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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, | ||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | ||||||
5 | 2-3.25o as follows: | ||||||
6 | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25o)
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7 | Sec. 2-3.25o. Registration and recognition of non-public | ||||||
8 | elementary and
secondary schools.
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9 | (a) Findings. The General Assembly finds and declares (i) | ||||||
10 | that the
Constitution
of the State of Illinois provides that a | ||||||
11 | "fundamental goal of the People of the
State is the
educational | ||||||
12 | development of all persons to the limits of their capacities" | ||||||
13 | and
(ii) that the
educational development of every school | ||||||
14 | student serves the public purposes of
the State.
In order to | ||||||
15 | ensure that all Illinois students and teachers have the | ||||||
16 | opportunity
to enroll and
work in State-approved educational | ||||||
17 | institutions and programs, the State Board
of
Education shall | ||||||
18 | provide for the voluntary registration and recognition of
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19 | non-public
elementary and secondary schools.
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20 | (b) Registration. All non-public elementary and secondary | ||||||
21 | schools in the
State
of
Illinois may voluntarily register with | ||||||
22 | the State Board of Education on an
annual basis. Registration | ||||||
23 | shall
be completed
in conformance with procedures prescribed by | ||||||
24 | the State Board of Education.
Information
required for | ||||||
25 | registration shall include assurances of compliance (i) with
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26 | federal
and State
laws regarding health examination and | ||||||
27 | immunization, attendance, length of term,
and
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28 | nondiscrimination
and (ii) with applicable fire and health | ||||||
29 | safety requirements.
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30 | (c) Recognition. All non-public elementary and secondary | ||||||
31 | schools in the
State of
Illinois may voluntarily seek the | ||||||
32 | status of "Non-public School Recognition"
from
the State
Board |
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1 | of Education. This status may be obtained by compliance with
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2 | administrative
guidelines and review procedures as prescribed | ||||||
3 | by the State Board of Education.
The
guidelines and procedures | ||||||
4 | must recognize that some of the aims and the
financial bases of
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5 | non-public schools are different from public schools and will | ||||||
6 | not be identical
to those for
public schools, nor will they be | ||||||
7 | more burdensome. The guidelines and procedures
must
also | ||||||
8 | recognize the diversity of non-public schools and shall not | ||||||
9 | impinge upon
the
noneducational relationships between those | ||||||
10 | schools and their clientele.
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11 | (c-5) A non-public elementary or secondary school may not | ||||||
12 | obtain "Non-public School Recognition" status unless the | ||||||
13 | school requires all certified and non-certified applicants for | ||||||
14 | employment with the school, except school bus driver | ||||||
15 | applicants, to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history | ||||||
16 | records check as a condition of employment to determine if such | ||||||
17 | applicants have been convicted of any of the enumerated | ||||||
18 | criminal or drug offenses set forth in this subsection (c-5) or | ||||||
19 | have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for | ||||||
20 | employment, of any other felony under the laws of this State or | ||||||
21 | of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or | ||||||
22 | against the laws of the United States that, if committed or | ||||||
23 | attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony | ||||||
24 | under the laws of this State. | ||||||
25 | Authorization for the check shall be furnished by the | ||||||
26 | applicant to the school, except that if the applicant is a | ||||||
27 | substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one | ||||||
28 | non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent part-time | ||||||
29 | employment positions with more than one non-public school (as a | ||||||
30 | reading specialist, special education teacher or otherwise), | ||||||
31 | or an educational support personnel employee seeking | ||||||
32 | employment positions with more than one non-public school, only | ||||||
33 | one of the non-public schools employing the individual shall | ||||||
34 | request the authorization. Upon receipt of this authorization, | ||||||
35 | the non-public school shall submit the applicant's name, sex, | ||||||
36 | race, date of birth, social security number, fingerprint |
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1 | images, and other identifiers, as prescribed by the Department | ||||||
2 | of State Police, to the Department of State Police. | ||||||
3 | The Department of State Police shall furnish, pursuant to a | ||||||
4 | fingerprint-based criminal history records check, records of | ||||||
5 | convictions, until expunged, to the president or principal of | ||||||
6 | the non-public school that requested the check. The Department | ||||||
7 | of State Police shall charge that school a fee for conducting | ||||||
8 | such check, which fee shall be deposited in the State Police | ||||||
9 | Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the inquiry. | ||||||
10 | Subject to appropriations for these purposes, the State | ||||||
11 | Superintendent of Education shall reimburse nonpublic schools | ||||||
12 | for fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under | ||||||
13 | this Section. | ||||||
14 | A non-public school may not obtain recognition status | ||||||
15 | unless the school also performs a check of the Statewide Sex | ||||||
16 | Offender Database, as authorized by the Sex Offender and Child | ||||||
17 | Murderer Community Notification Law, for each applicant for | ||||||
18 | employment to determine whether the applicant has been | ||||||
19 | adjudicated a sex offender. | ||||||
20 | Any information concerning the record of convictions | ||||||
21 | obtained by a non-public school's president or principal under | ||||||
22 | this Section shall be confidential and may be transmitted only | ||||||
23 | to the governing body of the non-public school or any other | ||||||
24 | person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for | ||||||
25 | employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from | ||||||
26 | the Department of State Police shall be provided to the | ||||||
27 | applicant for employment. Upon the check of the Statewide Sex | ||||||
28 | Offender Database, the non-public school shall notify an | ||||||
29 | applicant as to whether or not the applicant has been | ||||||
30 | identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex offender. Any | ||||||
31 | information concerning the records of convictions obtained by | ||||||
32 | the non-public school's president or principal under this | ||||||
33 | Section for a substitute teacher seeking employment in more | ||||||
34 | than one non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent | ||||||
35 | part-time employment positions with more than one non-public | ||||||
36 | school (as a reading specialist, special education teacher, or |
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1 | otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee | ||||||
2 | seeking employment positions with more than one non-public | ||||||
3 | school may be shared with the other non-public schools to which | ||||||
4 | the applicant seeks employment. Any person who releases any | ||||||
5 | confidential information concerning any criminal convictions | ||||||
6 | of an applicant for employment shall be guilty of a Class A | ||||||
7 | misdemeanor, unless the release of such information is | ||||||
8 | authorized by this Section. | ||||||
9 | No non-public school may obtain recognition status that | ||||||
10 | knowingly employs a person for whom a criminal history records | ||||||
11 | check and a Statewide Sex Offender Database check has not been | ||||||
12 | initiated or a person who has been convicted for committing | ||||||
13 | attempted first degree murder or for committing or attempting | ||||||
14 | to commit first degree murder or a Class X felony or any one or | ||||||
15 | more of the following offenses: (i) those defined in Sections | ||||||
16 | 11-6, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, | ||||||
17 | 11-19.1, 11-19.2, 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14, | ||||||
18 | 12-14.1, 12-15, and 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961; (ii) | ||||||
19 | those defined in the Cannabis Control Act, except those defined | ||||||
20 | in Sections 4(a), 4(b), and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those | ||||||
21 | defined in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act; and (iv) any | ||||||
22 | offense committed or attempted in any other state or against | ||||||
23 | the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted | ||||||
24 | in this State, would have been punishable as one or more of the | ||||||
25 | foregoing offenses. No non-public school may obtain | ||||||
26 | recognition status that knowingly employs a person who has been | ||||||
27 | found to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any | ||||||
28 | minor under 18 years of age pursuant to proceedings under | ||||||
29 | Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. | ||||||
30 | In order to obtain recognition status, a non-public school | ||||||
31 | must require compliance with the provisions of this subsection | ||||||
32 | (c-5) from all employees of persons or firms holding contracts | ||||||
33 | with the school, including, but not limited to, food service | ||||||
34 | workers, school bus drivers, and other transportation | ||||||
35 | employees, who have direct, daily contact with the pupils. Any | ||||||
36 | information concerning the record of conviction and |
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1 | identification as a sex offender of any such employee obtained | ||||||
2 | by the non-public school principal or president must be | ||||||
3 | promptly reported to the school's governing body.
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4 | (d) Public purposes. The provisions of this Section are in | ||||||
5 | the public
interest, for
the public benefit, and serve secular | ||||||
6 | public purposes.
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7 | (e) Definition. For purposes of this Section, a non-public | ||||||
8 | school means any
non-profit, non-home-based, and non-public | ||||||
9 | elementary or secondary school that
is
in
compliance with Title | ||||||
10 | VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and attendance at
which
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11 | satisfies the requirements of Section 26-1 of this Code.
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12 | (Source: P.A. 93-661, eff. 2-10-04.)
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