitive action.

(a) No punitive action, including out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, or court action, shall be taken against truant minors for such truancy unless appropriate and available supportive services and other school resources have been provided to the student. Supportive services provided to the student shall be trauma-informed and shall respond to the individual needs of the student. A Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 10-22.6 of this Code, a truant minor may not be removed from the attendance rolls expelled for nonattendance unless he or she has accrued 15 consecutive days of absences without valid cause and: the student cannot be located by the school district or

(1) the school district has located the student but cannot, after exhausting appropriate and all available supportive services, compel the student to return to school; or .

(2) the student cannot be located by the school district after all of the following steps have been taken:

(A) The school district has called all telephone numbers on file for the student, including emergency contacts.

(B) The school district has sent a letter by certified mail to the student's last known address that requests the student's parent or legal guardian to telephone or to come to the school to discuss the student's non-attendance. The letter shall provide information on how to contact the school. The letter shall state that if the student does not return to school by a specified date, or if the parent or legal guardian has not contacted the school, the student is at risk of being removed from the attendance rolls. The letter shall be written in the native language of the student's parent or guardian unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. The school district must send copies of the letter to all electronic mail addresses on file for the parent or legal guardian.

(C) The school district has waited at least 7 days after the letter described in subparagraph (B) was either received or was returned as undeliverable.

(a-5) If a school removes a student from attendance rolls for non-attendance pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section, the school district must send a letter by certified mail to the student's last known address that explains to the student's parent or guardian that the student has a legal right to re-enroll and sets forth the process of re-enrollment. The letter must also explain that a student who is experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity may be eligible for immediate re-enrollment without producing records normally required to enroll. The letter must be sent within 24 hours of the removal of the student from the attendance rolls. The letter shall be written in the native language of the student's parent or guardian unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.

(b) A school district may not refer a truant, chronic truant, or truant minor to any other local public entity, as defined under Section 1-206 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, for that local public entity to issue the child a fine or a fee as punishment for his or her truancy.

(c) A school district may refer any person having custody or control of a truant, chronic truant, or truant minor to any other local public entity, as defined under Section 1-206 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, for that local public entity to issue the person a fine or fee for the child's truancy only if the school district's truant officer, regional office of education, or intermediate service center has been notified of the truant behavior and the school district, regional office of education, or intermediate service center has offered all appropriate and available supportive services and other school resources to the child.

(c-5) Before a school district may remove the following categories of students from the attendance rolls or refer a person having custody or control of a child to a municipality, as defined under Section 1-1-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code, the school district must provide the following appropriate and available services:

(1) For any child who is a homeless child, as defined under Section 1-5 of the Education for Homeless Children Act, a meeting between the child, the person having custody or control of the child, relevant school personnel, and a homeless liaison to discuss any barriers to the child's attendance due to the child's transitional living situation and to construct a plan that removes these barriers.

(2) For any child with a documented disability, a meeting between the child, the person having custody or control of the child, and relevant school personnel to review the child's current needs and address the appropriateness of the child's placement and services. For any child subject to Article 14 of this Code, this meeting shall be an individualized education program meeting and shall include relevant members of the individualized education program team. For any child with a disability under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), this meeting shall be a Section 504 plan review and include relevant members of the Section 504 plan team.

(3) For any child currently being evaluated by a school district for a disability or for whom the school has a basis of knowledge that the child is a child with a disability under 20 U.S.C. 1415(k)(5), the completion of the evaluation and determination of the child's eligibility for special education services.

(d) Before a school district may remove a student from the attendance rolls for non-attendance or refer a person having custody or control of a child to a local public entity under this Section, the school district must document any appropriate and available supportive services offered to the child. In the event a meeting under this Section does not occur, a school district must have documentation that it made reasonable efforts to convene the meeting at a mutually convenient time and date for the school district and the person having custody or control of the child and, but for the conduct of that person, the meeting would have occurred.

(Source: P.A. 100-810, eff. 1-1-19; 100-825, eff. 8-13-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2022.