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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | ||||||
| 5 | 14-8.02e and by adding Section 14-8.02g as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (105 ILCS 5/14-8.02e) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 14-8.02e. State complaint procedures. The State Board | ||||||
| 8 | of Education shall adopt State complaint procedures, | ||||||
| 9 | consistent with Sections 300.151, 300.152, and 300.153 of Title | ||||||
| 10 | 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The State Board of | ||||||
| 11 | Education, by rule, shall establish State complaint procedures | ||||||
| 12 | consistent with this Section. A school district or other public | ||||||
| 13 | entity shall be required to submit a written response to a | ||||||
| 14 | complaint within the time prescribed by the State Board of | ||||||
| 15 | Education following receipt of the complaint. A copy of the | ||||||
| 16 | response and all documentation submitted by the respondent to | ||||||
| 17 | the State Board of Education, including corrective action | ||||||
| 18 | compliance documentation, must be simultaneously provided by | ||||||
| 19 | the respondent to the complainant or to the attorney for the | ||||||
| 20 | complainant. If the complaint was filed by an individual other | ||||||
| 21 | than a parent of a child who is the subject of the complaint | ||||||
| 22 | (or the child if the child has reached majority or is | ||||||
| 23 | emancipated and has assumed responsibility for his or her own | ||||||
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| 1 | educational decisions) and the complaint is about a specific | ||||||
| 2 | identifiable child or children, then appropriate written | ||||||
| 3 | signed releases must be obtained prior to the release of any | ||||||
| 4 | documentation or information to the complainant or the attorney | ||||||
| 5 | representing the complainant.
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| 6 | (Source: P.A. 98-383, eff. 8-16-13.) | ||||||
| 7 | (105 ILCS 5/14-8.02g new) | ||||||
| 8 | Sec. 14-8.02g. Additional opportunity to address systemic | ||||||
| 9 | delays and denials of special education services. | ||||||
| 10 | (a) This Section applies only to a school district | ||||||
| 11 | organized under Article 34. | ||||||
| 12 | (b) For complaints made under procedures authorized under | ||||||
| 13 | Section 14-8.02e for delays and denials of special education | ||||||
| 14 | services in the 2016-2017 or 2017-2018 school year, a | ||||||
| 15 | complainant has no less than 2 years following the finalization | ||||||
| 16 | of the State Board of Education's student-specific corrective | ||||||
| 17 | action plan per the State Board's 2017-2018 Public Inquiry | ||||||
| 18 | Team's Corrective Action Report and notification of that plan | ||||||
| 19 | to parents and guardians of potentially impacted children to | ||||||
| 20 | file a complaint under Section 14-8.02e. The State Board's | ||||||
| 21 | notification of its student-specific corrective action plan to | ||||||
| 22 | parents and guardians must include notification of the extended | ||||||
| 23 | timeframe to file complaints under this subsection.
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| 24 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
| 25 | 2019.
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