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Public Act 098-0544
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| SB1307 Enrolled | LRB098 07342 NHT 37405 b |
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AN ACT regarding education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
Sections |
26-1 and 26-2 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)
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Sec. 26-1. Compulsory school age-Exemptions. Whoever has |
custody or control of any child (i) between the ages of 7 and |
17
years (unless the child has already graduated from high |
school) for school years before the 2014-2015 school year or |
(ii) between the ages
of 6 (on or before September 1) and 17 |
years (unless the child has already graduated from high school) |
beginning with the 2014-2015 school year
shall cause such child |
to attend some public school in the district
wherein the child |
resides the entire time it is in session during the
regular |
school term, except as provided in Section 10-19.1, and during |
a
required summer school program established under Section |
10-22.33B; provided,
that
the following children shall not be |
required to attend the public schools:
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1. Any child attending a private or a parochial school |
where children
are taught the branches of education taught |
to children of corresponding
age and grade in the public |
schools, and where the instruction of the child
in the |
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branches of education is in the English language;
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2. Any child who is physically or mentally unable to |
attend school, such
disability being certified to the |
county or district truant officer by a
competent physician |
licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in |
all its branches, a chiropractic physician licensed under |
the Medical Practice Act of 1987, an advanced practice |
nurse who has a written collaborative agreement with a |
collaborating physician that authorizes the advanced |
practice nurse to perform health examinations, a physician |
assistant who has been delegated the authority to perform |
health examinations by his or her supervising physician, or |
a Christian Science practitioner residing in this
State and |
listed in the Christian Science Journal; or who is excused |
for
temporary absence for cause by
the principal or teacher |
of the school which the child attends; the exemptions
in |
this paragraph (2) do not apply to any female who is |
pregnant or the
mother of one or more children, except |
where a female is unable to attend
school due to a |
complication arising from her pregnancy and the existence
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of such complication is certified to the county or district |
truant officer
by a competent physician;
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3. Any child necessarily and lawfully employed |
according to the
provisions of the law regulating child |
labor may be excused from attendance
at school by the |
county superintendent of schools or the superintendent of
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the public school which the child should be attending, on |
certification of
the facts by and the recommendation of the |
school board of the public
school district in which the |
child resides. In districts having part time
continuation |
schools, children so excused shall attend such schools at
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least 8 hours each week;
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4. Any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while in |
attendance at
confirmation classes;
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5. Any child absent from a public school on a |
particular day or days
or at a particular time of day for |
the reason that he is unable to attend
classes or to |
participate in any examination, study or work requirements |
on
a particular day or days or at a particular time of day, |
because the tenets
of his religion forbid secular activity |
on a particular day or days or at a
particular time of day. |
Each school board shall prescribe rules and
regulations |
relative to absences for religious holidays including, but |
not
limited to, a list of religious holidays on which it |
shall be mandatory to
excuse a child; but nothing in this |
paragraph 5 shall be construed to limit
the right of any |
school board, at its discretion, to excuse an absence on
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any other day by reason of the observance of a religious |
holiday. A school
board may require the parent or guardian |
of a child who is to be excused
from attending school due |
to the observance of a religious holiday to give
notice, |
not exceeding 5 days, of the child's absence to the school
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principal or other school personnel. Any child excused from |
attending
school under this paragraph 5 shall not be |
required to submit a written
excuse for such absence after |
returning to school; and |
6. Any child 16 years of age or older who (i) submits |
to a school district evidence of necessary and lawful |
employment pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Section and (ii) |
is enrolled in a graduation incentives program pursuant to |
Section 26-16 of this Code or an alternative learning |
opportunities program established pursuant to Article 13B |
of this Code.
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(Source: P.A. 96-367, eff. 8-13-09.)
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(105 ILCS 5/26-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-2) |
Sec. 26-2. Enrolled pupils not of compulsory school age |
below 7 or over 17.
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(a) For school years before the 2014-2015 school year, any |
Any person having custody or
control of a child who is below |
the age of 7 years or is 17 years of age or above
and who is |
enrolled in any of grades kindergarten through 12
in the public |
school shall
cause him to attend the public school in the |
district wherein he resides when
it is in session during the |
regular school term, unless he is excused under
paragraph 2, 3, |
4, 5, or 6 of Section 26-1.
Beginning with the 2014-2015 school |
year, any person having
custody or control of a child who is |
below the age of 6 years or is 17 years of age or above and who |
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is enrolled in any of grades kindergarten
through 12 in the |
public school shall cause the child to attend the public
school |
in the district wherein he or she resides when it is in session
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during the regular school term, unless the child is excused |
under
paragraph 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 of Section 26-1 of this Code.
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(b) A school district shall deny reenrollment in its |
secondary schools
to any
child 19 years of age or above who has |
dropped out of school
and who could
not, because of age and |
lack of credits, attend classes during the normal
school year |
and graduate before his or her twenty-first birthday.
A |
district may, however, enroll the child in a graduation |
incentives program under Section 26-16 of this Code or an |
alternative learning
opportunities program established
under |
Article 13B.
No
child shall be denied reenrollment for the |
above reasons
unless the school district first offers the child
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due process as required in cases of expulsion under Section
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10-22.6. If a child is denied reenrollment after being provided |
with due
process, the school district must provide counseling |
to that child and
must direct that child to
alternative |
educational
programs, including adult education programs, that |
lead to graduation or
receipt of a GED diploma.
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(c) A school or school district may deny enrollment to a |
student 17 years
of age
or older for one semester for failure |
to meet minimum academic standards if all
of the
following |
conditions are met:
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(1) The student achieved a grade point average of less |
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than "D" (or its
equivalent)
in the semester immediately |
prior to the current semester.
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(2) The student and the student's parent or guardian |
are given written
notice
warning that the student is |
failing academically and is subject to denial from
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enrollment for one semester unless a "D" average (or its |
equivalent) or better
is attained in the
current
semester.
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(3) The parent or guardian is provided with the right |
to appeal the
notice, as
determined by the State Board of |
Education in accordance with due process.
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(4) The student is provided with an academic |
improvement plan and academic
remediation services.
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(5) The student fails to achieve a "D" average (or its |
equivalent) or
better in the current
semester.
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A school or school district may deny enrollment to a |
student 17 years of age
or
older for one semester for failure |
to meet minimum attendance standards if all
of the
following |
conditions are met:
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(1) The student was absent without valid cause for 20% |
or more of the
attendance
days in the semester immediately |
prior to the current semester.
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(2) The student and the student's parent or guardian |
are given written
notice
warning that the student is |
subject to denial from enrollment for one
semester
unless |
the student is absent without valid cause less than 20% of |
the
attendance days
in the current semester.
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(3) The student's parent or guardian is provided with |
the right to appeal
the
notice, as determined by the State |
Board of Education in accordance with due
process.
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(4) The student is provided with attendance |
remediation services,
including
without limitation |
assessment, counseling, and support services.
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(5) The student is absent without valid cause for 20% |
or more of the
attendance
days in the current semester.
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A school or school district may not deny enrollment to a |
student (or
reenrollment
to a dropout) who is at least 17
years |
of age or older but below 19
years for more
than one |
consecutive semester for failure to meet academic or attendance
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standards.
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(d) No child may be denied enrollment or reenrollment under |
this
Section in violation
of the Individuals with Disabilities |
Education Act or the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
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(e) In this subsection (e), "reenrolled student" means a |
dropout who has
reenrolled
full-time in a public school. Each |
school district shall identify, track, and
report on the
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educational progress and outcomes of reenrolled students as a |
subset of the
district's
required reporting on all enrollments.
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A reenrolled student who again drops out must not be counted |
again
against a district's dropout rate performance measure.
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The State
Board of Education shall set performance standards |
for programs serving
reenrolled
students.
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(f) The State Board of Education shall adopt any rules |