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.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2138LRB102 11422 CMG 16755 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
526-12 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/26-12)  (from Ch. 122, par. 26-12)
7    Sec. 26-12. Punitive action.
8    (a) No punitive action, including out-of-school
9suspensions, expulsions, or court action, shall be taken
10against truant minors for such truancy unless appropriate and
11available supportive services and other school resources have
12been provided to the student. Supportive services provided to
13the student shall be trauma-informed and shall respond to the
14individual needs of the student. A Notwithstanding the
15provisions of Section 10-22.6 of this Code, a truant minor may
16not be removed from the attendance rolls expelled for
17nonattendance unless he or she has accrued 15 consecutive days
18of absences without valid cause and: the student cannot be
19located by the school district or
20        (1) the school district has located the student but
21    cannot, after exhausting appropriate and all available
22    supportive services, compel the student to return to
23    school; or .

 

 

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1        (2) the student cannot be located by the school
2    district after all of the following steps have been taken:
3            (A) The school district has called all telephone
4        numbers on file for the student, including emergency
5        contacts.
6            (B) The school district has sent a letter by
7        certified mail to the student's last known address
8        that requests the student's parent or legal guardian
9        to telephone or to come to the school to discuss the
10        student's non-attendance. The letter shall provide
11        information on how to contact the school. The letter
12        shall state that if the student does not return to
13        school by a specified date, or if the parent or legal
14        guardian has not contacted the school, the student is
15        at risk of being removed from the attendance rolls.
16        The letter shall be written in the native language of
17        the student's parent or guardian unless it is clearly
18        not feasible to do so. The school district must send
19        copies of the letter to all electronic mail addresses
20        on file for the parent or legal guardian.
21            (C) The school district has waited at least 7 days
22        after the letter described in subparagraph (B) was
23        either received or was returned as undeliverable.
24    (a-5) If a school removes a student from attendance rolls
25for non-attendance pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section,
26the school district must send a letter by certified mail to the

 

 

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1student's last known address that explains to the student's
2parent or guardian that the student has a legal right to
3re-enroll and sets forth the process of re-enrollment. The
4letter must also explain that a student who is experiencing
5homelessness or housing insecurity may be eligible for
6immediate re-enrollment without producing records normally
7required to enroll. The letter must be sent within 24 hours of
8the removal of the student from the attendance rolls. The
9letter shall be written in the native language of the
10student's parent or guardian unless it is clearly not feasible
11to do so.
12    (b) A school district may not refer a truant, chronic
13truant, or truant minor to any other local public entity, as
14defined under Section 1-206 of the Local Governmental and
15Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, for that local
16public entity to issue the child a fine or a fee as punishment
17for his or her truancy.
18    (c) A school district may refer any person having custody
19or control of a truant, chronic truant, or truant minor to any
20other local public entity, as defined under Section 1-206 of
21the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort
22Immunity Act, for that local public entity to issue the person
23a fine or fee for the child's truancy only if the school
24district's truant officer, regional office of education, or
25intermediate service center has been notified of the truant
26behavior and the school district, regional office of

 

 

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1education, or intermediate service center has offered all
2appropriate and available supportive services and other school
3resources to the child.
4    (c-5) Before a school district may remove the following
5categories of students from the attendance rolls or refer a
6person having custody or control of a child to a municipality,
7as defined under Section 1-1-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code,
8the school district must provide the following appropriate and
9available services:
10        (1) For any child who is a homeless child, as defined
11    under Section 1-5 of the Education for Homeless Children
12    Act, a meeting between the child, the person having
13    custody or control of the child, relevant school
14    personnel, and a homeless liaison to discuss any barriers
15    to the child's attendance due to the child's transitional
16    living situation and to construct a plan that removes
17    these barriers.
18        (2) For any child with a documented disability, a
19    meeting between the child, the person having custody or
20    control of the child, and relevant school personnel to
21    review the child's current needs and address the
22    appropriateness of the child's placement and services. For
23    any child subject to Article 14 of this Code, this meeting
24    shall be an individualized education program meeting and
25    shall include relevant members of the individualized
26    education program team. For any child with a disability

 

 

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1    under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of
2    1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), this meeting shall be a Section 504
3    plan review and include relevant members of the Section
4    504 plan team.
5        (3) For any child currently being evaluated by a
6    school district for a disability or for whom the school
7    has a basis of knowledge that the child is a child with a
8    disability under 20 U.S.C. 1415(k)(5), the completion of
9    the evaluation and determination of the child's
10    eligibility for special education services.
11    (d) Before a school district may remove a student from the
12attendance rolls for non-attendance or refer a person having
13custody or control of a child to a local public entity under
14this Section, the school district must document any
15appropriate and available supportive services offered to the
16child. In the event a meeting under this Section does not
17occur, a school district must have documentation that it made
18reasonable efforts to convene the meeting at a mutually
19convenient time and date for the school district and the
20person having custody or control of the child and, but for the
21conduct of that person, the meeting would have occurred.
22(Source: P.A. 100-810, eff. 1-1-19; 100-825, eff. 8-13-18;
23101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
252022.