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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 | 2-3.162 and by adding Section 2-3.173 as follows: | ||||||
6 | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.162) | ||||||
7 | Sec. 2-3.162. Student discipline report; school discipline | ||||||
8 | improvement plan. | ||||||
9 | (a) On or before October 31, 2015 and on or before October | ||||||
10 | 31 of each subsequent year, the State Board of Education, | ||||||
11 | through the State Superintendent of Education, shall prepare a | ||||||
12 | report on student discipline in all school districts in this | ||||||
13 | State, including State-authorized charter schools. This report | ||||||
14 | shall include data from all public schools within school | ||||||
15 | districts, including district-authorized charter schools. This | ||||||
16 | report must be posted on the Internet website of the State | ||||||
17 | Board of Education. The report shall include data on the | ||||||
18 | issuance of out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and | ||||||
19 | removals to alternative settings in lieu of another | ||||||
20 | disciplinary action, disaggregated by race and ethnicity, | ||||||
21 | gender, age, grade level, whether a student is an English | ||||||
22 | learner, incident type, and discipline duration. | ||||||
23 | (b) The State Board of Education shall analyze the data |
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1 | under subsection (a) of this Section on an annual basis and | ||||||
2 | determine the top 20% of school districts qualifying under any | ||||||
3 | of for the following metrics: | ||||||
4 | (1) Total number of out-of-school suspensions divided | ||||||
5 | by the total district enrollment by the last school day in | ||||||
6 | September for the year in which the data was collected, | ||||||
7 | multiplied by 100. | ||||||
8 | (2) Total number of out-of-school expulsions divided | ||||||
9 | by the total district enrollment by the last school day in | ||||||
10 | September for the year in which the data was collected, | ||||||
11 | multiplied by 100. | ||||||
12 | (3) Racial disproportionality, defined as the | ||||||
13 | overrepresentation of students of color or white students | ||||||
14 | in comparison to the total number of students of color or | ||||||
15 | white students on October 1st of the school year in which | ||||||
16 | data are collected, with respect to the use of | ||||||
17 | out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, which must be | ||||||
18 | calculated using the same method as the U.S. Department of | ||||||
19 | Education's Office for Civil Rights uses. | ||||||
20 | The analysis must be based on data collected over 3 | ||||||
21 | consecutive school years, beginning with the 2014-2015 school | ||||||
22 | year. | ||||||
23 | (c) On or before October 31, 2018 and on or before October | ||||||
24 | 31 of each subsequent year, the State Board of Education shall | ||||||
25 | notify each school district Beginning with the 2017-2018 school | ||||||
26 | year, the State Board of Education shall require each of the |
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1 | school districts that are identified in the top 20% of any of | ||||||
2 | the metrics described in this subsection (b) of this Section | ||||||
3 | for 3 consecutive school years that the school district must | ||||||
4 | submit a plan in conformance with subsection (d) of this | ||||||
5 | Section. | ||||||
6 | (d) School districts identified in the top 20% of any of | ||||||
7 | the metrics described in subsection (b) of this Section for 3 | ||||||
8 | consecutive school years must, in a manner prescribed by the | ||||||
9 | State Board of Education, submit a plan to the State Board of | ||||||
10 | Education that identifies to submit a plan identifying the | ||||||
11 | strategies the school district will implement to reduce the use | ||||||
12 | of exclusionary disciplinary practices or racial | ||||||
13 | disproportionality or both, if applicable. School districts | ||||||
14 | that no longer meet the criteria described in any of the | ||||||
15 | metrics described in this subsection (b) for 3 consecutive | ||||||
16 | years shall no longer be required to submit a plan. | ||||||
17 | This plan may be combined with any other improvement plans | ||||||
18 | required under federal or State law. | ||||||
19 | The plan must be approved at a public school board meeting | ||||||
20 | no later than 90 days after notification from the State Board | ||||||
21 | of Education pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section and | ||||||
22 | must be posted on the school district's Internet website. | ||||||
23 | Within one calendar year after the school board's approval of | ||||||
24 | the plan, the school district shall submit to the State Board | ||||||
25 | of Education, in a manner prescribed by the State Board of | ||||||
26 | Education, and post on the district's Internet website a |
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1 | progress report describing the implementation of the plan and | ||||||
2 | the results achieved. Additional annual progress reports shall | ||||||
3 | be required until a school district no longer meets the | ||||||
4 | criteria in any of the metrics described in subsection (b) of | ||||||
5 | this Section for 3 consecutive school years. | ||||||
6 | (e) The calculation of the top 20% of any of the metrics | ||||||
7 | described in this subsection (b) of this Section shall exclude | ||||||
8 | all school districts, State-authorized charter schools, and | ||||||
9 | special charter districts that issued fewer than a total of 10 | ||||||
10 | out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, whichever is | ||||||
11 | applicable, during the school year. The calculation of the top | ||||||
12 | 20% of the metric described in subdivision (3) of this | ||||||
13 | subsection (b) of this Section shall exclude all school | ||||||
14 | districts with an enrollment of fewer than 50 white students or | ||||||
15 | fewer than 50 students of color. | ||||||
16 | The plan must be approved at a public school board meeting | ||||||
17 | and posted on the school district's Internet website. Within | ||||||
18 | one year after being identified, the school district shall | ||||||
19 | submit to the State Board of Education and post on the | ||||||
20 | district's Internet website a progress report describing the | ||||||
21 | implementation of the plan and the results achieved.
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22 | (Source: P.A. 98-1102, eff. 8-26-14; 99-30, eff. 7-10-15; | ||||||
23 | 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; revised 9-25-17.) | ||||||
24 | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.173 new) | ||||||
25 | Sec. 2-3.173. Safe Schools and Healthy Learning |
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1 | Environments Grant Program. | ||||||
2 | (a) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation, | ||||||
3 | is authorized to award competitive grants on an annual basis | ||||||
4 | under a Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Grant | ||||||
5 | Program. The goal of this grant program is to promote school | ||||||
6 | safety and healthy learning environments by providing schools | ||||||
7 | with additional resources to implement restorative | ||||||
8 | interventions and resolution strategies as alternatives to | ||||||
9 | exclusionary discipline, and to address the full range of | ||||||
10 | students' intellectual, social, emotional, physical, | ||||||
11 | psychological, and moral developmental needs. | ||||||
12 | (b) To receive a grant under this program, a school | ||||||
13 | district must submit with its grant application a plan for | ||||||
14 | implementing evidence-based and promising practices that are | ||||||
15 | aligned with the goal of this program. The application may | ||||||
16 | include proposals to (i) hire additional school support | ||||||
17 | personnel, including, but not limited to, restorative justice | ||||||
18 | practitioners, school psychologists, school social workers, | ||||||
19 | and other mental and behavioral health specialists; (ii) use | ||||||
20 | existing school-based resources, community-based resources, or | ||||||
21 | other experts and practitioners to expand alternatives to | ||||||
22 | exclusionary discipline, mental and behavioral health | ||||||
23 | supports, wraparound services, or drug and alcohol treatment; | ||||||
24 | and (iii) provide training for school staff on trauma-informed | ||||||
25 | approaches to meeting students' developmental needs, | ||||||
26 | addressing the effects of toxic stress, restorative justice |
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1 | approaches, conflict resolution techniques, and the effective | ||||||
2 | utilization of school support personnel and community-based | ||||||
3 | services. For purposes of this subsection (b), "promising | ||||||
4 | practices" means practices that present, based on preliminary | ||||||
5 | information, potential for becoming evidence-based practices. | ||||||
6 | Grant funds shall not be used to increase the use of | ||||||
7 | school-based law enforcement or security personnel. Nothing in | ||||||
8 | this Section shall prohibit school districts from involving law | ||||||
9 | enforcement personnel when necessary and allowed by law. | ||||||
10 | (c) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation | ||||||
11 | for the grant program, shall annually disseminate a request for | ||||||
12 | applications to this program, and funds shall be distributed | ||||||
13 | annually. The criteria to be considered by the State Board of | ||||||
14 | Education in awarding the funds shall be (i) the average ratio | ||||||
15 | of school support personnel to students in the target schools | ||||||
16 | over the preceding 3 school years, with priority given to | ||||||
17 | applications with a demonstrated shortage of school support | ||||||
18 | personnel to meet student needs; and (ii) the degree to which | ||||||
19 | the proposal articulates a comprehensive approach for reducing | ||||||
20 | exclusionary discipline while building safe and healthy | ||||||
21 | learning environments. Priority shall be given to school | ||||||
22 | districts that meet the metrics under subsection (b) of Section | ||||||
23 | 2-3.162 of this Code. | ||||||
24 | (d) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation | ||||||
25 | for the grant program, shall produce an
annual report on the | ||||||
26 | program in
cooperation with the school districts participating |
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1 | in the program. The report shall include available
quantitative | ||||||
2 | information on the progress being made in reducing exclusionary | ||||||
3 | discipline and the effects of the program on school safety and | ||||||
4 | school climate. This report shall be posted on the State Board | ||||||
5 | of Education's website by
October 31 of each year, beginning in | ||||||
6 | 2019. | ||||||
7 | (e) The State Board of Education may adopt any rules | ||||||
8 | necessary for the implementation of this program.
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9 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
10 | 2018. |