State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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[ Introduced ][ Enrolled ][ House Amendment 001 ]
[ House Amendment 003 ]

90_HB0053eng

      105 ILCS 5/34-18.19 new
          Amends the School Code.  Adds  provisions  applicable  in
      Chicago   that    supplement  and  operate  independently  of
      existing  truancy  laws.   Requires  the  principal  of  each
      attendance center to create a 5  member  Truancy  Board  from
      representatives    of   local   police,   community   service
      organizations, staff of the attendance center,  parents,  and
      students  (in  secondary  attendance  centers).  Provides for
      referral by the principal to the Truancy Board of  the  cases
      of  students who have 10 days of unexcused absences and whose
      parents have been given notice of the truancy.  Provides  for
      a  hearing  and  the  imposition of a community service order
      with respect to a parent or guardian who knowingly  allows  a
      student  to  be  absent  from  school without a valid excuse.
      Adds provisions relative to judicial review  and  enforcement
      of a community service order of the Truancy Board.
                                                     LRB9000682THcw
HB0053 Engrossed                               LRB9000682THcw
 1        AN  ACT  concerning chronic truants in the Chicago Public
 2    Schools, amending named Acts.
 3        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:
 5        Section  5.  The School Code is amended by adding Section
 6    34-4.5 as follows:
 7        (105 ILCS 5/34-4.5 new)
 8        Sec. 34-4.5.  Chronic truants.
 9        (a)  Office of Chronic Truant  Adjudication.   The  board
10    shall  establish  and  implement  an Office of Chronic Truant
11    Adjudication, which shall be responsible for administratively
12    adjudicating  cases   of   chronic   truancy   and   imposing
13    appropriate  sanctions.   The  board  shall appoint or employ
14    hearing officers to perform  the  adjudicatory  functions  of
15    that  Office.  Principals and other appropriate personnel may
16    refer pupils suspected of being chronic truants,  as  defined
17    in  Section  26-2a  of  this  Code,  to the Office of Chronic
18    Truant Adjudication.
19        (b)  Notices.  Before  any  hearing  may  be  held  under
20    subsection  (c),  the principal of the school attended by the
21    pupil or the principal's designee shall  notify  the  pupil's
22    parent or guardian by personal visit, letter, or telephone of
23    each unexcused absence of the pupil.  After giving the parent
24    or  guardian  notice  of  the  tenth unexcused absence of the
25    pupil, the principal or the principal's designee  shall  send
26    the  pupil's  parent or guardian a letter, by certified mail,
27    return receipt requested, notifying the  parent  or  guardian
28    that  he or she is subjecting himself or herself to a hearing
29    procedure  as  provided  under  subsection  (c)  and  clearly
30    describing any and all possible penalties that may be imposed
31    as provided for in subsections (d) and (e) of this Section.
HB0053 Engrossed            -2-                LRB9000682THcw
 1        (c)  Hearing.  Once a pupil  has  been  referred  to  the
 2    Office  of  Chronic  Truant  Adjudication, a hearing shall be
 3    scheduled before an appointed hearing officer, and the  pupil
 4    and  the  pupil's  parents  or  guardian shall be notified by
 5    certified mail, return receipt requested  stating  the  time,
 6    place, and purpose of the hearing.  The hearing officer shall
 7    hold  a  hearing and render a written decision within 14 days
 8    determining whether the pupil is a chronic truant as  defined
 9    in  Section  26-2a  of  this  Code  and whether the parent or
10    guardian  took  reasonable  steps  to  assure   the   pupil's
11    attendance  at school.  The hearing shall be private unless a
12    public  hearing  is  requested  by  the  pupil's  parent   or
13    guardian,  and the pupil may be present at the hearing with a
14    representative in addition to the pupil's parent or guardian.
15    The board shall present evidence of the pupil's truancy,  and
16    the pupil and the parent or guardian or representative of the
17    pupil  may  cross  examine  witnesses,  present witnesses and
18    evidence, and present defenses to the charges.  All testimony
19    at the hearing shall be taken under oath administered by  the
20    hearing  officer.   The decision of the hearing officer shall
21    constitute  an  "administrative  decision"  for  purposes  of
22    judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.
23        (d)  Penalties.  The  hearing  officer  may  require  the
24    pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian or both the pupil and
25    the  pupil's  parent  or  guardian  to  do  any or all of the
26    following: perform reasonable school  or  community  services
27    for  a  period  not  to  exceed 30 days; complete a parenting
28    education program;  obtain  counseling  or  other  supportive
29    services;  and comply with an individualized educational plan
30    or service plan as provided by appropriate school  officials.
31    If the parent or guardian of the chronic truant shows that he
32    or  she  took  reasonable  steps  to insure attendance of the
33    pupil at school, he or she shall not be required  to  perform
34    services.
HB0053 Engrossed            -3-                LRB9000682THcw
 1        (e)  Non-compliance   with   sanctions.    If   a   pupil
 2    determined by a hearing officer to be a chronic truant or the
 3    parent  or  guardian  of  the  pupil fails to comply with the
 4    sanctions ordered by the hearing officer under subsection (c)
 5    of this Section, the Office of  Chronic  Truant  Adjudication
 6    may  refer the matter to the State's Attorney for prosecution
 7    under Section 3-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
 8        (f)  Limitation  on  applicability.   Nothing   in   this
 9    Section  shall  be construed to apply to a parent or guardian
10    of a pupil in a valid home school program.
11        Section 10.  The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
12    changing Section 3-33 as follows:
13        (705 ILCS 405/3-33) (from Ch. 37, par. 803-33)
14        Sec. 3-33.  Truant Minor in Need of Supervision.
15        (a) Definition.  Any minor who is reported by a  regional
16    superintendent  of  schools,  or  in  cities  of over 500,000
17    inhabitants, by the Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication  in
18    a  county  of  less  than 2,000,000 inhabitants, as a chronic
19    truant (i) to whom prevention, diagnostic,  intervention  and
20    remedial  services  and alternative programs and other school
21    and community resources have been provided and have failed to
22    result in the cessation of chronic truancy, or (ii)  to  whom
23    such  services,  programs and resources have been offered and
24    have been refused, shall be adjudged a truant minor  in  need
25    of supervision.
26        (b)  Kinds  of dispositional orders.  A minor found to be
27    a truant minor in need of supervision may be:
28        (1)  committed   to    the    appropriate        regional
29    superintendent  of  schools  for  a  multi-disciplinary  case
30    staffing, individualized educational plan or service plan, or
31    referral to comprehensive community-based youth services;
32        (2)  required    to   comply   with   an   individualized
HB0053 Engrossed            -4-                LRB9000682THcw
 1    educational plan or service plan as specifically provided  by
 2    the appropriate regional superintendent of schools;
 3        (3)  ordered  to  obtain  counseling  or other supportive
 4    services;
 5        (4)  subject to a fine in an amount in excess of $5,  but
 6    not  exceeding  $100,  and  each day of absence without valid
 7    cause as defined in Section 26-2a of The  School  Code  is  a
 8    separate offense;
 9        (5)  required  to  perform some reasonable public service
10    work such as, but not limited to, the picking up of litter in
11    public parks or along public highways or the  maintenance  of
12    public facilities; or
13        (6)  subject  to  having  his  or her driver's license or
14    privilege suspended.
15    (Source: P.A. 85-1235.)
16        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
17    becoming law.

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