HB2789ham001 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Michelle Mussman

Filed: 3/22/2021

10200HB2789ham001 LRB102 10539 CMG 22650 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2789

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2789 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding Section 2310-705 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2310/2310-705 new)

Sec. 2310-705. Public health emergency; schools and institutions of higher education.

(a) This Section applies if the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.

(b) The Department shall establish metrics and develop recommended guidelines for school districts and public institutions of higher education to use during the public health emergency in determining if the district or institution may safely conduct in-person instruction or if the district or institution must implement remote learning or blended remote learning to keep students and staff safe. In establishing the metrics and developing the recommended guidelines, the Department shall follow all guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department of Health and Human Services pertaining to schools and institutions of higher education during the public health emergency.

The metrics and recommended guidelines shall be regularly updated based on available information.

The Department shall post the metrics and recommended guidelines and any updates on its Internet website.

(c) The Department shall be responsible for providing rapid COVID-19 testing in public schools and public institutions of higher education so infected students and staff can be identified before they spread the virus. Payment for the rapid COVID-19 testing shall come from federal relief funds.

Section 10. The School Code is amended by adding Sections 10-20.75, 34-18.67, and 34-18.68 and by changing Section 24-6 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/10-20.75 new)

Sec. 10-20.75. Public health emergency; safe reopening plan.

(a) This Section applies if the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.

(b) During the public health emergency, a school board and the exclusive bargaining representative of the district's teachers, if any, shall negotiate the procedures and protocols that shall be implemented to safely conduct in-person instruction. The procedures and protocols agreed to by the school board and the exclusive bargaining representative shall become part of the district's plan to reopen schools safely. The State Board of Education and the Department of Public Health shall enforce the terms of the plan.

(c) If the school board and the exclusive bargaining representative cannot agree on the procedures and protocols that shall be implemented to safely conduct in-person instruction, the school board shall follow the recommended guidelines developed by the Department of Public Health under Section 2310-705 of the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.

(105 ILCS 5/24-6)

Sec. 24-6. Sick leave. The school boards of all school districts, including special charter districts, but not including school districts in municipalities of 500,000 or more, shall grant their full-time teachers, and also shall grant such of their other employees as are eligible to participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund under the "600-Hour Standard" established, or under such other eligibility participation standard as may from time to time be established, by rules and regulations now or hereafter promulgated by the Board of that Fund under Section 7-198 of the Illinois Pension Code, as now or hereafter amended, sick leave provisions not less in amount than 10 days at full pay in each school year. If any such teacher or employee does not use the full amount of annual leave thus allowed, the unused amount shall be allowed to accumulate to a minimum available leave of 180 days at full pay, including the leave of the current year. Sick leave shall be interpreted to mean personal illness, quarantine at home, serious illness or death in the immediate family or household, or birth, adoption, or placement for adoption. The school board may require a certificate from a physician licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in all its branches, a chiropractic physician licensed under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, a licensed physician assistant, or, if the treatment is by prayer or spiritual means, a spiritual adviser or practitioner of the teacher's or employee's faith as a basis for pay during leave after an absence of 3 days for personal illness or 30 days for birth or as the school board may deem necessary in other cases. If the school board does require a certificate as a basis for pay during leave of less than 3 days for personal illness, the school board shall pay, from school funds, the expenses incurred by the teachers or other employees in obtaining the certificate. For paid leave for adoption or placement for adoption, the school board may require that the teacher or other employee provide evidence that the formal adoption process is underway, and such leave is limited to 30 days unless a longer leave has been negotiated with the exclusive bargaining representative.

If, by reason of any change in the boundaries of school districts, or by reason of the creation of a new school district, the employment of a teacher is transferred to a new or different board, the accumulated sick leave of such teacher is not thereby lost, but is transferred to such new or different district.

If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, the school board shall grant an employee of the district paid sick leave if the employee contracts the illness for which the disaster was declared but only if the employee has used the full amount of paid sick leave already allotted to the employee and the employee provides medical documentation to the district that the employee has contracted the illness for which the disaster was declared.

For purposes of this Section, "immediate family" shall include parents, spouse, brothers, sisters, children, grandparents, grandchildren, parents-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and legal guardians.

(Source: P.A. 99-173, eff. 7-29-15; 100-513, eff. 1-1-18.)

(105 ILCS 5/34-18.67 new)

Sec. 34-18.67. Public health emergency; sick leave. If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, the board shall grant an employee of the district paid sick leave if the employee contracts the illness for which the disaster was declared but only if the employee has used the full amount of paid sick leave already allotted to the employee and the employee provides medical documentation to the district that the employee has contracted the illness for which the disaster was declared.

(105 ILCS 5/34-18.68 new)

Sec. 34-18.68. Public health emergency; safe reopening plan.

(a) This Section applies if the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.

(b) During the public health emergency, the board and the exclusive bargaining representative of the district's teachers shall negotiate the procedures and protocols that shall be implemented to safely conduct in-person instruction. The procedures and protocols agreed to by the board and the exclusive bargaining representative shall become part of the district's plan to reopen schools safely. The State Board of Education and the Department of Public Health shall enforce the terms of the plan.

(c) If the board and the exclusive bargaining representative cannot agree on the procedures and protocols that shall be implemented to safely conduct in-person instruction, the board shall follow the recommended guidelines developed by the Department of Public Health under Section 2310-705 of the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.

Section 15. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by adding Section 9.41 as follows:

(110 ILCS 205/9.41 new)

Sec. 9.41. Public health emergency; sick leave. If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, the Board shall require each public institution of higher education to grant an employee of the institution paid sick leave if the employee contracts the illness for which the disaster was declared but only if the employee has used the full amount of paid sick leave already allotted to the employee and the employee provides medical documentation to the institution that the employee has contracted the illness for which the disaster was declared.

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