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90_SB0099
105 ILCS 5/24-11 from Ch. 122, par. 24-11
105 ILCS 5/34-84 from Ch. 122, par. 34-84
105 ILCS 5/34-85 from Ch. 122, par. 34-85
Amends the School Code. Provides that for teachers who
have not entered upon contractual continued service, tenure,
or permanent appointment status before the amendatory Act's
effective date, the length of probationary periods and entry
upon contractual continued service, tenure, or permanent
appointment status shall no longer be determined under the
School Code but instead shall be determined by the school
board, subject to any contract or collective bargaining
agreement entered into by the school board with the teacher
or the collective bargaining representative of the teachers
employed by the district.
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1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Sections
2 24-11, 34-84, and 34-85.
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 changing
6 Sections 24-11, 34-84, and 34-85 as follows:
7 (105 ILCS 5/24-11) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-11)
8 Sec. 24-11. Boards of Education; boards of school
9 inspectors; contractual continued service. As used in this
10 and the succeeding Sections of this Article, "teacher" means
11 any or all school district employees regularly required to be
12 certified under laws relating to the certification of
13 teachers, "board" means board of directors, board of
14 education or board of school inspectors, as the case may be,
15 and "school term" means that portion of the school year, July
16 1 to the following June 30, when school is in actual session.
17 This Section and Sections 24-12 through 24-16 of this Article
18 apply only to school districts having less than 500,000
19 inhabitants.
20 The length of a probationary period of a teacher who has
21 not entered upon contractual continued service before the
22 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997 shall no longer
23 be governed by or determined under this Section or any other
24 provision of the School Code, nor shall this Section or any
25 other provision of the School Code determine when or whether
26 a teacher who has not entered upon contractual continued
27 service before the effective date of this amendatory Act of
28 1997 shall enter upon contractual continued service or
29 otherwise attain tenure or other form of permanent employment
30 status with a school district. Beginning on the effective
31 date of this amendatory Act of 1997, the determination of
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1 whether a teacher who has not already entered upon
2 contractual continued service shall enter upon that service
3 or be awarded tenure or other form of permanent employment
4 status and, if so, the length of the probationary period that
5 the teacher must successfully complete before entering upon
6 contractual continued service, tenure, or other form of
7 permanent employment status with the school district shall be
8 determined by the board of that district, subject to any
9 contract or collective bargaining agreement entered into by
10 that board with the teacher or with any collective bargaining
11 representative of the teachers employed by the district.
12 Any teacher who has been employed in any district as a
13 full-time teacher for a probationary period of 2 consecutive
14 school terms shall enter upon contractual continued service
15 unless given written notice of dismissal stating the specific
16 reason therefor, by certified mail, return receipt requested
17 by the employing board at least 60 days before the end of
18 such period. For the purpose of determining contractual
19 continued service, the first probationary year shall be any
20 full time employment from a date before November 1 through
21 the end of the school year. If, however, a teacher has not
22 had one school term of full-time teaching experience before
23 the beginning of such probationary period, the employing
24 board may at its option extend such probationary period for
25 one additional school term by giving the teacher written
26 notice by certified mail, return receipt requested at least
27 60 days before the end of the second school term of the
28 period of 2 consecutive school terms referred to above. Such
29 notice must state the reasons for the one year extension and
30 must outline the corrective actions which the teacher should
31 take to satisfactorily complete probation.
32 Any full-time teacher who is completing the first year of
33 a the probationary period established by the employing board
34 described in the preceding paragraph, or any teacher employed
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1 on a full-time basis not later than January 1 of the school
2 term, shall receive written notice from the employing board
3 at least 60 days before the end of any school term whether or
4 not he or she will be re-employed for the following school
5 term. If the board fails to give such notice, the employee
6 shall be deemed reemployed, and not later than the close of
7 the then current school term the board shall issue a regular
8 contract to the employee as though the board had reemployed
9 him in the usual manner.
10 Contractual continued service shall continue in effect
11 the terms and provisions of the contract with the teacher
12 during the last school term of the probationary period,
13 subject to this Act and the lawful regulations of the
14 employing board. This Section and succeeding Sections do not
15 modify any existing power of the board except with respect to
16 the procedure of the discharge of a teacher and reductions in
17 salary as hereinafter provided. Contractual continued service
18 status shall not restrict the power of the board to transfer
19 a teacher to a position which the teacher is qualified to
20 fill or to make such salary adjustments as it deems
21 desirable, but unless reductions in salary are uniform or
22 based upon some reasonable classification, any teacher whose
23 salary is reduced shall be entitled to a notice and a hearing
24 as hereinafter provided in the case of certain dismissals or
25 removals.
26 The employment of any teacher in a program of a special
27 education joint agreement established under Section 3-15.14,
28 10-22.31 or 10-22.31a shall be under this and succeeding
29 Sections of this Article. For purposes of attaining and
30 maintaining contractual continued service and computing
31 length of continuing service as referred to in this Section
32 and Section 24-12, employment in a special educational joint
33 program established under Section 3-15.14, 10-22.31, or
34 10-22.31a shall be deemed a continuation of all previous
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1 certificated employment of such teacher for such joint
2 agreement whether the employer of the teacher was the joint
3 agreement, the regional superintendent, or one of the
4 participating districts in the joint agreement.
5 Any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a full-time
6 teacher in a program of a special education joint agreement,
7 whether the program is operated by the joint agreement or a
8 member district on behalf of the joint agreement, for a
9 probationary period of two consecutive years that was
10 completed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of
11 1997 shall enter upon contractual continued service in all of
12 the programs conducted by such joint agreement which the
13 teacher is legally qualified to hold. The contractual
14 continued service of a teacher who did not complete that
15 probationary period before the effective date of this
16 amendatory Act of 1997 shall be determined under the terms
17 and provisions of the joint agreement. In the event of a
18 reduction in the number of programs or positions in the joint
19 agreement, the teacher on contractual continued service shall
20 be eligible for employment in the joint agreement programs
21 for which the teacher is legally qualified in order of
22 greater length of continuing service in the joint agreement
23 unless an alternative method of determining the sequence of
24 dismissal is established in a collective bargaining
25 agreement. In the event of the dissolution of a joint
26 agreement, the teacher on contractual continued service who
27 is legally qualified shall be assigned to any comparable
28 position in a member district currently held by a teacher who
29 has not entered upon contractual continued service or held by
30 a teacher who has entered upon contractual continued service
31 with shorter length of contractual continued service.
32 The governing board of the joint agreement, or the
33 administrative district, if so authorized by the articles of
34 agreement of the joint agreement, rather than the board of
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1 education of a school district, may carry out employment and
2 termination actions including dismissals under this Section
3 and Section 24-12.
4 For purposes of this and succeeding Sections of this
5 Article, a program of a special educational joint agreement
6 shall be defined as instructional, consultative, supervisory,
7 administrative, diagnostic, and related services which are
8 managed by the special educational joint agreement designed
9 to service two or more districts which are members of the
10 joint agreement.
11 Each joint agreement shall be required to post by
12 February 1, a list of all its employees in order of length of
13 continuing service in the joint agreement, unless an
14 alternative method of determining a sequence of dismissal is
15 established in an applicable collective bargaining agreement.
16 The employment of any teacher in a special education
17 program authorized by Section 14-1.01 through 14-14.01, or a
18 joint educational program established under Section
19 10-22.31a, shall be under this and the succeeding Sections of
20 this Article, and such employment shall be deemed a
21 continuation of the previous employment of such teacher in
22 any of the participating districts, regardless of the
23 participation of other districts in the program. Any teacher
24 employed as a full-time teacher in a special education
25 program prior to September 23, 1987 in which 2 or more school
26 districts participate for a probationary period of 2
27 consecutive years that was completed before the effective
28 date of this amendatory Act of 1997 shall enter upon
29 contractual continued service in each of the participating
30 districts, subject to this and the succeeding Sections of
31 this Article, and in the event of the termination of the
32 program shall be eligible for any vacant position in any of
33 such districts for which such teacher is qualified.
34 (Source: P.A. 85-1163; 85-1209; 85-1440.)
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1 (105 ILCS 5/34-84) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-84)
2 Sec. 34-84. Appointments and promotions of teachers.
3 Appointments and promotions of teachers shall be made for
4 merit only.
5 The length of the probationary period of a teacher whose
6 appointment has not become permanent or who has not otherwise
7 attained tenure or entered upon contractual continued service
8 before the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997
9 shall no longer be governed by this Section or any other
10 provision of this Article or the School Code, nor shall this
11 Section or any other provision of this Article or the School
12 Code determine when or whether the appointment of a teacher,
13 whose appointment has not already become permanent before the
14 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, shall become
15 permanent or whether that teacher shall otherwise attain
16 tenure or enter upon contractual continued service.
17 Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act 1997,
18 the determination of whether the appointment of a teacher
19 whose appointment has not already become permanent shall
20 thereafter become permanent, and, if so, the length of the
21 probationary period that the teacher must successfully
22 complete before his or her appointment becomes permanent or
23 he or she otherwise attains tenure or enters upon contractual
24 continued service shall be determined by the board, subject
25 to any contract or collective bargaining agreement entered
26 into by the board with the collective bargaining
27 representative of the teachers employed by the district (or
28 with the teacher if there is no collective bargaining
29 representative of the teachers employed by the district). ,
30 and after satisfactory service for a probationary period of 3
31 years (during which period The board may dismiss or discharge
32 any such probationary employee upon the recommendation,
33 accompanied by the written reasons therefor, of the general
34 superintendent of schools. Any permanent appointment)
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1 appointments of a teacher is teachers shall become permanent,
2 subject to removal for cause in the manner provided by
3 Section 34-85.
4 As used in this Article, "teachers" means and includes
5 all members of the teaching force excluding the general
6 superintendent and principals.
7 There shall be no reduction in teachers because of a
8 decrease in student membership or a change in subject
9 requirements within the attendance center organization after
10 the 20th day following the first day of the school year,
11 except that: (1) this provision shall not apply to
12 desegregation positions, special education positions, or any
13 other positions funded by State or federal categorical funds,
14 and (2) at attendance centers maintaining any of grades 9
15 through 12, there may be a second reduction in teachers on
16 the first day of the second semester of the regular school
17 term because of a decrease in student membership or a change
18 in subject requirements within the attendance center
19 organization.
20 The school principal shall make the decision in selecting
21 teachers to fill new and vacant positions consistent with
22 Section 34-8.1.
23 (Source: P.A. 88-338; 88-511; 89-15, eff. 5-30-95.)
24 (105 ILCS 5/34-85) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-85)
25 Sec. 34-85. Removal for cause; Notice and hearing;
26 Suspension. No teacher employed by the board of education
27 shall (after serving the probationary period determined as
28 provided specified in Section 34-84) be removed except for
29 cause. No principal employed by the board of education shall
30 be removed during the term of his or her performance contract
31 except for cause, which may include but is not limited to the
32 principal's repeated failure to implement the school
33 improvement plan or to comply with the provisions of the
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1 Uniform Performance Contract, including additional criteria
2 established by the Council for inclusion in the performance
3 contract pursuant to Section 34-2.3.
4 The general superintendent must first approve written
5 charges and specifications against the teacher or principal.
6 A local school council may direct the general superintendent
7 to approve written charges against its principal on behalf of
8 the Council upon the vote of 7 members of the Council. The
9 general superintendent must approve those charges within 45
10 days or provide a written reason for not approving those
11 charges. A written notice of those charges shall be served
12 upon the teacher or principal within 10 days of the approval
13 of the charges. If the teacher or principal cannot be found
14 upon diligent inquiry, such charges may be served upon him by
15 mailing a copy thereof in a sealed envelope by prepaid
16 certified mail, return receipt requested, to the teacher's or
17 principal's last known address. A return receipt showing
18 delivery to such address within 20 days after the date of the
19 approval of the charges shall constitute proof of service.
20 No hearing upon the charges is required unless the
21 teacher or principal within 10 days after receiving notice
22 requests in writing of the general superintendent that a
23 hearing be scheduled, in which case the general
24 superintendent shall schedule a hearing on those charges
25 before a disinterested hearing officer on a date no less than
26 15 nor more than 30 days after the approval of the charges.
27 The general superintendent shall forward a copy of the notice
28 to the State Board of Education within 5 days from the date
29 of the approval of the charges. Within 10 days after
30 receiving the notice of hearing, the State Board of Education
31 shall provide the teacher or principal and the general
32 superintendent with a list of 5 prospective, impartial
33 hearing officers. Each person on the list must be accredited
34 by a national arbitration organization and have had a minimum
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1 of 5 years of experience as an arbitrator in cases involving
2 labor and employment relations matters between educational
3 employers and educational employees or their exclusive
4 bargaining representatives.
5 The general superintendent and the teacher or principal
6 or their legal representatives within 3 days from receipt of
7 the list shall alternately strike one name from the list
8 until only one name remains. Unless waived by the teacher,
9 the teacher or principal shall have the right to proceed
10 first with the striking. Within 3 days of receipt of the
11 first list provided by the State Board of Education, the
12 general superintendent and the teacher or principal or their
13 legal representatives shall each have the right to reject all
14 prospective hearing officers named on the first list and to
15 require the State Board of Education to provide a second list
16 of 5 prospective, impartial hearing officers, none of whom
17 were named on the first list. Within 5 days after receiving
18 this request for a second list, the State Board of Education
19 shall provide the second list of 5 prospective, impartial
20 hearing officers. The procedure for selecting a hearing
21 officer from the second list shall be the same as the
22 procedure for the first list. Each party shall promptly
23 serve written notice on the other of any name stricken from
24 the list. If the teacher or principal fails to do so, the
25 general superintendent may select the hearing officer from
26 any name remaining on the list. The teacher or principal may
27 waive the hearing at any time prior to the appointment of the
28 hearing officer. Notice of the selection of the hearing
29 officer shall be given to the State Board of Education. The
30 hearing officer shall be notified of his selection by the
31 State Board of Education. A signed acceptance shall be
32 filed with the State Board of Education within 5 days of
33 receipt of notice of the selection. The State Board of
34 Education shall notify the teacher or principal and the board
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1 of its appointment of the hearing officer. In the alternative
2 to selecting a hearing officer from the first or second list
3 received from the State Board of Education, the general
4 superintendent and the teacher or principal or their legal
5 representatives may mutually agree to select an impartial
6 hearing officer who is not on a list received from the State
7 Board of Education, either by direct appointment by the
8 parties or by using procedures for the appointment of an
9 arbitrator established by the Federal Mediation and
10 Conciliation Service or the American Arbitration Association.
11 The parties shall notify the State Board of Education of
12 their intent to select a hearing officer using an alternative
13 procedure within 3 days of receipt of a list of prospective
14 hearing officers provided by the State Board of Education.
15 Any person selected by the parties under this alternative
16 procedure for the selection of a hearing officer shall have
17 the same qualifications and authority as a hearing officer
18 selected from a list provided by the State Board of
19 Education. The teacher or principal may waive the hearing at
20 any time prior to the appointment of the hearing officer.
21 The State Board of Education shall promulgate uniform
22 standards and rules of procedure for such hearings, including
23 reasonable rules of discovery.
24 The per diem allowance for the hearing officer shall be
25 paid by the State Board of Education. The hearing officer
26 shall hold a hearing and render findings of fact and a
27 recommendation to the general superintendent. The teacher or
28 principal has the privilege of being present at the hearing
29 with counsel and of cross-examining witnesses and may offer
30 evidence and witnesses and present defenses to the charges.
31 The hearing officer may issue subpoenas requiring the
32 attendance of witnesses and, at the request of the teacher or
33 principal against whom a charge is made or the general
34 superintendent, shall issue such subpoenas, but the hearing
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1 officer may limit the number of witnesses to be subpoenaed in
2 behalf of the teacher or principal or the general
3 superintendent to not more than 10 each. All testimony at
4 the hearing shall be taken under oath administered by the
5 hearing officer. The hearing officer shall cause a record of
6 the proceedings to be kept and shall employ a competent
7 reporter to take stenographic or stenotype notes of all the
8 testimony. The costs of the reporter's attendance and
9 services at the hearing shall be paid by the State Board of
10 Education. Either party desiring a transcript of the hearing
11 shall pay for the cost thereof.
12 Pending the hearing of the charges, the person charged
13 may be suspended in accordance with rules prescribed by the
14 board but such person, if acquitted, shall not suffer any
15 loss of salary by reason of the suspension.
16 Before service of notice of charges on account of causes
17 that may be deemed to be remediable, the teacher or principal
18 shall be given reasonable warning in writing, stating
19 specifically the causes which, if not removed, may result in
20 charges; however, no such written warning shall be required
21 if the causes have been the subject of a remediation plan
22 pursuant to Article 24A. No written warning shall be
23 required for conduct on the part of a teacher or principal
24 which is cruel, immoral, negligent, or criminal or which in
25 any way causes psychological or physical harm or injury to a
26 student as that conduct is deemed to be irremediable. No
27 written warning shall be required for a material breach of
28 the uniform principal performance contract as that conduct is
29 deemed to be irremediable; provided however, that not less
30 than 30 days before the vote of the local school council to
31 seek the dismissal of a principal for a material breach of a
32 uniform principal performance contract, the local school
33 council shall specify the nature of the alleged breach in
34 writing and provide a copy of it to the principal.
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1 The hearing officer shall consider and give weight to all
2 of the teacher's evaluations written pursuant to Article 24A.
3 The hearing officer shall within 45 days from the
4 conclusion of the hearing report to the general
5 superintendent findings of fact and a recommendation as to
6 whether or not the teacher or principal shall be dismissed
7 and shall give a copy of the report to both the teacher or
8 principal and the general superintendent. The board, within
9 45 days of receipt of the hearing officer's findings of fact
10 and recommendation, shall make a decision as to whether the
11 teacher or principal shall be dismissed from its employ. The
12 failure of the board to strictly adhere to the timeliness
13 contained herein shall not render it without jurisdiction to
14 dismiss the teacher or principal. If the hearing officer
15 fails to render a decision within 45 days, the State Board of
16 Education shall communicate with the hearing officer to
17 determine the date that the parties can reasonably expect to
18 receive the decision. The State Board of Education shall
19 provide copies of all such communications to the parties. In
20 the event the hearing officer fails without good cause to
21 make a decision within the 45 day period, the name of such
22 hearing officer shall be struck for a period not less than 24
23 months from the master list of hearing officers maintained by
24 the State Board of Education. The board shall not lose
25 jurisdiction to discharge the teacher or principal if the
26 hearing officer fails to render a decision within the time
27 specified in this Section. If a hearing officer fails to
28 render a decision within 3 months after the hearing is
29 declared closed, the State Board of Education shall provide
30 the parties with a new list of prospective, impartial hearing
31 officers, with the same qualifications provided herein, one
32 of whom shall be selected, as provided in this Section, to
33 rehear the charges heard by the hearing officer who failed to
34 render a decision. The parties may also select a hearing
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1 officer pursuant to the alternative procedure, as provided in
2 this Section, to rehear the charges heard by the hearing
3 officer who failed to render a decision. A violation of the
4 professional standards set forth in "The Code of Professional
5 Responsibility for Arbitrators of Labor-Management Disputes",
6 of the National Academy of Arbitrators, the American
7 Arbitration Association, and the Federal Mediation and
8 Conciliation Service, or the failure of a hearing officer to
9 render a decision within 3 months after the hearing is
10 declared closed shall be grounds for removal of the hearing
11 officer from the master list of hearing officers maintained
12 by the State Board of Education. The decision of the board
13 is final unless reviewed as provided in Section 34-85b of
14 this Act.
15 In the event judicial review is instituted, any costs of
16 preparing and filing the record of proceedings shall be paid
17 by the party instituting the review. If a decision of the
18 hearing officer is adjudicated upon review or appeal in favor
19 of the teacher or principal, then the trial court shall order
20 reinstatement and shall determine the amount for which the
21 board is liable including but not limited to loss of income
22 and costs incurred therein. Nothing in this Section affects
23 the validity of removal for cause hearings commenced prior to
24 the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1978.
25 (Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95.)