SB1941 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB101 09893 AXK 54995 b

101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB1941

Introduced 2/15/2019, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/2-3.162
105 ILCS 5/2-3.176 new

Amends the School Code. With respect to school discipline improvement plans, makes changes to how the State Board of Education determines the top 20% of school districts, when notification is given that a plan must be submitted, which school districts are required to submit a plan, the timeframe for school board approval of a plan and submission of that plan to the State Board, and when additional annual progress reports are required. Establishes the Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Grant Program and grants under the program. Sets forth requirements for grant applicants and provisions for the distribution of funds appropriated for the program. Requires the State Board of Education to issue a yearly report on the results of the program in cooperation with school districts participating in the program. Provides that the State Board may adopt any rules necessary for the program. Effective July 1, 2019.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

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

Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section 2-3.162 and by adding Section 2-3.176 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/2-3.162)

Sec. 2-3.162. Student discipline report; school discipline improvement plan.

(a) On or before October 31, 2015 and on or before October 31 of each subsequent year, the State Board of Education, through the State Superintendent of Education, shall prepare a report on student discipline in all school districts in this State, including State-authorized charter schools. This report shall include data from all public schools within school districts, including district-authorized charter schools. This report must be posted on the Internet website of the State Board of Education. The report shall include data on the issuance of out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and removals to alternative settings in lieu of another disciplinary action, disaggregated by race and ethnicity, gender, age, grade level, whether a student is an English learner, incident type, and discipline duration.

(b) The State Board of Education shall analyze the data under subsection (a) of this Section on an annual basis and determine the top 20% of school districts qualifying under any of for the following metrics:

(1) Total number of out-of-school suspensions divided by the total district enrollment by the last school day in September for the year in which the data was collected, multiplied by 100.

(2) Total number of out-of-school expulsions divided by the total district enrollment by the last school day in September for the year in which the data was collected, multiplied by 100.

(3) Racial disproportionality, defined as the overrepresentation of students of color or white students in comparison to the total number of students of color or white students on October 1st of the school year in which data are collected, with respect to the use of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, which must be calculated using the same method as the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights uses.

The analysis must be based on data collected over 3 consecutive school years, beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.

(c) On or before October 31, 2019 and on or before October 31 of each subsequent year, the State Board of Education shall notify each school district Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, the State Board of Education shall require each of the school districts that are identified in the top 20% of any of the metrics described in this subsection (b) of this Section for 3 consecutive school years that the school district must submit a plan in conformance with subsection (d) of this Section.

(d) School districts identified in the top 20% of any of the metrics described in subsection (b) of this Section for 3 consecutive school years must, in a manner prescribed by the State Board of Education, submit a plan to the State Board of Education that identifies to submit a plan identifying the strategies the school district will implement to reduce the use of exclusionary disciplinary practices or racial disproportionality or both, if applicable. School districts that no longer meet the criteria described in any of the metrics described in this subsection (b) for 3 consecutive years shall no longer be required to submit a plan.

This plan may be combined with any other improvement plans required under federal or State law.

The plan must be approved at a public school board meeting no later than 90 days after notification from the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section and must be posted on the school district's Internet website. Within one calendar year after the school board's approval of the plan, the school district shall submit to the State Board of Education, in a manner prescribed by the State Board of Education, and post on the district's Internet website a progress report describing the implementation of the plan and the results achieved. Additional annual progress reports shall be required until a school district no longer meets the criteria in any of the metrics described in subsection (b) of this Section for 3 consecutive school years.

(e) The calculation of the top 20% of any of the metrics described in this subsection (b) of this Section shall exclude all school districts, State-authorized charter schools, and special charter districts that issued fewer than a total of 10 out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, whichever is applicable, during the school year. The calculation of the top 20% of the metric described in subdivision (3) of this subsection (b) of this Section shall exclude all school districts with an enrollment of fewer than 50 white students or fewer than 50 students of color.

The plan must be approved at a public school board meeting and posted on the school district's Internet website. Within one year after being identified, the school district shall submit to the State Board of Education and post on the district's Internet website a progress report describing the implementation of the plan and the results achieved.

(Source: P.A. 99-30, eff. 7-10-15; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18.)

(105 ILCS 5/2-3.176 new)

Sec. 2-3.176. Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Grant Program.

(a) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation, is authorized to award competitive grants on an annual basis under a Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Grant Program. The goal of this grant program is to promote school safety and healthy learning environments by providing schools with additional resources to implement restorative interventions and resolution strategies as alternatives to exclusionary discipline, and to address the full range of students' intellectual, social, emotional, physical, psychological, and moral developmental needs.

(b) To receive a grant under this program, a school district must submit with its grant application a plan for implementing evidence-based and promising practices that are aligned with the goal of this program. The application may include proposals to (i) hire additional school support personnel, including, but not limited to, restorative justice practitioners, school psychologists, school social workers, and other mental and behavioral health specialists; (ii) use existing school-based resources, community-based resources, or other experts and practitioners to expand alternatives to exclusionary discipline, mental and behavioral health supports, wraparound services, or drug and alcohol treatment; and (iii) provide training for school staff on trauma-informed approaches to meeting students' developmental needs, addressing the effects of toxic stress, restorative justice approaches, conflict resolution techniques, and the effective utilization of school support personnel and community-based services. For purposes of this subsection (b), "promising practices" means practices that present, based on preliminary information, potential for becoming evidence-based practices.

Grant funds shall not be used to increase the use of school-based law enforcement or security personnel. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit school districts from involving law enforcement personnel when necessary and allowed by law.

(c) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation for the grant program, shall annually disseminate a request for applications to this program, and funds shall be distributed annually. The criteria to be considered by the State Board of Education in awarding the funds shall be (i) the average ratio of school support personnel to students in the target schools over the preceding 3 school years, with priority given to applications with a demonstrated shortage of school support personnel to meet student needs; and (ii) the degree to which the proposal articulates a comprehensive approach for reducing exclusionary discipline while building safe and healthy learning environments. Priority shall be given to school districts that meet the metrics under subsection (b) of Section 2-3.162 of this Code.

(d) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation for the grant program, shall produce an annual report on the program in cooperation with the school districts participating in the program. The report shall include available quantitative information on the progress being made in reducing exclusionary discipline and the effects of the program on school safety and school climate. This report shall be posted on the State Board of Education's website by October 31 of each year, beginning in 2020.

(e) The State Board of Education may adopt any rules necessary for the implementation of this program.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2019.