State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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90_HB1685

      105 ILCS 5/26-1           from Ch. 122, par. 26-1
          Amends the School Code.  Makes changes of  style  in  the
      provisions relating to compulsory school age.
                                                     LRB9004886THpk
                                               LRB9004886THpk
 1        AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section 26-1.
 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:
 4        Section 5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by  changing
 5    Section 26-1 as follows:
 6        (105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)
 7        Sec.  26-1.   Compulsory  school age; exemptions. Whoever
 8    has custody or control of a any child between the ages  of  7
 9    and  16  years  shall  cause  that  such child to attend some
10    public school in the district wherein the child  resides  the
11    entire  time it is in session during the regular school term,
12    except as provided in Section 10-19.1, and during a  required
13    summer  school  program  established under Section 10-22.33B;
14    provided, that the following children shall not  be  required
15    to attend the public schools:
16        1.  Any  child  attending a private or a parochial school
17    where children are taught the branches of education taught to
18    children  of  corresponding  age  and  grade  in  the  public
19    schools, and where  the  instruction  of  the  child  in  the
20    branches of education is in the English language;
21        2.  Any  child  who  is  physically or mentally unable to
22    attend school, such disability being certified to the  county
23    or  district  truant  officer  by  a competent physician or a
24    Christian Science practitioner residing  in  this  State  and
25    listed  in  the  Christian Science Journal; or who is excused
26    for temporary absence for cause by the principal  or  teacher
27    of the school which the child attends; the exemptions in this
28    paragraph  (2)  do not apply to any female who is pregnant or
29    the mother of one or more children, except where a female  is
30    unable  to  attend  school due to a complication arising from
31    her pregnancy and  the  existence  of  such  complication  is
                            -2-                LRB9004886THpk
 1    certified  to  the  county  or  district  truant officer by a
 2    competent physician;
 3        3.  Any child necessarily and lawfully employed according
 4    to the provisions of the law regulating child  labor  may  be
 5    excused   from   attendance   at   school   by   the   county
 6    superintendent of schools or the superintendent of the public
 7    school  which the child should be attending, on certification
 8    of the facts by and the recommendation of the school board of
 9    the public school district in which  the  child  resides.  In
10    districts  having part time continuation schools, children so
11    excused shall attend such schools at least 8 hours each week;
12        4.  Any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while  in
13    attendance at confirmation classes;
14        5.  Any child absent from a public school on a particular
15    day  or  days  or  at a particular time of day for the reason
16    that he is unable to attend classes or to participate in  any
17    examination,  study  or work requirements on a particular day
18    or days or at a particular time of day, because the tenets of
19    his religion forbid secular activity on a particular  day  or
20    days or at a particular time of day.  Each school board shall
21    prescribe  rules  and  regulations  relative  to absences for
22    religious holidays including, but not limited to, a  list  of
23    religious holidays on which it shall be mandatory to excuse a
24    child;  but nothing in this paragraph 5 shall be construed to
25    limit the right of any school board, at  its  discretion,  to
26    excuse  an  absence  on  any  other  day  by  reason  of  the
27    observance  of  a  religious  holiday.   A  school  board may
28    require the parent or guardian  of  a  child  who  is  to  be
29    excused  from  attending  school  due  to the observance of a
30    religious holiday to give notice, not exceeding  5  days,  of
31    the  child's  absence to the school principal or other school
32    personnel.  Any child excused  from  attending  school  under
33    this  paragraph  5  shall not be required to submit a written
34    excuse for such absence after returning to school.
                            -3-                LRB9004886THpk
 1    (Source: P.A. 89-610, eff. 8-6-96.)

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