093_SB1037
LRB093 10032 NHT 10283 b
1 AN ACT concerning schools.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
5 Section 24-2 as follows:
6 (105 ILCS 5/24-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-2)
7 Sec. 24-2. Holidays.
8 (a) Teachers shall not be required to teach on
9 Saturdays; nor, except as provided in subsection (b) of this
10 Section, shall teachers or other school employees, other than
11 noncertificated school employees whose presence is necessary
12 because of an emergency or for the continued operation and
13 maintenance of school facilities or property, be required to
14 work on legal school holidays, which are January 1, New
15 Year's Day; the third Monday in January, the Birthday of Dr.
16 Martin Luther King, Jr.; February 12, the Birthday of
17 President Abraham Lincoln; the first Monday in March (to be
18 known as Casimir Pulaski's birthday); Good Friday; the day
19 designated as Memorial Day by federal law; July 4,
20 Independence Day; the first Monday in September, Labor Day;
21 the second Monday in October, Columbus Day; November 11,
22 Veterans' Veteran's Day; the Thursday in November commonly
23 called Thanksgiving Day; and December 25, Christmas Day.
24 School boards may grant special holidays whenever in their
25 judgment such action is advisable, except that no school
26 board or board of education may designate or observe as a
27 special holiday on which teachers or other school employees
28 are not required to work the days on which general elections
29 for members of the Illinois House of Representatives are
30 held. No deduction shall be made from the time or
31 compensation of a school employee on account of any legal or
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1 special holiday.
2 (b) A school board is authorized to hold school on the
3 following legal school holidays or to use the holidays for
4 teachers' institutes, parent-teacher conferences, staff
5 development, or other purposes, provided the person or
6 persons honored by the holiday are recognized through
7 instructional activities conducted on that day or at another
8 time during the school year: the third Monday in January, the
9 Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; February 12, the
10 Birthday of President Abraham Lincoln; the first Monday in
11 March, Casimir Pulaski's birthday; the second Monday in
12 October, Columbus Day; and November 11, Veterans' Day.
13 (c) Commemorative holidays, which recognize specified
14 patriotic, civic, cultural or historical persons, activities,
15 or events, are regular school days. Commemorative holidays
16 are: January 28 (to be known as Christa McAuliffe Day and
17 observed as a commemoration of space exploration), February
18 15 (the birthday of Susan B. Anthony), March 29 (Viet Nam War
19 Veterans' Veterans Day), September 11 (September 11th Day of
20 Remembrance), the school day immediately preceding Veterans'
21 Veteran's Day (Korean War Veterans' Veterans Day), October 1
22 (Recycling Day), December 7 (Pearl Harbor Veterans' Veterans
23 Day) and any day so appointed by the President or Governor.
24 School boards may establish commemorative holidays whenever
25 in their judgment such action is advisable. School boards
26 shall include instruction relative to commemorated persons,
27 activities, or events on the commemorative holiday or at any
28 other time during the school year and at any point in the
29 curriculum when such instruction may be deemed appropriate.
30 The State Board of Education shall prepare and make available
31 to school boards instructional materials relative to
32 commemorated persons, activities, or events which may be used
33 by school boards in conjunction with any instruction provided
34 pursuant to this subsection (c) paragraph.
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1 (d) City of Chicago School District 299 shall observe
2 March 4 of each year as a commemorative holiday. This
3 holiday shall be known as Mayors' Day which shall be a day to
4 commemorate and be reminded of the past Chief Executive
5 Officers of the City of Chicago, and in particular the late
6 Mayor Richard J. Daley and the late Mayor Harold Washington.
7 If March 4 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, Mayors' Day shall
8 be observed on the following Monday.
9 (Source: P.A. 92-704, eff. 7-19-02.)
10 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
11 July 1, 2003.