|
of "case study",
"staff conference", "individualized |
educational program", and "qualified
specialist" appropriate |
to each category of children with
disabilities as defined in
|
this Article. For purposes of determining the eligibility of |
children from
homes in which a language other than English is |
used, the State Board of
Education shall include in the rules
|
definitions for "qualified bilingual specialists" and |
"linguistically and
culturally appropriate individualized |
educational programs". For purposes of this
Section, as well as |
Sections 14-8.02a, 14-8.02b, and 14-8.02c of this Code,
|
"parent" means a parent as defined in the federal Individuals |
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(23)).
|
(b) No child shall be eligible for special education |
facilities except
with a carefully completed case study fully |
reviewed by professional
personnel in a multidisciplinary |
staff conference and only upon the
recommendation of qualified |
specialists or a qualified bilingual specialist, if
available. |
At the conclusion of the multidisciplinary staff conference, |
the
parent of the child shall be given a copy of the |
multidisciplinary
conference summary report and |
recommendations, which includes options
considered, and be |
informed of their right to obtain an independent educational
|
evaluation if they disagree with the evaluation findings |
conducted or obtained
by the school district. If the school |
district's evaluation is shown to be
inappropriate, the school |
district shall reimburse the parent for the cost of
the |
|
independent evaluation. The State Board of Education shall, |
with advice
from the State Advisory Council on Education of |
Children with
Disabilities on the
inclusion of specific |
independent educational evaluators, prepare a list of
|
suggested independent educational evaluators. The State Board |
of Education
shall include on the list clinical psychologists |
licensed pursuant to the
Clinical Psychologist Licensing Act. |
Such psychologists shall not be paid fees
in excess of the |
amount that would be received by a school psychologist for
|
performing the same services. The State Board of Education |
shall supply school
districts with such list and make the list |
available to parents at their
request. School districts shall |
make the list available to parents at the time
they are |
informed of their right to obtain an independent educational
|
evaluation. However, the school district may initiate an |
impartial
due process hearing under this Section within 5 days |
of any written parent
request for an independent educational |
evaluation to show that
its evaluation is appropriate. If the |
final decision is that the evaluation
is appropriate, the |
parent still has a right to an independent educational
|
evaluation, but not at public expense. An independent |
educational
evaluation at public expense must be completed |
within 30 days of a parent
written request unless the school |
district initiates an
impartial due process hearing or the |
parent or school district
offers reasonable grounds to show |
that such 30 day time period should be
extended. If the due |
|
process hearing decision indicates that the parent is entitled |
to an independent educational evaluation, it must be
completed |
within 30 days of the decision unless the parent or
the school |
district offers reasonable grounds to show that such 30 day
|
period should be extended. If a parent disagrees with the |
summary report or
recommendations of the multidisciplinary |
conference or the findings of any
educational evaluation which |
results therefrom, the school
district shall not proceed with a |
placement based upon such evaluation and
the child shall remain |
in his or her regular classroom setting.
No child shall be |
eligible for admission to a
special class for children with a |
mental disability who are educable or for children with a |
mental disability who are trainable except with a psychological |
evaluation
and
recommendation by a school psychologist. |
Consent shall be obtained from
the parent of a child before any |
evaluation is conducted.
If consent is not given by the parent |
or if the parent disagrees with the findings of the evaluation, |
then the school
district may initiate an impartial due process |
hearing under this Section.
The school district may evaluate |
the child if that is the decision
resulting from the impartial |
due process hearing and the decision is not
appealed or if the |
decision is affirmed on appeal.
The determination of |
eligibility shall be made and the IEP meeting shall be |
completed within 60 school days
from the date of written |
parental consent. In those instances when written parental |
consent is obtained with fewer than 60 pupil attendance days |
|
left in the school year,
the eligibility determination shall be |
made and the IEP meeting shall be completed prior to the first |
day of the
following school year. Special education and related |
services must be provided in accordance with the student's IEP |
no later than 10 school attendance days after notice is |
provided to the parents pursuant to Section 300.503 of Title 34 |
of the Code of Federal Regulations and implementing rules |
adopted by the State Board of Education. The appropriate
|
program pursuant to the individualized educational program of |
students
whose native tongue is a language other than English |
shall reflect the
special education, cultural and linguistic |
needs. No later than September
1, 1993, the State Board of |
Education shall establish standards for the
development, |
implementation and monitoring of appropriate bilingual special
|
individualized educational programs. The State Board of |
Education shall
further incorporate appropriate monitoring |
procedures to verify implementation
of these standards. The |
district shall indicate to the parent and
the State Board of |
Education the nature of the services the child will receive
for |
the regular school term while waiting placement in the |
appropriate special
education class.
|
If the child is deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or visually |
impaired and
he or she might be eligible to receive services |
from the Illinois School for
the Deaf or the Illinois School |
for the Visually Impaired, the school
district shall notify the |
parents, in writing, of the existence of
these schools
and the |
|
services
they provide and shall make a reasonable effort to |
inform the parents of the existence of other, local schools |
that provide similar services and the services that these other |
schools provide. This notification
shall
include without |
limitation information on school services, school
admissions |
criteria, and school contact information.
|
In the development of the individualized education program |
for a student who has a disability on the autism spectrum |
(which includes autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, |
pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, |
childhood disintegrative disorder, and Rett Syndrome, as |
defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental |
Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV, 2000)), the IEP team shall |
consider all of the following factors: |
(1) The verbal and nonverbal communication needs of the |
child. |
(2) The need to develop social interaction skills and |
proficiencies. |
(3) The needs resulting from the child's unusual |
responses to sensory experiences. |
(4) The needs resulting from resistance to |
environmental change or change in daily routines. |
(5) The needs resulting from engagement in repetitive |
activities and stereotyped movements. |
(6) The need for any positive behavioral |
interventions, strategies, and supports to address any |
|
behavioral difficulties resulting from autism spectrum |
disorder. |
(7) Other needs resulting from the child's disability |
that impact progress in the general curriculum, including |
social and emotional development. |
Public Act 95-257
does not create any new entitlement to a |
service, program, or benefit, but must not affect any |
entitlement to a service, program, or benefit created by any |
other law.
|
If the student may be eligible to participate in the |
Home-Based Support
Services Program for Adults with Mental |
Disabilities authorized under the
Developmental Disability and |
Mental Disability Services Act upon becoming an
adult, the |
student's individualized education program shall include plans |
for
(i) determining the student's eligibility for those |
home-based services, (ii)
enrolling the student in the program |
of home-based services, and (iii)
developing a plan for the |
student's most effective use of the home-based
services after |
the student becomes an adult and no longer receives special
|
educational services under this Article. The plans developed |
under this
paragraph shall include specific actions to be taken |
by specified individuals,
agencies, or officials.
|
(c) In the development of the individualized education |
program for a
student who is functionally blind, it shall be |
presumed that proficiency in
Braille reading and writing is |
essential for the student's satisfactory
educational progress. |
|
For purposes of this subsection, the State Board of
Education |
shall determine the criteria for a student to be classified as
|
functionally blind. Students who are not currently identified |
as
functionally blind who are also entitled to Braille |
instruction include:
(i) those whose vision loss is so severe |
that they are unable to read and
write at a level comparable to |
their peers solely through the use of
vision, and (ii) those |
who show evidence of progressive vision loss that
may result in |
functional blindness. Each student who is functionally blind
|
shall be entitled to Braille reading and writing instruction |
that is
sufficient to enable the student to communicate with |
the same level of
proficiency as other students of comparable |
ability. Instruction should be
provided to the extent that the |
student is physically and cognitively able
to use Braille. |
Braille instruction may be used in combination with other
|
special education services appropriate to the student's |
educational needs.
The assessment of each student who is |
functionally blind for the purpose of
developing the student's |
individualized education program shall include
documentation |
of the student's strengths and weaknesses in Braille skills.
|
Each person assisting in the development of the individualized |
education
program for a student who is functionally blind shall |
receive information
describing the benefits of Braille |
instruction. The individualized
education program for each |
student who is functionally blind shall
specify the appropriate |
learning medium or media based on the assessment
report.
|
|
(d) To the maximum extent appropriate, the placement shall |
provide the
child with the opportunity to be educated with |
children who do not have a disability; provided that children |
with
disabilities who are recommended to be
placed into regular |
education classrooms are provided with supplementary
services |
to assist the children with disabilities to benefit
from the |
regular
classroom instruction and are included on the teacher's |
regular education class
register. Subject to the limitation of |
the preceding sentence, placement in
special classes, separate |
schools or other removal of the child with a disability
from |
the regular educational environment shall occur only when the |
nature of
the severity of the disability is such that education |
in the
regular classes with
the use of supplementary aids and |
services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
The placement of |
English learners with disabilities shall
be in non-restrictive |
environments which provide for integration with
peers who do |
not have disabilities in bilingual classrooms. Annually, each |
January, school districts shall report data on students from |
non-English
speaking backgrounds receiving special education |
and related services in
public and private facilities as |
prescribed in Section 2-3.30. If there
is a disagreement |
between parties involved regarding the special education
|
placement of any child, either in-state or out-of-state, the |
placement is
subject to impartial due process procedures |
described in Article 10 of the
Rules and Regulations to Govern |
the Administration and Operation of Special
Education.
|
|
(e) No child who comes from a home in which a language |
other than English
is the principal language used may be |
assigned to any class or program
under this Article until he |
has been given, in the principal language
used by the child and |
used in his home, tests reasonably related to his
cultural |
environment. All testing and evaluation materials and |
procedures
utilized for evaluation and placement shall not be |
linguistically, racially or
culturally discriminatory.
|
(f) Nothing in this Article shall be construed to require |
any child to
undergo any physical examination or medical |
treatment whose parents object thereto on the grounds that such |
examination or
treatment conflicts with his religious beliefs.
|
(g) School boards or their designee shall provide to the |
parents of a child prior written notice of any decision (a) |
proposing
to initiate or change, or (b) refusing to initiate or |
change, the
identification, evaluation, or educational |
placement of the child or the
provision of a free appropriate |
public education to their child, and the
reasons therefor. Such |
written notification shall also inform the
parent of the |
opportunity to present complaints with respect
to any matter |
relating to the educational placement of the student, or
the |
provision of a free appropriate public education and to have an
|
impartial due process hearing on the complaint. The notice |
shall inform
the parents in the parents' native language,
|
unless it is clearly not feasible to do so, of their rights and |
all
procedures available pursuant to this Act and the federal |
|
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of |
2004 (Public Law 108-446); it
shall be the responsibility of |
the State Superintendent to develop
uniform notices setting |
forth the procedures available under this Act
and the federal |
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of |
2004 (Public Law 108-446) to be used by all school boards. The |
notice
shall also inform the parents of the availability upon
|
request of a list of free or low-cost legal and other relevant |
services
available locally to assist parents in initiating an
|
impartial due process hearing. The State Superintendent shall |
revise the uniform notices required by this subsection (g) to |
reflect current law and procedures at least once every 2 years. |
Any parent who is deaf, or
does not normally communicate using |
spoken English, who participates in
a meeting with a |
representative of a local educational agency for the
purposes |
of developing an individualized educational program shall be
|
entitled to the services of an interpreter.
|
(g-5) For purposes of this subsection (g-5), "qualified |
professional" means an individual who holds credentials to |
evaluate the child in the domain or domains for which an |
evaluation is sought or an intern working under the direct |
supervision of a qualified professional, including a master's |
or doctoral degree candidate. |
To ensure that a parent can participate fully and |
effectively with school personnel in the development of |
appropriate educational and related services for his or her |
|
child, the parent, an independent educational evaluator, or a |
qualified professional retained by or on behalf of a parent or |
child must be afforded reasonable access to educational |
facilities, personnel, classrooms, and buildings and to the |
child as provided in this subsection (g-5). The requirements of |
this subsection (g-5) apply to any public school facility, |
building, or program and to any facility, building, or program |
supported in whole or in part by public funds. Prior to |
visiting a school, school building, or school facility, the |
parent, independent educational evaluator, or qualified |
professional may be required by the school district to inform |
the building principal or supervisor in writing of the proposed |
visit, the purpose of the visit, and the approximate duration |
of the visit. The visitor and the school district shall arrange |
the visit or visits at times that are mutually agreeable. |
Visitors shall comply with school safety, security, and |
visitation policies at all times. School district visitation |
policies must not conflict with this subsection (g-5). Visitors |
shall be required to comply with the requirements of applicable |
privacy laws, including those laws protecting the |
confidentiality of education records such as the federal Family |
Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Illinois School |
Student Records Act. The visitor shall not disrupt the |
educational process. |
(1) A parent must be afforded reasonable access of |
sufficient duration and scope for the purpose of observing |
|
his or her child in the child's current educational |
placement, services, or program or for the purpose of |
visiting an educational placement or program proposed for |
the child. |
(2) An independent educational evaluator or a |
qualified professional retained by or on behalf of a parent |
or child must be afforded reasonable access of sufficient |
duration and scope for the purpose of conducting an |
evaluation of the child, the child's performance, the |
child's current educational program, placement, services, |
or environment, or any educational program, placement, |
services, or environment proposed for the child, including |
interviews of educational personnel, child observations, |
assessments, tests or assessments of the child's |
educational program, services, or placement or of any |
proposed educational program, services, or placement. If |
one or more interviews of school personnel are part of the |
evaluation, the interviews must be conducted at a mutually |
agreed upon time, date, and place that do not interfere |
with the school employee's school duties. The school |
district may limit interviews to personnel having |
information relevant to the child's current educational |
services, program, or placement or to a proposed |
educational service, program, or placement. |
(h) (Blank).
|
(i) (Blank).
|
|
(j) (Blank).
|
(k) (Blank).
|
(l) (Blank).
|
(m) (Blank).
|
(n) (Blank).
|
(o) (Blank).
|
(Source: P.A. 98-219, eff. 8-9-13; 99-30, eff. 7-10-15; 99-143, |
eff. 7-27-15; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)
|
(105 ILCS 5/14-8.02a)
|
Sec. 14-8.02a. Impartial due process hearing; civil |
action.
|
(a) This Section
shall apply to all impartial due process |
hearings requested on or after July
1, 2005. Impartial due |
process hearings requested before July 1, 2005 shall be |
governed by the rules described in Public Act 89-652. |
(a-5) For purposes of this Section and Section 14-8.02b of |
this Code, days shall be computed in accordance with Section |
1.11 of the Statute on Statutes.
|
(b) The State Board of Education shall establish an |
impartial due process
hearing system in accordance with this
|
Section and may, with the advice and approval of the Advisory |
Council on
Education of Children with Disabilities, promulgate |
rules and regulations
consistent with this Section to establish |
the rules and procedures for due process hearings.
|
(c) (Blank).
|
|
(d) (Blank).
|
(e) (Blank).
|
(f) An impartial due process hearing shall be convened upon |
the request of a
parent, student if at least 18 years of age or |
emancipated, or a
school district. A school district shall
make |
a request in writing to the State Board of Education and |
promptly mail a
copy of the request to the parents or student |
(if at least 18 years of age or emancipated) at the parent's or |
student's last
known address. A request made by the parent or |
student shall be made in writing to the superintendent of the |
school district where the student resides. The superintendent |
shall forward the request to the State Board of Education |
within 5 days after receipt of the request. The request shall |
be filed no more than 2 years following the date the person or |
school district knew or should have known of the event or |
events forming the basis for the request. The request shall, at |
a minimum, contain all of the following: |
(1) The name of the student, the address of the |
student's residence, and the name of the school the student |
is attending. |
(2) In the case of homeless children (as defined under |
the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 |
U.S.C. 11434a(2)), available contact information for the |
student and the name of the school the student is |
attending. |
(3) A description of the nature of the problem relating |
|
to the actual or proposed placement, identification, |
services, or evaluation of the student, including facts |
relating to the problem. |
(4) A proposed resolution of the problem to the extent |
known and available to the party at the time. |
(f-5) Within 3 days after receipt of the hearing request,
|
the State Board of
Education shall appoint a due process |
hearing officer using a rotating
appointment system and shall |
notify the hearing officer of his or her
appointment. |
For a school district other than a school district located |
in a municipality having a population exceeding 500,000, a |
hearing officer who is a current resident of the school |
district, special
education cooperative, or other public |
entity involved in the hearing shall recuse himself or herself. |
A hearing officer who is a former employee of the school |
district, special education cooperative, or other public |
entity involved in the hearing shall immediately disclose the |
former employment to the parties and shall recuse himself or |
herself, unless the parties otherwise agree in writing. A
|
hearing officer having a personal or professional interest that |
may conflict
with his or her objectivity in the hearing shall |
disclose the conflict to the parties and shall recuse himself |
or herself unless the parties otherwise agree in writing. For |
purposes of this subsection
an assigned hearing officer shall |
be considered to have a conflict of interest
if, at any time |
prior to the issuance of his or her written decision, he or she
|
|
knows or should know that he or she may receive remuneration |
from a party
to the hearing within 3 years following the |
conclusion of the due process
hearing. |
A party to a due process hearing shall be permitted one |
substitution
of hearing officer as a matter of right, in |
accordance with procedures
established by the rules adopted by |
the State Board of Education under this
Section. The State |
Board of Education shall randomly select and appoint
another |
hearing officer within 3 days after receiving notice that the |
appointed
hearing officer is ineligible to serve or upon |
receiving a proper request for
substitution of hearing officer. |
If a party withdraws its request for a due
process hearing |
after a hearing officer has been appointed, that hearing
|
officer shall retain jurisdiction over a subsequent hearing |
that involves the
same parties and is requested within one year |
from the date of withdrawal of
the previous request, unless |
that hearing
officer is unavailable.
|
Any party may raise
facts that constitute a conflict of |
interest for the hearing officer at any
time before or during |
the hearing and may move for recusal.
|
(g) Impartial due process hearings shall be conducted |
pursuant to this
Section and any rules and regulations |
promulgated by the State Board of Education
consistent with |
this Section and other governing laws and regulations. The |
hearing shall address only those issues properly raised in the |
hearing request under subsection (f) of this Section or, if |
|
applicable, in the amended hearing request under subsection |
(g-15) of this Section. The
hearing shall be closed to the |
public unless the parents request
that the hearing be open to |
the public. The parents involved in
the hearing shall have the |
right to have the student who is the subject of the
hearing |
present. The hearing shall be held at a time and place which |
are
reasonably convenient to the parties involved. Upon the |
request of
a party, the hearing officer shall hold the hearing |
at a location neutral to
the parties if the hearing officer |
determines that there is no cost for
securing the use of the |
neutral location. Once appointed, the impartial due
process |
hearing officer shall not communicate with the State Board of |
Education
or its employees concerning the
hearing, except that, |
where circumstances require, communications for
administrative |
purposes that do not deal with substantive or procedural |
matters
or issues on the merits are authorized, provided that |
the hearing officer
promptly notifies all parties of the |
substance of the communication as a matter
of record. |
(g-5) Unless the school district has previously provided |
prior written notice to the parent or student (if at least 18 |
years of age or emancipated) regarding the subject matter of |
the hearing request, the school district shall, within 10 days |
after receiving a hearing request initiated by a parent or |
student (if at least 18 years of age or emancipated), provide a |
written response to the request that shall include all of the |
following: |
|
(1) An explanation of why the school district proposed |
or refused to take the action or actions described in the |
hearing request. |
(2) A description of other options the IEP team |
considered and the reasons why those options were rejected. |
(3) A description of each evaluation procedure, |
assessment, record, report, or other evidence the school |
district used as the basis for the proposed or refused |
action or actions. |
(4) A description of the factors that are or were |
relevant to the school district's proposed or refused |
action or actions. |
(g-10) When the hearing request has been initiated by a |
school district, within 10 days after receiving the request, |
the parent or student (if at least 18 years of age or |
emancipated) shall provide the school district with a response |
that specifically addresses the issues raised in the school |
district's hearing request. The parent's or student's response |
shall be provided in writing, unless he or she is illiterate or |
has a disability that prevents him or her from providing a |
written response. The parent's or student's response may be |
provided in his or her native language, if other than English. |
In the event that illiteracy or another disabling condition |
prevents the parent or student from providing a written |
response, the school district shall assist the parent or |
student in providing the written response. |
|
(g-15) Within 15 days after receiving notice of the hearing |
request, the non-requesting party may challenge the |
sufficiency of the request by submitting its challenge in |
writing to the hearing officer. Within 5 days after receiving |
the challenge to the sufficiency of the request, the hearing |
officer shall issue a determination of the challenge in writing |
to the parties. In the event that the hearing officer upholds |
the challenge, the party who requested the hearing may, with |
the consent of the non-requesting party or hearing officer, |
file an amended request. Amendments are permissible for the |
purpose of raising issues beyond those in the initial hearing |
request. In addition, the party who requested the hearing may |
amend the request once as a matter of right by filing the |
amended request within 5 days after filing the initial request. |
An amended request, other than an amended request as a matter |
of right, shall be filed by the date determined by the hearing |
officer, but in no event any later than 5 days prior to the |
date of the hearing. If an amended request, other than an |
amended request as a matter of right, raises issues that were |
not part of the initial request, the applicable timeline for a |
hearing, including the timeline under subsection (g-20) of this |
Section, shall recommence. |
(g-20) Within 15 days after receiving a request for a |
hearing from a parent or student (if at least 18 years of age |
or emancipated) or, in the event that the school district |
requests a hearing, within 15 days after initiating the |
|
request, the school district shall convene a resolution meeting |
with the parent and relevant members of the IEP team who have |
specific knowledge of the facts contained in the request for |
the purpose of resolving the problem that resulted in the |
request. The resolution meeting shall include a representative |
of the school district who has decision-making authority on |
behalf of the school district. Unless the parent is accompanied |
by an attorney at the resolution meeting, the school district |
may not include an attorney representing the school district. |
The resolution meeting may not be waived unless agreed to |
in writing by the school district and the parent or student (if |
at least 18 years of age or emancipated) or the parent or |
student (if at least 18 years of age or emancipated) and the |
school district agree in writing to utilize mediation in place |
of the resolution meeting. If either party fails to cooperate |
in the scheduling or convening of the resolution meeting, the |
hearing officer may order an extension of the timeline for |
completion of the resolution meeting or, upon the motion of a |
party and at least 7 days after ordering the non-cooperating |
party to cooperate, order the dismissal of the hearing request |
or the granting of all relief set forth in the request, as |
appropriate. |
In the event that the school district and the parent or |
student (if at least 18 years of age or emancipated) agree to a |
resolution of the problem that resulted in the hearing request, |
the terms of the resolution shall be committed to writing and |
|
signed by the parent or student (if at least 18 years of age or |
emancipated) and the representative of the school district with |
decision-making authority. The agreement shall be legally |
binding and shall be enforceable in any State or federal court |
of competent jurisdiction. In the event that the parties |
utilize the resolution meeting process, the process shall |
continue until no later than the 30th day following the receipt |
of the hearing request by the non-requesting party (or as |
properly extended by order of the hearing officer) to resolve |
the issues underlying the request, at which time the timeline |
for completion of the impartial due process hearing shall |
commence. The State Board of Education may, by rule, establish |
additional procedures for the conduct of resolution meetings. |
(g-25) If mutually agreed to in writing, the parties to a |
hearing request may request State-sponsored mediation as a |
substitute for the resolution process described in subsection |
(g-20) of this Section or may utilize mediation at the close of |
the resolution process if all issues underlying the hearing |
request have not been resolved through the resolution process. |
(g-30) If mutually agreed to in writing, the parties to a |
hearing request may waive the resolution process described in |
subsection (g-20) of this Section. Upon signing a written |
agreement to waive the resolution process, the parties shall be |
required to forward the written waiver to the hearing officer |
appointed to the case within 2 business days following the |
signing of the waiver by the parties. The timeline for the |
|
impartial due process hearing shall commence on the date of the |
signing of the waiver by the parties. |
(g-35) The timeline for completing the impartial due |
process hearing, as set forth in subsection (h) of this |
Section, shall be initiated upon the occurrence of any one of |
the following events: |
(1) The unsuccessful completion of the resolution |
process as described in subsection (g-20) of this Section. |
(2) The mutual agreement of the parties to waive the |
resolution process as described in subsection (g-25) or |
(g-30) of this Section.
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(g-40) The hearing officer shall convene a prehearing |
conference no later than 14
days before the scheduled date for |
the due process hearing for the general
purpose of aiding in |
the fair, orderly, and expeditious conduct of the hearing.
The |
hearing officer shall provide the parties with written notice |
of the
prehearing conference at least 7 days in advance of the |
conference. The
written notice shall require the parties to |
notify the hearing officer by a
date certain whether they |
intend to participate in the prehearing conference.
The hearing |
officer may conduct the prehearing conference in person or by
|
telephone. Each party shall at the prehearing conference (1) |
disclose whether
it is represented by legal counsel or intends |
to retain legal counsel; (2) clarify
matters it believes to be |
in dispute in the case and the specific relief
being sought; |
(3) disclose whether there are any additional evaluations for |
|
the student
that it intends to
introduce into the
hearing |
record that have not been previously disclosed to the other |
parties;
(4) disclose a list of all documents it intends to |
introduce into the hearing record,
including the date and a |
brief description of each document; and (5) disclose the names
|
of all witnesses it intends to call to testify at the hearing. |
The hearing
officer shall specify the order of presentation to |
be used at the hearing. If
the
prehearing conference is held by |
telephone, the parties shall transmit the
information required |
in this paragraph in such a manner that it is available to
all |
parties at the time of the prehearing conference. The State |
Board of
Education may, by
rule, establish additional |
procedures for the conduct of prehearing
conferences.
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(g-45) The
impartial due process hearing officer shall not |
initiate or participate in any
ex parte communications with the |
parties, except to arrange the date, time,
and location of the |
prehearing conference, due process hearing, or other status |
conferences convened at the discretion of the hearing officer
|
and to
receive confirmation of whether a party intends to |
participate in the
prehearing conference. |
(g-50) The parties shall disclose and provide to each other
|
any evidence which they intend to submit into the hearing |
record no later than
5 days before the hearing. Any party to a |
hearing has the right to prohibit
the introduction of any |
evidence at the hearing that has not been disclosed to
that |
party at least 5 days before the hearing. The party requesting |
|
a hearing shall not be permitted at the hearing to raise issues |
that were not raised in the party's initial or amended request, |
unless otherwise permitted in this Section.
|
(g-55) All reasonable efforts must be made by the parties |
to present their respective cases at the hearing within a |
cumulative period of 7 days. When scheduling hearing dates, the |
hearing officer shall schedule the final day of the hearing no |
more than 30 calendar days after the first day of the hearing |
unless good cause is shown. This subsection (g-55) shall not be |
applied in a manner that (i) denies any party to the hearing a |
fair and reasonable allocation of time and opportunity to |
present its case in its entirety or (ii) deprives any party to |
the hearing of the safeguards accorded under the federal |
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of |
2004 (Public Law 108-446), regulations promulgated under the |
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of |
2004, or any other applicable law. The school district shall |
present evidence that the special education needs
of the child |
have been appropriately identified and that the special |
education
program and related services proposed to meet the |
needs of the child are
adequate, appropriate, and available. |
Any party to the hearing shall have the
right to (1) be |
represented
by counsel and be accompanied and advised by |
individuals with special knowledge
or training with respect to |
the problems of children with disabilities, at the
party's own |
expense; (2) present evidence and confront and cross-examine
|
|
witnesses; (3) move for the exclusion of witnesses from the |
hearing until they
are called to testify, provided, however, |
that this provision may not be
invoked to exclude the |
individual designated by a party to assist that party or
its |
representative in the presentation of the case; (4) obtain a |
written or
electronic verbatim record of
the proceedings within |
30 days of receipt of a written request from the parents
by the |
school district; and (5) obtain a written decision, including |
findings
of fact and conclusions of law, within 10 days after |
the conclusion of the
hearing.
If at issue, the school district |
shall present evidence that it has
properly identified and |
evaluated the nature and
severity of the student's suspected or |
identified disability and that, if the
student has been or |
should have been determined eligible for special education
and |
related services, that it is providing or has offered a free |
appropriate
public education to the student in the least |
restrictive environment,
consistent with
procedural safeguards |
and in accordance with an individualized educational
program.
|
At any time prior to the conclusion of the hearing, the |
impartial due
process hearing officer shall have the authority |
to require additional
information and order independent |
evaluations for the
student at the expense of the school |
district. The State Board of Education
and the school district |
shall share equally the costs of providing a written or
|
electronic verbatim record of the proceedings. Any party may |
request that the
due process hearing officer issue a subpoena |
|
to compel the testimony of
witnesses or the production of |
documents relevant to the
resolution of the hearing. Whenever a |
person refuses to comply with any
subpoena issued under this |
Section, the circuit court of the county in which
that hearing |
is pending, on application of the impartial hearing officer or |
the
party requesting the issuance of the subpoena, may compel |
compliance through
the contempt powers of
the court in the same |
manner as if the requirements of a subpoena issued by the
court |
had been disobeyed.
|
(h) The impartial hearing officer shall issue a written |
decision, including
findings of fact and conclusions of law, |
within 10 days after the
conclusion of the hearing and send by |
certified mail a copy of the decision to the parents
or student |
(if the student requests the hearing), the school
district, the |
director of special education, legal representatives of the
|
parties, and the State Board of Education. Unless the hearing |
officer has
granted specific extensions of time at the request |
of a party, a final
decision, including the clarification of a |
decision requested under this
subsection, shall be reached and |
mailed to the parties named above not later
than 45 days after |
the initiation of the timeline for conducting the hearing, as |
described in subsection (g-35) of this Section. The
decision |
shall specify the educational and related services that shall |
be
provided to the student in accordance with the student's |
needs and the timeline for which the school district shall |
submit evidence to the State Board of Education to demonstrate |
|
compliance with the hearing officer's decision in the event |
that the decision orders the school district to undertake |
corrective action.
The hearing officer shall retain |
jurisdiction for the sole purpose of
considering a request for |
clarification of the final decision submitted in
writing by a |
party to the impartial hearing officer within 5 days after |
receipt
of the decision.
A copy of the request for |
clarification shall specify the portions of the
decision for |
which clarification is sought and shall be mailed to all |
parties
of record and to the State Board of Education. The |
request shall
operate to stay implementation of those portions |
of the decision for which
clarification is sought, pending |
action on the request by the hearing officer,
unless the |
parties otherwise agree. The hearing officer shall issue a
|
clarification of the specified portion of the decision or issue |
a partial or
full denial of the request in writing within 10 |
days of receipt of the request
and mail copies to all parties |
to whom the decision was mailed. This
subsection does not |
permit a party to request, or authorize a hearing officer
to |
entertain, reconsideration of the decision itself. The statute |
of
limitations for seeking review of the decision shall be |
tolled from the date
the request is submitted until the date |
the hearing officer acts upon the
request. The hearing |
officer's decision shall be binding upon the school district
|
and the parents unless a civil action is commenced.
|
(i) Any party to an impartial due process hearing aggrieved |
|
by the final
written decision of the impartial due process |
hearing officer shall have the
right to commence a civil action |
with respect to the issues presented in the
impartial due |
process hearing. That civil action shall be brought in any
|
court of competent jurisdiction within
120 days after a copy of |
the
decision of the impartial due process hearing officer is |
mailed to the party as
provided in
subsection (h). The civil |
action authorized by this subsection shall not be
exclusive of |
any rights or causes of action otherwise
available. The |
commencement of a civil action under this subsection shall
|
operate as a supersedeas. In any action brought under this |
subsection the
Court shall receive the records of the impartial |
due process hearing, shall
hear additional evidence at the |
request of a party, and, basing its decision on
the |
preponderance of the evidence, shall grant such relief as the |
court
determines is appropriate. In any instance where a school |
district willfully
disregards applicable regulations or |
statutes regarding a child covered by this
Article, and which |
disregard has been detrimental to the child, the school
|
district shall be liable for any reasonable attorney's fees |
incurred by the
parent in connection with proceedings under |
this Section.
|
(j) During the pendency of any administrative or judicial |
proceeding
conducted
pursuant to this Section, including |
mediation (if the school district or other public entity |
voluntarily agrees to participate in mediation), unless the |
|
school district and the
parents or student (if at least 18 |
years of age or emancipated) otherwise agree, the student shall |
remain in
his or her present educational placement and continue |
in his or her present
eligibility status and special education |
and related services, if any. If mediation fails to resolve the |
dispute between the parties, or if the parties do not agree to |
use mediation, the parent (or student if 18 years of age or |
older or emancipated) shall have 10 days after the mediation |
concludes, or after a party declines to use mediation, to file |
a request for a due process hearing in order to continue to |
invoke the "stay-put" provisions of this subsection (j). If |
applying for initial admission to the
school district, the |
student shall, with the consent of the parents (if the student |
is not at least 18 years of age or emancipated), be placed in |
the school district program until all such proceedings
have |
been completed. The costs for any special education and related |
services
or placement incurred following 60 school days after |
the initial request for
evaluation shall be borne by the school |
district if the services or placement
is in accordance with the |
final determination as to the special education and
related |
services or placement that must be provided to the child, |
provided that
during that 60 day period there have been no |
delays caused by the child's
parent. The requirements and |
procedures of this subsection (j) shall be included in the |
uniform notices developed by the State Superintendent under |
subsection (g) of Section 14-8.02 of this Code.
|
|
(k) Whenever the parents of a child of the type described |
in
Section 14-1.02 are not known, are unavailable, or the child |
is a ward of the
State, a person shall be assigned to serve as |
surrogate parent for the child in
matters relating to the |
identification, evaluation, and educational placement
of the |
child and the provision of a free appropriate public education |
to the
child. Persons shall be assigned as surrogate parents by |
the State
Superintendent of Education. The State Board of |
Education shall promulgate
rules and regulations establishing |
qualifications of those persons and their
responsibilities and |
the procedures to be followed in making assignments of
persons |
as surrogate parents.
Surrogate parents shall not be employees |
of the school district, an agency
created by joint agreement |
under Section 10-22.31, an agency involved in the
education or |
care of the student, or the State Board of Education.
Services |
of any person assigned as surrogate parent shall terminate if |
the
parent
becomes available unless otherwise requested by the |
parents. The assignment of a person as surrogate parent at no |
time
supersedes, terminates, or suspends the parents' legal |
authority
relative to the child. Any person participating in |
good faith as surrogate
parent on behalf of the child before |
school officials or a hearing officer
shall have immunity from |
civil or criminal liability that otherwise might
result by |
reason of that participation, except in cases of willful and
|
wanton misconduct.
|
(l) At all stages of the hearing the hearing officer shall |
|
require that
interpreters be made available by the school |
district for persons who are deaf
or for persons whose normally |
spoken language is other than English.
|
(m) If any provision of this Section or its application to |
any person or
circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity of |
that provision or application
does not affect other provisions |
or applications of the Section that can be
given effect without |
the invalid application or provision, and to this end the
|
provisions of this Section are severable, unless otherwise |
provided by this
Section.
|
(Source: P.A. 98-383, eff. 8-16-13.)
|
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
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