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1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section |
5 | | 14-8.02a as follows:
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6 | | (105 ILCS 5/14-8.02a)
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7 | | Sec. 14-8.02a. Impartial due process hearing; civil |
8 | | action.
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9 | | (a) This Section
shall apply to all impartial due process |
10 | | hearings requested on or after July
1, 2005. Impartial due |
11 | | process hearings requested before July 1, 2005 shall be |
12 | | governed by the rules described in Public Act 89-652. |
13 | | (a-5) For purposes of this Section and Section 14-8.02b of |
14 | | this Code, days shall be computed in accordance with Section |
15 | | 1.11 of the Statute on Statutes.
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16 | | (b) The State Board of Education shall establish an |
17 | | impartial due process
hearing system in accordance with this
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18 | | Section and may, with the advice and approval of the Advisory |
19 | | Council on
Education of Children with Disabilities, promulgate |
20 | | rules and regulations
consistent with this Section to establish |
21 | | the rules and procedures for due process hearings.
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22 | | (c) (Blank).
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23 | | (d) (Blank).
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1 | | (e) (Blank).
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2 | | (f) An impartial due process hearing shall be convened upon |
3 | | the request of a
parent, student if at least 18 years of age or |
4 | | emancipated, or a
school district. A school district shall
make |
5 | | a request in writing to the State Board of Education and |
6 | | promptly mail a
copy of the request to the parents or student |
7 | | (if at least 18 years of age or emancipated) at the parent's or |
8 | | student's last
known address. A request made by the parent or |
9 | | student shall be made in writing to the superintendent of the |
10 | | school district where the student resides. The superintendent |
11 | | shall forward the request to the State Board of Education |
12 | | within 5 days after receipt of the request. The request shall |
13 | | be filed no more than 2 years following the date the person or |
14 | | school district knew or should have known of the event or |
15 | | events forming the basis for the request. The request shall, at |
16 | | a minimum, contain all of the following: |
17 | | (1) The name of the student, the address of the |
18 | | student's residence, and the name of the school the student |
19 | | is attending. |
20 | | (2) In the case of homeless children (as defined under |
21 | | the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 |
22 | | U.S.C. 11434a(2)) ) , available contact information for the |
23 | | student and the name of the school the student is |
24 | | attending. |
25 | | (3) A description of the nature of the problem relating |
26 | | to the actual or proposed placement, identification, |
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1 | | services, or evaluation of the student, including facts |
2 | | relating to the problem. |
3 | | (4) A proposed resolution of the problem to the extent |
4 | | known and available to the party at the time. |
5 | | (f-5) Within 3 days after receipt of the hearing request,
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6 | | the State Board of
Education shall appoint a due process |
7 | | hearing officer using a rotating
appointment system and shall |
8 | | notify the hearing officer of his or her
appointment. |
9 | | For a school district other than a school district located |
10 | | in a municipality having a population exceeding 500,000, a |
11 | | hearing officer who is a current resident of the school |
12 | | district, special
education cooperative, or other public |
13 | | entity involved in the hearing shall recuse himself or herself. |
14 | | A hearing officer who is a former employee of the school |
15 | | district, special education cooperative, or other public |
16 | | entity involved in the hearing shall immediately disclose the |
17 | | former employment to the parties and shall recuse himself or |
18 | | herself, unless the parties otherwise agree in writing. A
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19 | | hearing officer having a personal or professional interest that |
20 | | may conflict
with his or her objectivity in the hearing shall |
21 | | disclose the conflict to the parties and shall recuse himself |
22 | | or herself unless the parties otherwise agree in writing. For |
23 | | purposes of this subsection
an assigned hearing officer shall |
24 | | be considered to have a conflict of interest
if, at any time |
25 | | prior to the issuance of his or her written decision, he or she
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26 | | knows or should know that he or she may receive remuneration |
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1 | | from a party
to the hearing within 3 years following the |
2 | | conclusion of the due process
hearing. |
3 | | A party to a due process hearing shall be permitted one |
4 | | substitution
of hearing officer as a matter of right, in |
5 | | accordance with procedures
established by the rules adopted by |
6 | | the State Board of Education under this
Section. The State |
7 | | Board of Education shall randomly select and appoint
another |
8 | | hearing officer within 3 days after receiving notice that the |
9 | | appointed
hearing officer is ineligible to serve or upon |
10 | | receiving a proper request for
substitution of hearing officer. |
11 | | If a party withdraws its request for a due
process hearing |
12 | | after a hearing officer has been appointed, that hearing
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13 | | officer shall retain jurisdiction over a subsequent hearing |
14 | | that involves the
same parties and is requested within one year |
15 | | from the date of withdrawal of
the previous request, unless |
16 | | that hearing
officer is unavailable.
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17 | | Any party may raise
facts that constitute a conflict of |
18 | | interest for the hearing officer at any
time before or during |
19 | | the hearing and may move for recusal.
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20 | | (g) Impartial due process hearings shall be conducted |
21 | | pursuant to this
Section and any rules and regulations |
22 | | promulgated by the State Board of Education
consistent with |
23 | | this Section and other governing laws and regulations. The |
24 | | hearing shall address only those issues properly raised in the |
25 | | hearing request under subsection (f) of this Section or, if |
26 | | applicable, in the amended hearing request under subsection |
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1 | | (g-15) of this Section. The
hearing shall be closed to the |
2 | | public unless the parents request
that the hearing be open to |
3 | | the public. The parents involved in
the hearing shall have the |
4 | | right to have the student who is the subject of the
hearing |
5 | | present. The hearing shall be held at a time and place which |
6 | | are
reasonably convenient to the parties involved. Upon the |
7 | | request of
a party, the hearing officer shall hold the hearing |
8 | | at a location neutral to
the parties if the hearing officer |
9 | | determines that there is no cost for
securing the use of the |
10 | | neutral location. Once appointed, the impartial due
process |
11 | | hearing officer shall not communicate with the State Board of |
12 | | Education
or its employees concerning the
hearing, except that, |
13 | | where circumstances require, communications for
administrative |
14 | | purposes that do not deal with substantive or procedural |
15 | | matters
or issues on the merits are authorized, provided that |
16 | | the hearing officer
promptly notifies all parties of the |
17 | | substance of the communication as a matter
of record. |
18 | | (g-5) Unless the school district has previously provided |
19 | | prior written notice to the parent or student (if at least 18 |
20 | | years of age or emancipated) regarding the subject matter of |
21 | | the hearing request, the school district shall, within 10 days |
22 | | after receiving a hearing request initiated by a parent or |
23 | | student (if at least 18 years of age or emancipated), provide a |
24 | | written response to the request that shall include all of the |
25 | | following: |
26 | | (1) An explanation of why the school district proposed |
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1 | | or refused to take the action or actions described in the |
2 | | hearing request. |
3 | | (2) A description of other options the IEP team |
4 | | considered and the reasons why those options were rejected. |
5 | | (3) A description of each evaluation procedure, |
6 | | assessment, record, report, or other evidence the school |
7 | | district used as the basis for the proposed or refused |
8 | | action or actions. |
9 | | (4) A description of the factors that are or were |
10 | | relevant to the school district's proposed or refused |
11 | | action or actions. |
12 | | (g-10) When the hearing request has been initiated by a |
13 | | school district, within 10 days after receiving the request, |
14 | | the parent or student (if at least 18 years of age or |
15 | | emancipated) shall provide the school district with a response |
16 | | that specifically addresses the issues raised in the school |
17 | | district's hearing request. The parent's or student's response |
18 | | shall be provided in writing, unless he or she is illiterate or |
19 | | has a disability that prevents him or her from providing a |
20 | | written response. The parent's or student's response may be |
21 | | provided in his or her native language, if other than English. |
22 | | In the event that illiteracy or another disabling condition |
23 | | prevents the parent or student from providing a written |
24 | | response, the school district shall assist the parent or |
25 | | student in providing the written response. |
26 | | (g-15) Within 15 days after receiving notice of the hearing |
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1 | | request, the non-requesting party may challenge the |
2 | | sufficiency of the request by submitting its challenge in |
3 | | writing to the hearing officer. Within 5 days after receiving |
4 | | the challenge to the sufficiency of the request, the hearing |
5 | | officer shall issue a determination of the challenge in writing |
6 | | to the parties. In the event that the hearing officer upholds |
7 | | the challenge, the party who requested the hearing may, with |
8 | | the consent of the non-requesting party or hearing officer, |
9 | | file an amended request. Amendments are permissible for the |
10 | | purpose of raising issues beyond those in the initial hearing |
11 | | request. In addition, the party who requested the hearing may |
12 | | amend the request once as a matter of right by filing the |
13 | | amended request within 5 days after filing the initial request. |
14 | | An amended request, other than an amended request as a matter |
15 | | of right, shall be filed by the date determined by the hearing |
16 | | officer, but in no event any later than 5 days prior to the |
17 | | date of the hearing. If an amended request, other than an |
18 | | amended request as a matter of right, raises issues that were |
19 | | not part of the initial request, the applicable timeline for a |
20 | | hearing, including the timeline under subsection (g-20) of this |
21 | | Section, shall recommence. |
22 | | (g-20) Within 15 days after receiving a request for a |
23 | | hearing from a parent or student (if at least 18 years of age |
24 | | or emancipated) or, in the event that the school district |
25 | | requests a hearing, within 15 days after initiating the |
26 | | request, the school district shall convene a resolution meeting |
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1 | | with the parent and relevant members of the IEP team who have |
2 | | specific knowledge of the facts contained in the request for |
3 | | the purpose of resolving the problem that resulted in the |
4 | | request. The resolution meeting shall include a representative |
5 | | of the school district who has decision-making authority on |
6 | | behalf of the school district. Unless the parent is accompanied |
7 | | by an attorney at the resolution meeting, the school district |
8 | | may not include an attorney representing the school district. |
9 | | The resolution meeting may not be waived unless agreed to |
10 | | in writing by the school district and the parent or student (if |
11 | | at least 18 years of age or emancipated) or the parent or |
12 | | student (if at least 18 years of age or emancipated) and the |
13 | | school district agree in writing to utilize mediation in place |
14 | | of the resolution meeting. If either party fails to cooperate |
15 | | in the scheduling or convening of the resolution meeting, the |
16 | | hearing officer may order an extension of the timeline for |
17 | | completion of the resolution meeting or, upon the motion of a |
18 | | party and at least 7 days after ordering the non-cooperating |
19 | | party to cooperate, order the dismissal of the hearing request |
20 | | or the granting of all relief set forth in the request, as |
21 | | appropriate. |
22 | | In the event that the school district and the parent or |
23 | | student (if at least 18 years of age or emancipated) agree to a |
24 | | resolution of the problem that resulted in the hearing request, |
25 | | the terms of the resolution shall be committed to writing and |
26 | | signed by the parent or student (if at least 18 years of age or |
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1 | | emancipated) and the representative of the school district with |
2 | | decision-making authority. The agreement shall be legally |
3 | | binding and shall be enforceable in any State or federal court |
4 | | of competent jurisdiction. In the event that the parties |
5 | | utilize the resolution meeting process, the process shall |
6 | | continue until no later than the 30th day following the receipt |
7 | | of the hearing request by the non-requesting party (or as |
8 | | properly extended by order of the hearing officer) to resolve |
9 | | the issues underlying the request, at which time the timeline |
10 | | for completion of the impartial due process hearing shall |
11 | | commence. The State Board of Education may, by rule, establish |
12 | | additional procedures for the conduct of resolution meetings. |
13 | | (g-25) If mutually agreed to in writing, the parties to a |
14 | | hearing request may request State-sponsored mediation as a |
15 | | substitute for the resolution process described in subsection |
16 | | (g-20) of this Section or may utilize mediation at the close of |
17 | | the resolution process if all issues underlying the hearing |
18 | | request have not been resolved through the resolution process. |
19 | | (g-30) If mutually agreed to in writing, the parties to a |
20 | | hearing request may waive the resolution process described in |
21 | | subsection (g-20) of this Section. Upon signing a written |
22 | | agreement to waive the resolution process, the parties shall be |
23 | | required to forward the written waiver to the hearing officer |
24 | | appointed to the case within 2 business days following the |
25 | | signing of the waiver by the parties. The timeline for the |
26 | | impartial due process hearing shall commence on the date of the |
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1 | | signing of the waiver by the parties. |
2 | | (g-35) The timeline for completing the impartial due |
3 | | process hearing, as set forth in subsection (h) of this |
4 | | Section, shall be initiated upon the occurrence of any one of |
5 | | the following events: |
6 | | (1) The unsuccessful completion of the resolution |
7 | | process as described in subsection (g-20) of this Section. |
8 | | (2) The mutual agreement of the parties to waive the |
9 | | resolution process as described in subsection (g-25) or |
10 | | (g-30) of this Section.
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11 | | (g-40) The hearing officer shall convene a prehearing |
12 | | conference no later than 14
days before the scheduled date for |
13 | | the due process hearing for the general
purpose of aiding in |
14 | | the fair, orderly, and expeditious conduct of the hearing.
The |
15 | | hearing officer shall provide the parties with written notice |
16 | | of the
prehearing conference at least 7 days in advance of the |
17 | | conference. The
written notice shall require the parties to |
18 | | notify the hearing officer by a
date certain whether they |
19 | | intend to participate in the prehearing conference.
The hearing |
20 | | officer may conduct the prehearing conference in person or by
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21 | | telephone. Each party shall at the prehearing conference (1) |
22 | | disclose whether
it is represented by legal counsel or intends |
23 | | to retain legal counsel; (2) clarify
matters it believes to be |
24 | | in dispute in the case and the specific relief
being sought; |
25 | | (3) disclose whether there are any additional evaluations for |
26 | | the student
that it intends to
introduce into the
hearing |
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1 | | record that have not been previously disclosed to the other |
2 | | parties;
(4) disclose a list of all documents it intends to |
3 | | introduce into the hearing record,
including the date and a |
4 | | brief description of each document; and (5) disclose the names
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5 | | of all witnesses it intends to call to testify at the hearing. |
6 | | The hearing
officer shall specify the order of presentation to |
7 | | be used at the hearing. If
the
prehearing conference is held by |
8 | | telephone, the parties shall transmit the
information required |
9 | | in this paragraph in such a manner that it is available to
all |
10 | | parties at the time of the prehearing conference. The State |
11 | | Board of
Education may, by
rule, establish additional |
12 | | procedures for the conduct of prehearing
conferences.
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13 | | (g-45) The
impartial due process hearing officer shall not |
14 | | initiate or participate in any
ex parte communications with the |
15 | | parties, except to arrange the date, time,
and location of the |
16 | | prehearing conference, due process hearing, or other status |
17 | | conferences convened at the discretion of the hearing officer
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18 | | and to
receive confirmation of whether a party intends to |
19 | | participate in the
prehearing conference. |
20 | | (g-50) The parties shall disclose and provide to each other
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21 | | any evidence which they intend to submit into the hearing |
22 | | record no later than
5 days before the hearing. Any party to a |
23 | | hearing has the right to prohibit
the introduction of any |
24 | | evidence at the hearing that has not been disclosed to
that |
25 | | party at least 5 days before the hearing. The party requesting |
26 | | a hearing shall not be permitted at the hearing to raise issues |
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1 | | that were not raised in the party's initial or amended request, |
2 | | unless otherwise permitted in this Section.
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3 | | (g-55) All reasonable efforts must be made by the parties |
4 | | to present their respective cases at the hearing within a |
5 | | cumulative period of 7 days. When scheduling hearing dates, the |
6 | | hearing officer shall schedule the final day of the hearing no |
7 | | more than 30 calendar days after the first day of the hearing |
8 | | unless good cause is shown. This subsection (g-55) shall not be |
9 | | applied in a manner that (i) denies any party to the hearing a |
10 | | fair and reasonable allocation of time and opportunity to |
11 | | present its case in its entirety or (ii) deprives any party to |
12 | | the hearing of the safeguards accorded under the federal |
13 | | Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of |
14 | | 2004 (Public Law 108-446), regulations promulgated under the |
15 | | Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of |
16 | | 2004, or any other applicable law. The school district shall |
17 | | present evidence that the special education needs
of the child |
18 | | have been appropriately identified and that the special |
19 | | education
program and related services proposed to meet the |
20 | | needs of the child are
adequate, appropriate, and available. |
21 | | Any party to the hearing shall have the
right to (1) be |
22 | | represented
by counsel and be accompanied and advised by |
23 | | individuals with special knowledge
or training with respect to |
24 | | the problems of children with disabilities, at the
party's own |
25 | | expense; (2) present evidence and confront and cross-examine
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26 | | witnesses; (3) move for the exclusion of witnesses from the |
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1 | | hearing until they
are called to testify, provided, however, |
2 | | that this provision may not be
invoked to exclude the |
3 | | individual designated by a party to assist that party or
its |
4 | | representative in the presentation of the case; (4) obtain a |
5 | | written or
electronic verbatim record of
the proceedings within |
6 | | 30 days of receipt of a written request from the parents
by the |
7 | | school district; and (5) obtain a written decision, including |
8 | | findings
of fact and conclusions of law, within 10 calendar |
9 | | days , excluding Saturday, Sunday, and any State holiday, after |
10 | | the conclusion of the
hearing.
If at issue, the school district |
11 | | shall present evidence that it has
properly identified and |
12 | | evaluated the nature and
severity of the student's suspected or |
13 | | identified disability and that, if the
student has been or |
14 | | should have been determined eligible for special education
and |
15 | | related services, that it is providing or has offered a free |
16 | | appropriate
public education to the student in the least |
17 | | restrictive environment,
consistent with
procedural safeguards |
18 | | and in accordance with an individualized educational
program.
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19 | | At any time prior to the conclusion of the hearing, the |
20 | | impartial due
process hearing officer shall have the authority |
21 | | to require additional
information and order independent |
22 | | evaluations for the
student at the expense of the school |
23 | | district. The State Board of Education
and the school district |
24 | | shall share equally the costs of providing a written or
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25 | | electronic verbatim record of the proceedings. Any party may |
26 | | request that the
due process hearing officer issue a subpoena |
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1 | | to compel the testimony of
witnesses or the production of |
2 | | documents relevant to the
resolution of the hearing. Whenever a |
3 | | person refuses to comply with any
subpoena issued under this |
4 | | Section, the circuit court of the county in which
that hearing |
5 | | is pending, on application of the impartial hearing officer or |
6 | | the
party requesting the issuance of the subpoena, may compel |
7 | | compliance through
the contempt powers of
the court in the same |
8 | | manner as if the requirements of a subpoena issued by the
court |
9 | | had been disobeyed.
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10 | | (h) The impartial hearing officer shall issue a written |
11 | | decision, including
findings of fact and conclusions of law, |
12 | | within 10 calendar days , excluding Saturday, Sunday, and any |
13 | | State holiday, after the
conclusion of the hearing and send by |
14 | | certified mail a copy of the decision to the parents
or student |
15 | | (if the student requests the hearing), the school
district, the |
16 | | director of special education, legal representatives of the
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17 | | parties, and the State Board of Education. Unless the hearing |
18 | | officer has
granted specific extensions of time at the request |
19 | | of a party, a final
decision, including the clarification of a |
20 | | decision requested under this
subsection, shall be reached and |
21 | | mailed to the parties named above not later
than 45 days after |
22 | | the initiation of the timeline for conducting the hearing, as |
23 | | described in subsection (g-35) of this Section. The
decision |
24 | | shall specify the educational and related services that shall |
25 | | be
provided to the student in accordance with the student's |
26 | | needs and the timeline for which the school district shall |
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1 | | submit evidence to the State Board of Education to demonstrate |
2 | | compliance with the hearing officer's decision in the event |
3 | | that the decision orders the school district to undertake |
4 | | corrective action.
The hearing officer shall retain |
5 | | jurisdiction for the sole purpose of
considering a request for |
6 | | clarification of the final decision submitted in
writing by a |
7 | | party to the impartial hearing officer within 5 days after |
8 | | receipt
of the decision.
A copy of the request for |
9 | | clarification shall specify the portions of the
decision for |
10 | | which clarification is sought and shall be mailed to all |
11 | | parties
of record and to the State Board of Education. The |
12 | | request shall
operate to stay implementation of those portions |
13 | | of the decision for which
clarification is sought, pending |
14 | | action on the request by the hearing officer,
unless the |
15 | | parties otherwise agree. The hearing officer shall issue a
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16 | | clarification of the specified portion of the decision or issue |
17 | | a partial or
full denial of the request in writing within 10 |
18 | | days of receipt of the request
and mail copies to all parties |
19 | | to whom the decision was mailed. This
subsection does not |
20 | | permit a party to request, or authorize a hearing officer
to |
21 | | entertain, reconsideration of the decision itself. The statute |
22 | | of
limitations for seeking review of the decision shall be |
23 | | tolled from the date
the request is submitted until the date |
24 | | the hearing officer acts upon the
request. The hearing |
25 | | officer's decision shall be binding upon the school district
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26 | | and the parents unless a civil action is commenced.
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1 | | (i) Any party to an impartial due process hearing aggrieved |
2 | | by the final
written decision of the impartial due process |
3 | | hearing officer shall have the
right to commence a civil action |
4 | | with respect to the issues presented in the
impartial due |
5 | | process hearing. That civil action shall be brought in any
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6 | | court of competent jurisdiction within
120 days after a copy of |
7 | | the
decision of the impartial due process hearing officer is |
8 | | mailed to the party as
provided in
subsection (h). The civil |
9 | | action authorized by this subsection shall not be
exclusive of |
10 | | any rights or causes of action otherwise
available. The |
11 | | commencement of a civil action under this subsection shall
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12 | | operate as a supersedeas. In any action brought under this |
13 | | subsection the
Court shall receive the records of the impartial |
14 | | due process hearing, shall
hear additional evidence at the |
15 | | request of a party, and, basing its decision on
the |
16 | | preponderance of the evidence, shall grant such relief as the |
17 | | court
determines is appropriate. In any instance where a school |
18 | | district willfully
disregards applicable regulations or |
19 | | statutes regarding a child covered by this
Article, and which |
20 | | disregard has been detrimental to the child, the school
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21 | | district shall be liable for any reasonable attorney's fees |
22 | | incurred by the
parent in connection with proceedings under |
23 | | this Section.
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24 | | (j) During the pendency of any administrative or judicial |
25 | | proceeding
conducted
pursuant to this Section, including |
26 | | mediation (if the school district or other public entity |
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1 | | voluntarily agrees to participate in mediation), unless the |
2 | | school district and the
parents or student (if at least 18 |
3 | | years of age or emancipated) otherwise agree, the student shall |
4 | | remain in
his or her present educational placement and continue |
5 | | in his or her present
eligibility status and special education |
6 | | and related services, if any. If mediation fails to resolve the |
7 | | dispute between the parties, or if the parties do not agree to |
8 | | use mediation, the parent (or student if 18 years of age or |
9 | | older or emancipated) shall have 10 days after the mediation |
10 | | concludes, or after a party declines to use mediation, to file |
11 | | a request for a due process hearing in order to continue to |
12 | | invoke the "stay-put" provisions of this subsection (j). If |
13 | | applying for initial admission to the
school district, the |
14 | | student shall, with the consent of the parents (if the student |
15 | | is not at least 18 years of age or emancipated), be placed in |
16 | | the school district program until all such proceedings
have |
17 | | been completed. The costs for any special education and related |
18 | | services
or placement incurred following 60 school days after |
19 | | the initial request for
evaluation shall be borne by the school |
20 | | district if the services or placement
is in accordance with the |
21 | | final determination as to the special education and
related |
22 | | services or placement that must be provided to the child, |
23 | | provided that
during that 60-day 60 day period there have been |
24 | | no delays caused by the child's
parent. The requirements and |
25 | | procedures of this subsection (j) shall be included in the |
26 | | uniform notices developed by the State Superintendent under |
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1 | | subsection (g) of Section 14-8.02 of this Code.
|
2 | | (k) Whenever the parents of a child of the type described |
3 | | in
Section 14-1.02 are not known or , are unavailable , or the |
4 | | child is a youth in care as defined in Section 4d of the |
5 | | Children and Family Services Act, a person shall be assigned to |
6 | | serve as surrogate parent for the child in
matters relating to |
7 | | the identification, evaluation, and educational placement
of |
8 | | the child and the provision of a free appropriate public |
9 | | education to the
child. Persons shall be assigned as surrogate |
10 | | parents by the State
Superintendent of Education. The State |
11 | | Board of Education shall promulgate
rules and regulations |
12 | | establishing qualifications of those persons and their
|
13 | | responsibilities and the procedures to be followed in making |
14 | | assignments of
persons as surrogate parents.
Surrogate parents |
15 | | shall not be employees of the school district, an agency
|
16 | | created by joint agreement under Section 10-22.31, an agency |
17 | | involved in the
education or care of the student, or the State |
18 | | Board of Education.
Services of any person assigned as |
19 | | surrogate parent shall terminate if the
parent
becomes |
20 | | available unless otherwise requested by the parents. The |
21 | | assignment of a person as surrogate parent at no time
|
22 | | supersedes, terminates, or suspends the parents' legal |
23 | | authority
relative to the child. Any person participating in |
24 | | good faith as surrogate
parent on behalf of the child before |
25 | | school officials or a hearing officer
shall have immunity from |
26 | | civil or criminal liability that otherwise might
result by |
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1 | | reason of that participation, except in cases of willful and
|
2 | | wanton misconduct.
|
3 | | (l) At all stages of the hearing , the hearing officer shall |
4 | | require that
interpreters be made available by the school |
5 | | district for persons who are deaf
or for persons whose normally |
6 | | spoken language is other than English.
|
7 | | (m) If any provision of this Section or its application to |
8 | | any person or
circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity of |
9 | | that provision or application
does not affect other provisions |
10 | | or applications of the Section that can be
given effect without |
11 | | the invalid application or provision, and to this end the
|
12 | | provisions of this Section are severable, unless otherwise |
13 | | provided by this
Section.
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14 | | (Source: P.A. 100-122, eff. 8-18-17; 100-159, eff. 8-18-17; |
15 | | revised 1-22-18.)
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16 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
17 | | becoming law.
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