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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 Sections |
5 | | 10-21.9, 10-22.31a, 18-12, 26-2a, and 34-18.5 as follows:
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6 | | (105 ILCS 5/10-21.9) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)
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7 | | Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal history records checks and checks of |
8 | | the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Child |
9 | | Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database.
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10 | | (a) Certified and noncertified applicants for employment |
11 | | with a school
district, except school bus driver applicants, |
12 | | are required as a condition
of employment to authorize a |
13 | | fingerprint-based criminal history records check to determine |
14 | | if such applicants have been convicted of any of
the enumerated |
15 | | criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or
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16 | | have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for |
17 | | employment with
the
school district, of any other felony under |
18 | | the laws of this State or of any
offense committed or attempted |
19 | | in any other state or against the laws of
the United States |
20 | | that, if committed or attempted in this State, would
have been |
21 | | punishable as a felony under the laws of this State.
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22 | | Authorization for
the check shall be furnished by the applicant |
23 | | to
the school district, except that if the applicant is a |
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1 | | substitute teacher
seeking employment in more than one school |
2 | | district, a teacher seeking
concurrent part-time employment |
3 | | positions with more than one school
district (as a reading |
4 | | specialist, special education teacher or otherwise),
or an |
5 | | educational support personnel employee seeking employment |
6 | | positions
with more than one district, any such district may |
7 | | require the applicant to
furnish authorization for
the check to |
8 | | the regional superintendent
of the educational service region |
9 | | in which are located the school districts
in which the |
10 | | applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent
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11 | | part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel |
12 | | employee.
Upon receipt of this authorization, the school |
13 | | district or the appropriate
regional superintendent, as the |
14 | | case may be, shall submit the applicant's
name, sex, race, date |
15 | | of birth, social security number, fingerprint images, and other |
16 | | identifiers, as prescribed by the Department
of State Police, |
17 | | to the Department. The regional
superintendent submitting the |
18 | | requisite information to the Department of
State Police shall |
19 | | promptly notify the school districts in which the
applicant is |
20 | | seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time
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21 | | teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee |
22 | | that
the
check of the applicant has been requested. The |
23 | | Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of |
24 | | Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based |
25 | | criminal history records check, records of convictions, until |
26 | | expunged, to the president of the school board for the school |
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1 | | district that requested the check, or to the regional |
2 | | superintendent who requested the check.
The
Department shall |
3 | | charge
the school district
or the appropriate regional |
4 | | superintendent a fee for
conducting
such check, which fee shall |
5 | | be deposited in the State
Police Services Fund and shall not |
6 | | exceed the cost of
the inquiry; and the
applicant shall not be |
7 | | charged a fee for
such check by the school
district or by the |
8 | | regional superintendent, except that those applicants seeking |
9 | | employment as a substitute teacher with a school district may |
10 | | be charged a fee not to exceed the cost of the inquiry. Subject |
11 | | to appropriations for these purposes, the State Superintendent |
12 | | of Education shall reimburse school districts and regional |
13 | | superintendents for fees paid to obtain criminal history |
14 | | records checks under this Section.
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15 | | (a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall |
16 | | further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, |
17 | | as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, |
18 | | for each applicant.
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19 | | (a-6) The school district or regional superintendent shall |
20 | | further perform a check of the Statewide Child Murderer and |
21 | | Violent Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the |
22 | | Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Community |
23 | | Notification Law, for each applicant.
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24 | | (b)
Any information
concerning the record of convictions |
25 | | obtained by the president of the
school board or the regional |
26 | | superintendent shall be confidential and may
only be |
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1 | | transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or his
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2 | | designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if
the check |
3 | | was
requested by the school district, the presidents of the |
4 | | appropriate school
boards if
the check was requested from the |
5 | | Department of State
Police by the regional superintendent, the |
6 | | State Superintendent of
Education, the State Teacher |
7 | | Certification Board, any other person
necessary to the decision |
8 | | of hiring the applicant for employment, or for clarification |
9 | | purposes the Department of State Police or Statewide Sex |
10 | | Offender Database, or both. A copy
of the record of convictions |
11 | | obtained from the Department of State Police
shall be provided |
12 | | to the applicant for employment. Upon the check of the |
13 | | Statewide Sex Offender Database, the school district or |
14 | | regional superintendent shall notify an applicant as to whether |
15 | | or not the applicant has been identified in the Database as a |
16 | | sex offender. If a check of
an applicant for employment as a |
17 | | substitute or concurrent part-time teacher
or concurrent |
18 | | educational support personnel employee in more than one
school |
19 | | district was requested by the regional superintendent, and the
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20 | | Department of State Police upon a check ascertains that the |
21 | | applicant
has not been convicted of any of the enumerated |
22 | | criminal or drug offenses
in subsection (c)
or has not been |
23 | | convicted, within 7 years of the
application for
employment |
24 | | with the
school district, of any other felony under the laws of |
25 | | this State or of any
offense committed or attempted in any |
26 | | other state or against the laws of
the United States that, if |
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1 | | committed or attempted in this State, would
have been |
2 | | punishable as a felony under the laws of this State
and so |
3 | | notifies the regional
superintendent and if the regional |
4 | | superintendent upon a check ascertains that the applicant has |
5 | | not been identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex |
6 | | offender, then the
regional superintendent shall issue to the |
7 | | applicant a certificate
evidencing that as of the date |
8 | | specified by the Department of State Police
the applicant has |
9 | | not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or
drug |
10 | | offenses in subsection (c)
or has not been
convicted, within 7 |
11 | | years of the application for employment with the
school |
12 | | district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or |
13 | | of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or |
14 | | against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or |
15 | | attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony |
16 | | under the laws of this State and evidencing that as of the date |
17 | | that the regional superintendent conducted a check of the |
18 | | Statewide Sex Offender Database, the applicant has not been |
19 | | identified in the Database as a sex offender. The school
board |
20 | | of
any
school district
may rely on the
certificate issued by |
21 | | any regional superintendent to that substitute teacher, |
22 | | concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational |
23 | | support personnel employee or may
initiate its own criminal |
24 | | history records check of the applicant through the Department |
25 | | of
State Police and its own check of the Statewide Sex Offender |
26 | | Database as provided in subsection (a). Any person who releases |
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1 | | any
confidential information concerning any criminal |
2 | | convictions of an
applicant for employment shall be guilty of a |
3 | | Class A misdemeanor, unless
the release of such information is |
4 | | authorized by this Section.
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5 | | (c) No school board shall knowingly employ a person who has |
6 | | been
convicted of any offense that would subject him or her to |
7 | | certification suspension or revocation pursuant to Section |
8 | | 21-23a of this Code.
Further, no school board shall knowingly |
9 | | employ a person who has been found
to be the perpetrator of |
10 | | sexual or physical abuse of any minor under 18 years
of age |
11 | | pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court |
12 | | Act of
1987.
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13 | | (d) No school board shall knowingly employ a person for |
14 | | whom a criminal
history records check and a Statewide Sex |
15 | | Offender Database check has not been initiated.
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16 | | (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a |
17 | | finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued |
18 | | pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School |
19 | | Code, the
State Superintendent of Education may initiate |
20 | | certificate suspension
and revocation proceedings as |
21 | | authorized by law.
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22 | | (e-5) The superintendent of the employing school board |
23 | | shall, in writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education |
24 | | and the applicable regional superintendent of schools of any |
25 | | certificate holder whom he or she has reasonable cause to |
26 | | believe has committed an intentional act of abuse or neglect |
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1 | | with the result of making a child an abused child or a |
2 | | neglected child, as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and |
3 | | Neglected Child Reporting Act, and that act resulted in the |
4 | | certificate holder's dismissal or resignation from the school |
5 | | district. This notification must be submitted within 30 days |
6 | | after the dismissal or resignation. The certificate holder must |
7 | | also be contemporaneously sent a copy of the notice by the |
8 | | superintendent. All correspondence, documentation, and other |
9 | | information so received by the regional superintendent of |
10 | | schools, the State Superintendent of Education, the State Board |
11 | | of Education, or the State Teacher Certification Board under |
12 | | this subsection (e-5) is confidential and must not be disclosed |
13 | | to third parties, except (i) as necessary for the State |
14 | | Superintendent of Education or his or her designee to |
15 | | investigate and prosecute pursuant to Article 21 of this Code, |
16 | | (ii) pursuant to a court order, (iii) for disclosure to the |
17 | | certificate holder or his or her representative, or (iv) as |
18 | | otherwise provided in this Article and provided that any such |
19 | | information admitted into evidence in a hearing is exempt from |
20 | | this confidentiality and non-disclosure requirement. Except |
21 | | for an act of willful or wanton misconduct, any superintendent |
22 | | who provides notification as required in this subsection (e-5) |
23 | | shall have immunity from any liability, whether civil or |
24 | | criminal or that otherwise might result by reason of such |
25 | | action. |
26 | | (f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section |
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1 | | shall apply
to all employees of persons or firms holding |
2 | | contracts with any school
district including, but not limited |
3 | | to, food service workers, school bus
drivers and other |
4 | | transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact
with |
5 | | the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of |
6 | | criminal
history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex |
7 | | Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding
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8 | | contracts with more than one school district and assigned to |
9 | | more than one
school district, the regional superintendent of |
10 | | the educational service
region in which the contracting school |
11 | | districts are located may, at the
request of any such school |
12 | | district, be responsible for receiving the
authorization for
a |
13 | | criminal history records check prepared by each such employee |
14 | | and
submitting the same to the Department of State Police and |
15 | | for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database |
16 | | and the Statewide Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against |
17 | | Youth Database for each employee. Any information
concerning |
18 | | the record of conviction and identification as a sex offender |
19 | | of any such employee obtained by the
regional superintendent |
20 | | shall be promptly reported to the president of the
appropriate |
21 | | school board or school boards.
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22 | | (g) Beginning on January 1, 2012, the provisions of this |
23 | | Section shall apply to all student teachers, as defined by |
24 | | State Board of Education rule, assigned to public schools or |
25 | | nonpublic schools recognized by the State Board pursuant to |
26 | | Section 2-3.25o of this Code. Student teachers must undergo a |
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1 | | Department of State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation |
2 | | fingerprint-based criminal history records check. |
3 | | Authorization to conduct the criminal history records check |
4 | | must be furnished by the student teacher to the school to which |
5 | | the student teacher is assigned. The Department of State Police |
6 | | and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, pursuant |
7 | | to a fingerprint-based criminal history records check, records |
8 | | of convictions, until expunged, to the president of the school |
9 | | board for the school district that requested the check or the |
10 | | chief administrative officer of the nonpublic school that |
11 | | requested the check. The Department of State Police shall |
12 | | charge a fee for conducting the check, which fee must be |
13 | | deposited into the State Police Services Fund and must not |
14 | | exceed the cost of the inquiry. The student teacher shall be |
15 | | required to pay all fees associated with conducting the |
16 | | criminal history records check, as well as any other |
17 | | application fees as established by rule including, but not |
18 | | limited to, the fee established by the Department of State |
19 | | Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to process |
20 | | fingerprint-based criminal history records checks. Results of |
21 | | the check must also be furnished by the school district or |
22 | | nonpublic school to the higher education institution where the |
23 | | student teacher is enrolled. No one may begin student teaching |
24 | | until the results of the criminal history records check have |
25 | | been returned to the school district or nonpublic school. In |
26 | | order to student teach in the public schools, a person is |
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1 | | required to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history |
2 | | records check and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender Database |
3 | | and Statewide Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth |
4 | | Database prior to participating in any field experiences in the |
5 | | public schools. Authorization for and payment of the costs of |
6 | | the checks must be furnished by the student teacher. Results of |
7 | | the checks must be furnished to the higher education |
8 | | institution where the student teacher is enrolled and the |
9 | | superintendent of the school district where the student is |
10 | | assigned. |
11 | | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-431, eff. 8-13-09; |
12 | | 96-1452, eff. 8-20-10; 96-1489, eff. 1-1-11; revised 1-4-11.)
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13 | | (105 ILCS 5/10-22.31a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.31a)
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14 | | Sec. 10-22.31a. Joint educational programs. To enter into |
15 | | joint agreements with other school boards or public
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16 | | institutions of higher education to establish any type of |
17 | | educational
program which any district may establish |
18 | | individually, to provide the
needed educational facilities and |
19 | | to employ a director and other
professional workers for such |
20 | | program. The director and other
professional workers may be |
21 | | employed by one district which shall be
reimbursed on a |
22 | | mutually agreed basis by other districts that are
parties to |
23 | | the joint agreement. Such agreements may provide that one
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24 | | district may supply professional workers for a joint program |
25 | | conducted
in another district. Such agreement shall be executed |
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1 | | on forms provided
by the State Board of Education
and shall |
2 | | include, but not
be limited to, provisions for administration, |
3 | | staff, programs,
financing, housing, transportation and |
4 | | advisory body and provide for the
withdrawal of districts from |
5 | | the joint agreement by petition to the regional
board of school |
6 | | trustees. Such petitions for withdrawal shall be
made to the |
7 | | regional board of school trustees of the region having
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8 | | supervision and control over the administrative district and |
9 | | shall be
acted upon in the manner provided in Article 7 for the |
10 | | detachment of
territory from a school district.
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11 | | To designate an administrative district to act as fiscal |
12 | | and legal
agent for the districts that are parties to such a |
13 | | joint agreement.
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14 | | (Source: P.A. 86-198; 86-1318.)
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15 | | (105 ILCS 5/18-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 18-12)
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16 | | Sec. 18-12. Dates for filing State aid claims. The school |
17 | | board of
each school district shall require teachers, |
18 | | principals, or
superintendents to furnish from records kept by |
19 | | them such data as it
needs in preparing and certifying to the |
20 | | State Superintendent of Education
regional superintendent its |
21 | | school district report of claims provided in
Sections 18-8.05 |
22 | | through 18-9 as required by the State
Superintendent of |
23 | | Education. The district claim
shall be based on the latest |
24 | | available equalized assessed valuation and tax
rates, as |
25 | | provided in Section 18-8.05 and shall use the average
daily
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1 | | attendance as determined by the method outlined in Section |
2 | | 18-8.05
and shall be
certified and filed with the State |
3 | | Superintendent of Education regional superintendent by June 21
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4 | | for districts with an
official
school calendar end date before |
5 | | June 15 or within 2 weeks following the
official school |
6 | | calendar end date for districts with a school year end date
of |
7 | | June 15 or later. The regional superintendent shall certify and |
8 | | file
with the State Superintendent of Education district State |
9 | | aid claims by
July 1 for districts with an official school |
10 | | calendar end date before June
15 or no later than July 15 for |
11 | | districts with an official school calendar
end date of June 15 |
12 | | or later.
Failure to
so file by these deadlines constitutes a |
13 | | forfeiture of the right
to
receive payment by
the State until |
14 | | such claim is filed and vouchered for payment. The
regional |
15 | | superintendent of schools shall certify the county report of |
16 | | claims
by July 15; and the State Superintendent of Education |
17 | | shall voucher
for payment those claims to the State Comptroller |
18 | | as provided in Section 18-11.
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19 | | Except as otherwise provided in this Section, if any school |
20 | | district
fails to provide the minimum school term specified
in |
21 | | Section 10-19, the State aid claim for that year shall be |
22 | | reduced by the
State Superintendent of Education in an amount |
23 | | equivalent to 1/176 or .56818% for
each day less than the |
24 | | number of days required by this Code.
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25 | | If
the State Superintendent of Education determines that |
26 | | the failure
to
provide the minimum school term was occasioned |
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1 | | by an act or acts of God, or
was occasioned by conditions |
2 | | beyond the control of the school district
which posed a |
3 | | hazardous threat to the health and safety of pupils, the
State |
4 | | aid claim need not be reduced.
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5 | | If a school district is precluded from providing the |
6 | | minimum hours of instruction required for a full day of |
7 | | attendance due to an adverse weather condition or a condition |
8 | | beyond the control of the school district that poses a |
9 | | hazardous threat to the health and safety of students, then the |
10 | | partial day of attendance may be counted if (i) the school |
11 | | district has provided at least one hour of instruction prior to |
12 | | the closure of the school district, (ii) a school building has |
13 | | provided at least one hour of instruction prior to the closure |
14 | | of the school building, or (iii) the normal start time of the |
15 | | school district is delayed. |
16 | | If, prior to providing any instruction, a school district |
17 | | must close one or more but not all school buildings after |
18 | | consultation with a local emergency response agency or due to a |
19 | | condition beyond the control of the school district, then the |
20 | | school district may claim attendance for up to 2 school days |
21 | | based on the average attendance of the 3 school days |
22 | | immediately preceding the closure of the affected school |
23 | | building. The partial or no day of attendance described in this |
24 | | Section and the reasons therefore shall be certified within a |
25 | | month of the closing or delayed start by the school district |
26 | | superintendent to the regional superintendent of schools for |
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1 | | forwarding to the State Superintendent of Education for |
2 | | approval.
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3 | | No exception to the requirement of providing a minimum |
4 | | school term may
be approved by the State Superintendent of |
5 | | Education pursuant to this Section
unless a school district has |
6 | | first used all emergency days provided for
in its regular |
7 | | calendar.
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8 | | If the State Superintendent of Education declares that an |
9 | | energy
shortage exists during any part of the school year for |
10 | | the State or a
designated portion of the State, a district may |
11 | | operate the school
attendance centers within the district 4 |
12 | | days of the week during the
time of the shortage by extending |
13 | | each existing school day by one clock
hour of school work, and |
14 | | the State aid claim shall not be reduced, nor
shall the |
15 | | employees of that district suffer any reduction in salary or
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16 | | benefits as a result thereof. A district may operate all |
17 | | attendance
centers on this revised schedule, or may apply the |
18 | | schedule to selected
attendance centers, taking into |
19 | | consideration such factors as pupil
transportation schedules |
20 | | and patterns and sources of energy for
individual attendance |
21 | | centers.
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22 | | Electronically submitted State aid claims shall be |
23 | | submitted by
duly authorized district or regional individuals |
24 | | over a secure network
that is password protected. The |
25 | | electronic submission of a State aid
claim must be accompanied |
26 | | with an affirmation that all of the provisions
of Sections |
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1 | | 18-8.05 through 18-9, 10-22.5, and 24-4 of this Code are
met in |
2 | | all respects.
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3 | | (Source: P.A. 95-152, eff. 8-14-07; 95-811, eff. 8-13-08; |
4 | | 95-876, eff. 8-21-08; 96-734, eff. 8-25-09.)
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5 | | (105 ILCS 5/26-2a) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-2a) |
6 | | Sec. 26-2a. A "truant" is defined as a child subject to |
7 | | compulsory school
attendance and who is absent without valid |
8 | | cause from such attendance for
a school day or portion thereof. |
9 | | "Valid cause" for absence shall be illness, observance of a |
10 | | religious
holiday, death in the immediate family,
family |
11 | | emergency, and shall include such other situations beyond the |
12 | | control
of the student as determined by the board of education |
13 | | in each district,
or such other circumstances which cause |
14 | | reasonable concern to the parent
for the safety or health of |
15 | | the student. |
16 | | "Chronic or habitual truant" shall be defined as a child |
17 | | subject to compulsory
school attendance and who is absent |
18 | | without valid cause from such attendance
for 10% or more of the |
19 | | previous 180 regular attendance days. |
20 | | "Truant minor" is defined as a chronic truant to whom |
21 | | supportive
services, including prevention, diagnostic, |
22 | | intervention and remedial
services, alternative programs and |
23 | | other school and community resources
have been provided and |
24 | | have failed to result in the cessation of chronic
truancy, or |
25 | | have been offered and refused. |
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1 | | A "dropout" is defined as any child enrolled in grades one |
2 | | 9 through 12 whose
name has been removed from the district |
3 | | enrollment roster for any reason
other than the student's |
4 | | death, extended illness, removal for medical non-compliance, |
5 | | expulsion, aging out, graduation, or completion of a
program of |
6 | | studies and who has not transferred to another public or |
7 | | private school or moved out of the United States and is not |
8 | | known to be home-schooled by his or her parents or guardians or |
9 | | continuing school in another country . |
10 | | "Religion" for the purposes of this Article, includes all |
11 | | aspects of
religious observance and practice, as well as |
12 | | belief. |
13 | | (Source: P.A. 96-1423, eff. 8-3-10.) |
14 | | (105 ILCS 5/34-18.5) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5) |
15 | | Sec. 34-18.5. Criminal history records checks and checks of |
16 | | the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Child |
17 | | Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database. |
18 | | (a) Certified and noncertified applicants for
employment |
19 | | with the school district are required as a condition of
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20 | | employment to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history |
21 | | records check to determine if such applicants
have been |
22 | | convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in
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23 | | subsection (c) of this Section or have been
convicted, within 7 |
24 | | years of the application for employment with the
school |
25 | | district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or |
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1 | | of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or |
2 | | against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or |
3 | | attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony |
4 | | under the laws of this State. Authorization
for
the
check shall
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5 | | be furnished by the applicant to the school district, except |
6 | | that if the
applicant is a substitute teacher seeking |
7 | | employment in more than one
school district, or a teacher |
8 | | seeking concurrent part-time employment
positions with more |
9 | | than one school district (as a reading specialist,
special |
10 | | education teacher or otherwise), or an educational support
|
11 | | personnel employee seeking employment positions with more than |
12 | | one
district, any such district may require the applicant to |
13 | | furnish
authorization for
the check to the regional |
14 | | superintendent of the
educational service region in which are |
15 | | located the school districts in
which the applicant is seeking |
16 | | employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher or |
17 | | concurrent educational support personnel employee.
Upon |
18 | | receipt of this authorization, the school district or the |
19 | | appropriate
regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall |
20 | | submit the applicant's
name, sex, race, date of birth, social |
21 | | security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as |
22 | | prescribed by the Department
of State Police, to the |
23 | | Department. The regional
superintendent submitting the |
24 | | requisite information to the Department of
State Police shall |
25 | | promptly notify the school districts in which the
applicant is |
26 | | seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time
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1 | | teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee |
2 | | that
the
check of the applicant has been requested. The |
3 | | Department of State
Police and the Federal Bureau of |
4 | | Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based |
5 | | criminal history records check, records of convictions, until |
6 | | expunged, to the president of the school board for the school |
7 | | district that requested the check, or to the regional |
8 | | superintendent who requested the check. The
Department shall |
9 | | charge
the school district
or the appropriate regional |
10 | | superintendent a fee for
conducting
such check, which fee shall |
11 | | be deposited in the State
Police Services Fund and shall not |
12 | | exceed the cost of the inquiry; and the
applicant shall not be |
13 | | charged a fee for
such check by the school
district or by the |
14 | | regional superintendent. Subject to appropriations for these |
15 | | purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall |
16 | | reimburse the school district and regional superintendent for |
17 | | fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this |
18 | | Section. |
19 | | (a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall |
20 | | further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, |
21 | | as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, |
22 | | for each applicant. |
23 | | (a-6) The school district or regional superintendent shall |
24 | | further perform a check of the Statewide Child Murderer and |
25 | | Violent Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the |
26 | | Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Community |
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1 | | Notification Law, for each applicant. |
2 | | (b) Any
information concerning the record of convictions |
3 | | obtained by the president
of the board of education or the |
4 | | regional superintendent shall be
confidential and may only be |
5 | | transmitted to the general superintendent of
the school |
6 | | district or his designee, the appropriate regional
|
7 | | superintendent if
the check was requested by the board of |
8 | | education
for the school district, the presidents of the |
9 | | appropriate board of
education or school boards if
the check |
10 | | was requested from the
Department of State Police by the |
11 | | regional superintendent, the State
Superintendent of |
12 | | Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any
other |
13 | | person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for
|
14 | | employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from |
15 | | the
Department of State Police shall be provided to the |
16 | | applicant for
employment. Upon the check of the Statewide Sex |
17 | | Offender Database, the school district or regional |
18 | | superintendent shall notify an applicant as to whether or not |
19 | | the applicant has been identified in the Database as a sex |
20 | | offender. If a check of an applicant for employment as a
|
21 | | substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent |
22 | | educational
support personnel employee in more than one school |
23 | | district was requested
by the regional superintendent, and the |
24 | | Department of State Police upon
a check ascertains that the |
25 | | applicant has not been convicted of any
of the enumerated |
26 | | criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c)
or has not been
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1 | | convicted,
within 7 years of the application for employment |
2 | | with the
school district, of any other felony under the laws of |
3 | | this State or of any
offense committed or attempted in any |
4 | | other state or against the laws of
the United States that, if |
5 | | committed or attempted in this State, would
have been |
6 | | punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and so
|
7 | | notifies the regional superintendent and if the regional |
8 | | superintendent upon a check ascertains that the applicant has |
9 | | not been identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex |
10 | | offender, then the regional superintendent
shall issue to the |
11 | | applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date
|
12 | | specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has |
13 | | not been
convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug |
14 | | offenses in subsection
(c)
or has not been
convicted, within 7 |
15 | | years of the application for employment with the
school |
16 | | district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or |
17 | | of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or |
18 | | against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or |
19 | | attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony |
20 | | under the laws of this State and evidencing that as of the date |
21 | | that the regional superintendent conducted a check of the |
22 | | Statewide Sex Offender Database, the applicant has not been |
23 | | identified in the Database as a sex offender. The school
board |
24 | | of any school district may rely on the certificate issued by |
25 | | any regional
superintendent to that substitute teacher, |
26 | | concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational |
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1 | | support personnel employee
or may initiate its own criminal |
2 | | history records check of
the applicant through the Department |
3 | | of State Police and its own check of the Statewide Sex Offender |
4 | | Database as provided in
subsection (a). Any person who releases |
5 | | any confidential information
concerning any criminal |
6 | | convictions of an applicant for employment shall be
guilty of a |
7 | | Class A misdemeanor, unless the release of such information is
|
8 | | authorized by this Section. |
9 | | (c) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a |
10 | | person who has
been convicted of any offense that would subject |
11 | | him or her to certification suspension or revocation pursuant |
12 | | to Section 21-23a of this Code.
Further, the board of education |
13 | | shall not knowingly employ a person who has
been found to be |
14 | | the perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under
|
15 | | 18 years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the |
16 | | Juvenile Court
Act of 1987. |
17 | | (d) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a |
18 | | person for whom
a criminal history records check and a |
19 | | Statewide Sex Offender Database check has not been initiated. |
20 | | (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a |
21 | | finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued |
22 | | pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School |
23 | | Code, the State Superintendent of
Education may initiate |
24 | | certificate suspension and revocation
proceedings as |
25 | | authorized by law. |
26 | | (e-5) The general superintendent of schools shall, in |
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1 | | writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education of any |
2 | | certificate holder whom he or she has reasonable cause to |
3 | | believe has committed an intentional act of abuse or neglect |
4 | | with the result of making a child an abused child or a |
5 | | neglected child, as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and |
6 | | Neglected Child Reporting Act, and that act resulted in the |
7 | | certificate holder's dismissal or resignation from the school |
8 | | district. This notification must be submitted within 30 days |
9 | | after the dismissal or resignation. The certificate holder must |
10 | | also be contemporaneously sent a copy of the notice by the |
11 | | superintendent. All correspondence, documentation, and other |
12 | | information so received by the State Superintendent of |
13 | | Education, the State Board of Education, or the State Teacher |
14 | | Certification Board under this subsection (e-5) is |
15 | | confidential and must not be disclosed to third parties, except |
16 | | (i) as necessary for the State Superintendent of Education or |
17 | | his or her designee to investigate and prosecute pursuant to |
18 | | Article 21 of this Code, (ii) pursuant to a court order, (iii) |
19 | | for disclosure to the certificate holder or his or her |
20 | | representative, or (iv) as otherwise provided in this Article |
21 | | and provided that any such information admitted into evidence |
22 | | in a hearing is exempt from this confidentiality and |
23 | | non-disclosure requirement. Except for an act of willful or |
24 | | wanton misconduct, any superintendent who provides |
25 | | notification as required in this subsection (e-5) shall have |
26 | | immunity from any liability, whether civil or criminal or that |
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1 | | otherwise might result by reason of such action. |
2 | | (f) After March 19, 1990, the provisions of this Section |
3 | | shall apply to
all employees of persons or firms holding |
4 | | contracts with any school district
including, but not limited |
5 | | to, food service workers, school bus drivers and
other |
6 | | transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with |
7 | | the
pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of |
8 | | criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex |
9 | | Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding |
10 | | contracts with more
than one school district and assigned to |
11 | | more than one school district, the
regional superintendent of |
12 | | the educational service region in which the
contracting school |
13 | | districts are located may, at the request of any such
school |
14 | | district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for
a |
15 | | criminal history records check prepared by each such employee |
16 | | and submitting the same to the
Department of State Police and |
17 | | for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database |
18 | | and the Statewide Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against |
19 | | Youth Database for each employee. Any information concerning |
20 | | the record of
conviction and identification as a sex offender |
21 | | of any such employee obtained by the regional superintendent
|
22 | | shall be promptly reported to the president of the appropriate |
23 | | school board
or school boards. |
24 | | (g) Beginning on January 1, 2012, the provisions of this |
25 | | Section shall apply to all student teachers, as defined by |
26 | | State Board of Education rule, assigned to public schools. |
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1 | | Student teachers must undergo a Department of State Police and |
2 | | Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint-based criminal |
3 | | history records check. Authorization to conduct the criminal |
4 | | history records check must be furnished by the student teacher |
5 | | to the school to which the student teacher is assigned. The |
6 | | Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of |
7 | | Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based |
8 | | criminal history records check, records of convictions, until |
9 | | expunged, to the president of the Chicago Board of Education. |
10 | | The Department of State Police shall charge a fee for |
11 | | conducting the check, which fee must be deposited into the |
12 | | State Police Services Fund and must not exceed the cost of the |
13 | | inquiry. The student teacher shall be required to pay all fees |
14 | | associated with conducting the criminal history records check, |
15 | | as well as any other application fees as established by rule |
16 | | including, but not limited to, the fee established by the |
17 | | Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of |
18 | | Investigation to process fingerprint-based criminal history |
19 | | records checks. Results of the check must also be furnished by |
20 | | the school district to the higher education institution where |
21 | | the student teacher is enrolled. No one may begin student |
22 | | teaching until the results of the criminal history records |
23 | | check have been returned to the school district. In order to |
24 | | student teach in the public schools, a person is required to |
25 | | authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history records check |
26 | | and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide |
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1 | | Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database |
2 | | prior to participating in any field experiences in the public |
3 | | schools. Authorization for and payment of the costs of the |
4 | | checks must be furnished by the student teacher. Results of the |
5 | | checks must be furnished to the higher education institution |
6 | | where the student teacher is enrolled and the general |
7 | | superintendent of schools. |
8 | | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-431, eff. 8-13-09; |
9 | | 96-1452, eff. 8-20-10.)
|