Full Text of SB1931 94th General Assembly
SB1931enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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SB1931 Enrolled |
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LRB094 10885 RAS 41431 b |
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Education for Homeless Children Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Sections 1-25 and 1-30 as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 45/1-25)
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| Sec. 1-25. Ombudspersons; dispute resolution; civil | 8 |
| actions.
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| (a) Each regional superintendent of schools shall appoint
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| act as an ombudsperson
who is fair and impartial and familiar | 11 |
| with the educational rights and needs of homeless children to | 12 |
| provide resource information and resolve disputes at schools | 13 |
| within his or her jurisdiction relating to the rights of
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| homeless children under this Act , except in Cook County, where | 15 |
| each school
district shall designate a person to serve as | 16 |
| ombudsperson when a dispute
arises . If a school denies a | 17 |
| homeless child enrollment or transportation, it
shall | 18 |
| immediately refer the child or his or her parent or guardian to | 19 |
| the ombudsperson and provide the child or his or her parent or | 20 |
| guardian with a written statement of the basis for the denial . | 21 |
| The child
shall be admitted and transported to the school | 22 |
| chosen by the parent or guardian
parents or
guardians until | 23 |
| final resolution of the dispute. The ombudsperson shall
convene | 24 |
| a meeting of all parties and attempt to resolve the dispute | 25 |
| within 5
school days after receiving notice of the dispute , if | 26 |
| possible .
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| (a-5) Whenever a child and his or her parent or guardian | 28 |
| who initially share the housing of another person due to loss | 29 |
| of housing, economic hardship, or a similar hardship continue | 30 |
| to share the housing, a school district may, after the passage | 31 |
| of 18 months and annually thereafter, conduct a review as to | 32 |
| whether such hardship continues to exist. The district may, at |
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| the time of review, request information from the parent or | 2 |
| guardian to reasonably establish the hardship, and sworn | 3 |
| affidavits or declarations may be sought and provided. If, upon | 4 |
| review, the district determines that the family no longer | 5 |
| suffers such hardship, it may notify the family in writing and | 6 |
| begin the process of dispute resolution as set forth in this | 7 |
| Act. Any change required as a result of this review and | 8 |
| determination shall be effective solely at the close of the | 9 |
| school year. Any person who knowingly or willfully presents | 10 |
| false information regarding the hardship of a child in any | 11 |
| review under this subsection (a-5) shall be guilty of a Class C | 12 |
| misdemeanor.
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| (b) Any party to a dispute under this Act may file a civil | 14 |
| action in a
court
of competent jurisdiction to seek appropriate | 15 |
| relief. In any civil action, a
party whose rights under this | 16 |
| Act are found to have been violated shall be
entitled to | 17 |
| recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
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| (c) If a dispute arises, the school district shall inform | 19 |
| parents and
guardians of homeless children of the availability | 20 |
| of the ombudsperson, sources
of low cost or free legal | 21 |
| assistance, and other advocacy services in the
community.
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| (Source: P.A. 88-634, eff. 1-1-95.)
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| (105 ILCS 45/1-30)
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| Sec. 1-30. McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children | 25 |
| Act implementation and technical assistance
Committee . The | 26 |
| Homeless Children Committee is abolished on the effective date | 27 |
| of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly. The Office | 28 |
| of the Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and | 29 |
| Youth, established pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento | 30 |
| Homeless Assistance Act, shall convene meetings throughout the | 31 |
| State for the purpose of providing technical assistance, | 32 |
| education, training, and problem-solving regarding the | 33 |
| implementation of this Act and the federal McKinney-Vento | 34 |
| Homeless Assistance Act. These meetings shall include lead | 35 |
| liaisons, local educational agency liaisons, educators, |
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| shelter, housing, and service providers, homeless or formerly | 2 |
| homeless persons, advocates working with homeless families, | 3 |
| and other persons or agencies deemed appropriate by the | 4 |
| Coordinator.
There is hereby created a
Homeless
Children | 5 |
| Committee composed of 24 members, 18 of whom shall be appointed | 6 |
| by the
State Superintendent of Education after consultation | 7 |
| with advocates for the
homeless and private nonprofit | 8 |
| organizations that advocate an end to
homelessness, 2 of whom | 9 |
| shall be members of the General Assembly appointed (one
from | 10 |
| each chamber) by the Governor, and 4 of whom shall be members | 11 |
| of the
General Assembly appointed one each by the Speaker of | 12 |
| the House of
Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House | 13 |
| of Representatives, the
President of the Senate, and the | 14 |
| Minority Leader of the Senate. Of the 18
members appointed by | 15 |
| the State Superintendent of Education as provided in this
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| Section, 6 shall be homeless and formerly homeless parents or | 17 |
| guardians, 6
shall be providers to and advocates for homeless | 18 |
| persons, and 6 shall be school
personnel from different | 19 |
| geographic regions of the State. Members of the
Committee shall | 20 |
| serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority and a vacancy
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| on the Committee shall be filled by the appropriate appointing | 22 |
| authority. The
Committee shall have the authority to review and | 23 |
| modify the current and future
State plans that are required | 24 |
| under the federal Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 88-634, eff. 1-1-95.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 27 |
| becoming law. |
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