Full Text of SB0143 95th General Assembly
SB0143enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| 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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| Sec. 2-3.25o. Registration and recognition of non-public | 8 |
| elementary and
secondary schools.
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| (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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| non-public
elementary and secondary schools.
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| (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 |
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| the State Board of Education.
Information
required for | 2 |
| registration shall include assurances of compliance (i) with
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| federal
and State
laws regarding health examination and | 4 |
| immunization, attendance, length of term,
and
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| nondiscrimination and (ii) with applicable fire and health | 6 |
| safety requirements.
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| (c) Recognition. All non-public elementary and secondary | 8 |
| schools in the
State of
Illinois may voluntarily seek the | 9 |
| status of "Non-public School Recognition"
from
the State
Board | 10 |
| of Education. This status may be obtained by compliance with
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| administrative
guidelines and review procedures as prescribed | 12 |
| by the State Board of Education.
The
guidelines and procedures | 13 |
| must recognize that some of the aims and the
financial bases of
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| non-public schools are different from public schools and will | 15 |
| not be identical
to those for
public schools, nor will they be | 16 |
| more burdensome. The guidelines and procedures
must
also | 17 |
| recognize the diversity of non-public schools and shall not | 18 |
| impinge upon
the
noneducational relationships between those | 19 |
| schools and their clientele.
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| (c-5) Prohibition against recognition. A non-public | 21 |
| elementary or secondary school may not obtain "Non-public | 22 |
| School Recognition" status unless the school requires all | 23 |
| certified and non-certified applicants for employment with the | 24 |
| school, after July 1, 2007, to authorize a fingerprint-based | 25 |
| criminal history records check as a condition of employment to | 26 |
| determine if such applicants have been convicted of any of the |
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| enumerated criminal or drug offenses set forth in this | 2 |
| subsection (c-5) or have been convicted, within 7 years of the | 3 |
| application for employment, of any other felony under the laws | 4 |
| of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any | 5 |
| other state or against the laws of the United States that, if | 6 |
| committed or attempted in this State, would have been | 7 |
| punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. | 8 |
| Authorization for the check shall be furnished by the | 9 |
| applicant to the school, except that if the applicant is a | 10 |
| substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one | 11 |
| non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent part-time | 12 |
| employment positions with more than one non-public school (as a | 13 |
| reading specialist, special education teacher, or otherwise), | 14 |
| or an educational support personnel employee seeking | 15 |
| employment positions with more than one non-public school, then | 16 |
| only one of the non-public schools employing the individual | 17 |
| shall request the authorization. Upon receipt of this | 18 |
| authorization, the non-public school shall submit the | 19 |
| applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth, social security | 20 |
| number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as | 21 |
| prescribed by the Department of State Police, to the Department | 22 |
| of State Police. | 23 |
| The Department of State Police and Federal Bureau of | 24 |
| Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based | 25 |
| criminal history records check, records of convictions, | 26 |
| forever and hereafter, until expunged, to the president or |
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| principal of the non-public school that requested the check. | 2 |
| The Department of State Police shall charge that school a fee | 3 |
| for conducting such check, which fee must be deposited into the | 4 |
| State Police Services Fund and must not exceed the cost of the | 5 |
| inquiry. Subject to appropriations for these purposes, the | 6 |
| State Superintendent of Education shall reimburse non-public | 7 |
| schools for fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks | 8 |
| under this Section. | 9 |
| A non-public school may not obtain recognition status | 10 |
| unless the school also performs a check of the Statewide Sex | 11 |
| Offender Database, as authorized by the Sex Offender Community | 12 |
| Notification Law, for each applicant for employment, after July | 13 |
| 1, 2007, to determine whether the applicant has been | 14 |
| adjudicated a sex offender. | 15 |
| Any information concerning the record of convictions | 16 |
| obtained by a non-public school's president or principal under | 17 |
| this Section is confidential and may be disseminated only to | 18 |
| the governing body of the non-public school or any other person | 19 |
| necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for | 20 |
| employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from | 21 |
| the Department of State Police shall be provided to the | 22 |
| applicant for employment. Upon a check of the Statewide Sex | 23 |
| Offender Database, the non-public school shall notify the | 24 |
| applicant as to whether or not the applicant has been | 25 |
| identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex offender. Any | 26 |
| information concerning the records of conviction obtained by |
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| the non-public school's president or principal under this | 2 |
| Section for a substitute teacher seeking employment in more | 3 |
| than one non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent | 4 |
| part-time employment positions with more than one non-public | 5 |
| school (as a reading specialist, special education teacher, or | 6 |
| otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee | 7 |
| seeking employment positions with more than one non-public | 8 |
| school may be shared with another non-public school's principal | 9 |
| or president to which the applicant seeks employment. Any | 10 |
| person who releases any criminal history record information | 11 |
| concerning an applicant for employment is guilty of a Class A | 12 |
| misdemeanor and may be subject to prosecution under federal | 13 |
| law, unless the release of such information is authorized by | 14 |
| this Section. | 15 |
| No non-public school may obtain recognition status that | 16 |
| knowingly employs a person, hired after July 1, 2007, for whom | 17 |
| a Department of State Police and Federal Bureau of | 18 |
| Investigation fingerprint-based criminal history records check | 19 |
| and a Statewide Sex Offender Database check has not been | 20 |
| initiated or who has been convicted for committing attempted | 21 |
| first degree murder or for committing or attempting to commit | 22 |
| first degree murder or a Class X felony or any one or more of | 23 |
| the following offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, | 24 |
| 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, | 25 |
| 11-19.1, 11-19.2, 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14, | 26 |
| 12-14.1, 12-15, and 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961; (ii) |
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| those defined in the Cannabis Control Act, except those defined | 2 |
| in Sections 4(a), 4(b), and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those | 3 |
| defined in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act; and (iv) any | 4 |
| offense committed or attempted in any other state or against | 5 |
| the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted | 6 |
| in this State, would have been punishable as one or more of the | 7 |
| foregoing offenses. No non-public school may obtain | 8 |
| recognition status under this Section that knowingly employs a | 9 |
| person who has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or | 10 |
| physical abuse of a minor under 18 years of age pursuant to | 11 |
| proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. | 12 |
| In order to obtain recognition status under this Section, a | 13 |
| non-public school must require compliance with the provisions | 14 |
| of this subsection (c-5) from all employees of persons or firms | 15 |
| holding contracts with the school, including, but not limited | 16 |
| to, food service workers, school bus drivers, and other | 17 |
| transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with | 18 |
| pupils. Any information concerning the records of conviction or | 19 |
| identification as a sex offender of any such employee obtained | 20 |
| by the non-public school principal or president must be | 21 |
| promptly reported to the school's governing body.
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| (d) Public purposes. The provisions of this Section are in | 23 |
| the public
interest, for
the public benefit, and serve secular | 24 |
| public purposes.
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| (e) Definition. For purposes of this Section, a non-public | 26 |
| school means any
non-profit, non-home-based, and non-public |
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| elementary or secondary school that
is
in
compliance with Title | 2 |
| VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and attendance at
which
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| satisfies the requirements of Section 26-1 of this Code.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-661, eff. 2-10-04.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 6 |
| 2007.
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