Public Act 90-0143 of the 90th General Assembly

State of Illinois
Public Acts
90th General Assembly

[ Home ] [ Public Acts ] [ ILCS ] [ Search ] [ Bottom ]


Public Act 90-0143

HB0053 Enrolled                                LRB9000682THcw

    AN ACT concerning chronic truants in the  Chicago  Public
Schools, amending named Acts.

    Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section 5.  The School Code is amended by adding  Section
34-4.5 as follows:

    (105 ILCS 5/34-4.5 new)
    Sec. 34-4.5.  Chronic truants.
    (a)  Office  of  Chronic  Truant Adjudication.  The board
shall establish and implement an  Office  of  Chronic  Truant
Adjudication, which shall be responsible for administratively
adjudicating   cases   of   chronic   truancy   and  imposing
appropriate sanctions.  The board  shall  appoint  or  employ
hearing  officers  to  perform  the adjudicatory functions of
that Office.  Principals and other appropriate personnel  may
refer  pupils  suspected of being chronic truants, as defined
in Section 26-2a of this  Code,  to  the  Office  of  Chronic
Truant Adjudication.
    (b)  Notices.   Before  any  hearing  may  be  held under
subsection (c), the principal of the school attended  by  the
pupil  or  the  principal's designee shall notify the pupil's
parent or guardian by personal visit, letter, or telephone of
each unexcused absence of the pupil.  After giving the parent
or guardian notice of the  tenth  unexcused  absence  of  the
pupil,  the  principal or the principal's designee shall send
the pupil's parent or guardian a letter, by  certified  mail,
return  receipt  requested,  notifying the parent or guardian
that he or she is subjecting himself or herself to a  hearing
procedure  as  provided  under  subsection  (c)  and  clearly
describing any and all possible penalties that may be imposed
as provided for in subsections (d) and (e) of this Section.
    (c)  Hearing.   Once  a  pupil  has  been referred to the
Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication,  a  hearing  shall  be
scheduled  before an appointed hearing officer, and the pupil
and the pupil's parents or  guardian  shall  be  notified  by
certified  mail,  return  receipt requested stating the time,
place, and purpose of the hearing.  The hearing officer shall
hold a hearing and render a written decision within  14  days
determining  whether the pupil is a chronic truant as defined
in Section 26-2a of this  Code  and  whether  the  parent  or
guardian   took   reasonable  steps  to  assure  the  pupil's
attendance at school.  The hearing shall be private unless  a
public   hearing  is  requested  by  the  pupil's  parent  or
guardian, and the pupil may be present at the hearing with  a
representative in addition to the pupil's parent or guardian.
The  board shall present evidence of the pupil's truancy, and
the pupil and the parent or guardian or representative of the
pupil may cross  examine  witnesses,  present  witnesses  and
evidence, and present defenses to the charges.  All testimony
at  the hearing shall be taken under oath administered by the
hearing officer.  The decision of the hearing  officer  shall
constitute  an  "administrative  decision"  for  purposes  of
judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.
    (d)  Penalties.   The  hearing  officer  may  require the
pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian or both the pupil and
the pupil's parent or guardian  to  do  any  or  all  of  the
following:  perform  reasonable  school or community services
for a period not to exceed  30  days;  complete  a  parenting
education  program;  obtain  counseling  or  other supportive
services; and comply with an individualized educational  plan
or  service plan as provided by appropriate school officials.
If the parent or guardian of the chronic truant shows that he
or she took reasonable steps  to  insure  attendance  of  the
pupil  at  school, he or she shall not be required to perform
services.
    (e)  Non-compliance   with   sanctions.    If   a   pupil
determined by a hearing officer to be a chronic truant or the
parent or guardian of the pupil  fails  to  comply  with  the
sanctions ordered by the hearing officer under subsection (c)
of  this  Section,  the Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication
may refer the matter to the State's Attorney for  prosecution
under Section 3-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
    (f)  Limitation   on   applicability.   Nothing  in  this
Section shall be construed to apply to a parent  or  guardian
of a pupil in a valid home school program.

    Section 10.  The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
changing Section 3-33 as follows:

    (705 ILCS 405/3-33) (from Ch. 37, par. 803-33)
    Sec. 3-33.  Truant Minor in Need of Supervision.
    (a)  Definition.  Any minor who is reported by a regional
superintendent of schools,  or  in  cities  of  over  500,000
inhabitants,  by the Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication in
a county of less than 2,000,000  inhabitants,  as  a  chronic
truant  (i)  to whom prevention, diagnostic, intervention and
remedial services and alternative programs and  other  school
and community resources have been provided and have failed to
result  in  the cessation of chronic truancy, or (ii) to whom
such services, programs and resources have been  offered  and
have  been  refused, shall be adjudged a truant minor in need
of supervision.
    (b)  Kinds of dispositional orders.  A minor found to  be
a truant minor in need of supervision may be:
    (1)  committed    to    the    appropriate       regional
superintendent  of  schools  for  a  multi-disciplinary  case
staffing, individualized educational plan or service plan, or
referral to comprehensive community-based youth services;
    (2)  required   to   comply   with   an    individualized
educational  plan or service plan as specifically provided by
the appropriate regional superintendent of schools;
    (3)  ordered to obtain  counseling  or  other  supportive
services;
    (4)  subject  to a fine in an amount in excess of $5, but
not exceeding $100, and each day  of  absence  without  valid
cause  as  defined  in  Section 26-2a of The School Code is a
separate offense;
    (5)  required to perform some reasonable  public  service
work such as, but not limited to, the picking up of litter in
public  parks  or along public highways or the maintenance of
public facilities; or
    (6)  subject to having his or  her  driver's  license  or
privilege suspended.
(Source: P.A. 85-1235.)

    Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

[ Top ]