SB3709 EngrossedLRB102 22596 CMG 31739 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
510-23.5 and 24-11 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/10-23.5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-23.5)
7    Sec. 10-23.5. Educational support personnel employees.
8    (a) To employ such educational support personnel employees
9as it deems advisable and to define their employment duties;
10provided that residency within any school district shall not
11be considered in determining the employment or the
12compensation of any such employee, or whether to retain,
13promote, assign or transfer such employee. If an educational
14support personnel employee is removed or dismissed or the
15hours he or she works are reduced as a result of a decision of
16the school board (i) to decrease the number of educational
17support personnel employees employed by the board or (ii) to
18discontinue some particular type of educational support
19service, written notice shall be mailed to the employee and
20also given to the employee either by certified mail, return
21receipt requested, or personal delivery with receipt, at least
2230 days before the employee is removed or dismissed or the
23hours he or she works are reduced, together with a statement of

 

 

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1honorable dismissal and the reason therefor if applicable.
2However, if a reduction in hours is due to an unforeseen
3reduction in the student population, then the written notice
4must be mailed and given to the employee at least 5 days before
5the hours are reduced. The employee with the shorter length of
6continuing service with the district, within the respective
7category of position, shall be dismissed first unless an
8alternative method of determining the sequence of dismissal is
9established in a collective bargaining agreement or contract
10between the board and any exclusive bargaining agent and
11except that this provision shall not impair the operation of
12any affirmative action program in the district, regardless of
13whether it exists by operation of law or is conducted on a
14voluntary basis by the board. If the board has any vacancies
15for the following school term or within one calendar year from
16the beginning of the following school term, the positions
17thereby becoming available within a specific category of
18position shall be tendered to the employees so removed or
19dismissed from that category or any other category of
20position, so far as they are qualified to hold such positions.
21Each board shall, in consultation with any exclusive employee
22representative or bargaining agent, each year establish a
23list, categorized by positions, showing the length of
24continuing service of each full time educational support
25personnel employee who is qualified to hold any such
26positions, unless an alternative method of determining a

 

 

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1sequence of dismissal is established as provided for in this
2Section, in which case a list shall be made in accordance with
3the alternative method. Copies of the list shall be
4distributed to the exclusive employee representative or
5bargaining agent on or before February 1 of each year.
6    If an educational support personnel employee is removed or
7dismissed as a result of a decision of the board to decrease
8the number of educational support personnel employed by the
9board or to discontinue some particular type of educational
10support service and he or she accepts the tender of a vacancy
11within one calendar year from the beginning of the following
12school term, then that employee shall maintain any rights
13accrued during his or her previous service with the school
14district.
15    Where an educational support personnel employee is
16dismissed by the board as a result of a decrease in the number
17of employees or the discontinuance of the employee's job, the
18employee shall be paid all earned compensation on or before
19the next regular pay date following his or her last day of
20employment.
21    The provisions of this amendatory Act of 1986 relating to
22residency within any school district shall not apply to cities
23having a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants.
24    (b) In the case of a new school district or districts
25formed in accordance with Article 11E of this Code, a school
26district or districts that annex all of the territory of one or

 

 

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1more entire other school districts in accordance with Article
27 of this Code, or a school district receiving students from a
3deactivated school facility in accordance with Section
410-22.22b of this Code, or a special education cooperative
5that dissolves or reorganizes in accordance with Section
610-22.31 of this Code, the employment of educational support
7personnel in the new, annexing, or receiving school district
8immediately following the reorganization shall be governed by
9this subsection (b). Lists of the educational support
10personnel employed in the individual districts or special
11education cooperative for the school year immediately prior to
12the effective date of the new district or districts,
13annexation, or deactivation, dissolution, or reorganization
14shall be combined for the districts forming the new district
15or districts, for the annexed and annexing districts, or for
16the deactivating and receiving districts, or for the
17dissolving or reorganizing special education cooperative, as
18the case may be. The combined list shall be categorized by
19positions, showing the length of continuing service of each
20full-time educational support personnel employee who is
21qualified to hold any such position. If there are more
22full-time educational support personnel employees on the
23combined list than there are available positions in the new,
24annexing, or receiving school district, then the employing
25school board shall first remove or dismiss those educational
26support personnel employees with the shorter length of

 

 

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1continuing service within the respective category of position,
2following the procedures outlined in subsection (a) of this
3Section. In the case of a special education cooperative that
4dissolves or reorganizes, the districts that are parties to
5the joint agreement shall follow the procedures outlined in
6subsection (a) of this Section. The employment and position of
7each educational support personnel employee on the combined
8list not so removed or dismissed shall be transferred to the
9new, annexing, or receiving school board, and the new,
10annexing, or receiving school board is subject to this Code
11with respect to any educational support personnel employee so
12transferred as if the educational support personnel employee
13had been the new, annexing, or receiving board's employee
14during the time the educational support personnel employee was
15actually employed by the school board of the district from
16which the employment and position were transferred.
17    The changes made by Public Act 95-148 shall not apply to
18the formation of a new district or districts in accordance
19with Article 11E of this Code, the annexation of one or more
20entire districts in accordance with Article 7 of this Code, or
21the deactivation of a school facility in accordance with
22Section 10-22.22b of this Code effective on or before July 1,
232007.
24(Source: P.A. 101-46, eff. 7-12-19.)
 
25    (105 ILCS 5/24-11)  (from Ch. 122, par. 24-11)

 

 

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1    Sec. 24-11. Boards of Education - Boards of School
2Inspectors - Contractual continued service.
3    (a) As used in this and the succeeding Sections of this
4Article:
5    "Teacher" means any or all school district employees
6regularly required to be licensed under laws relating to the
7licensure of teachers.
8    "Board" means board of directors, board of education, or
9board of school inspectors, as the case may be.
10    "School term" means that portion of the school year, July
111 to the following June 30, when school is in actual session.
12    "Program" means a program of a special education joint
13agreement.
14    "Program of a special education joint agreement" means
15instructional, consultative, supervisory, administrative,
16diagnostic, and related services that are managed by a special
17educational joint agreement designed to service 2 or more
18school districts that are members of the joint agreement.
19    "PERA implementation date" means the implementation date
20of an evaluation system for teachers as specified by Section
2124A-2.5 of this Code for all schools within a school district
22or all programs of a special education joint agreement.
23    (b) This Section and Sections 24-12 through 24-16 of this
24Article apply only to school districts having less than
25500,000 inhabitants.
26    (c) Any teacher who is first employed as a full-time

 

 

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1teacher in a school district or program prior to the PERA
2implementation date and who is employed in that district or
3program for a probationary period of 4 consecutive school
4terms shall enter upon contractual continued service in the
5district or in all of the programs that the teacher is legally
6qualified to hold, unless the teacher is given written notice
7of dismissal by certified mail, return receipt requested, by
8the employing board at least 45 days before the end of any
9school term within such period.
10    (d) For any teacher who is first employed as a full-time
11teacher in a school district or program on or after the PERA
12implementation date, the probationary period shall be one of
13the following periods, based upon the teacher's school terms
14of service and performance, before the teacher shall enter
15upon contractual continued service in the district or in all
16of the programs that the teacher is legally qualified to hold,
17unless the teacher is given written notice of dismissal by
18certified mail, return receipt requested, by the employing
19board at least 45 days before the end of any school term within
20such period:
21        (1) 4 consecutive school terms of service in which the
22    teacher receives overall annual evaluation ratings of at
23    least "Proficient" in the last school term and at least
24    "Proficient" in either the second or third school term;
25        (2) 3 consecutive school terms of service in which the
26    teacher receives 3 overall annual evaluations of

 

 

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1    "Excellent"; or
2        (3) 2 consecutive school terms of service in which the
3    teacher receives 2 overall annual evaluations of
4    "Excellent" service, but only if the teacher (i)
5    previously attained contractual continued service in a
6    different school district or program in this State, (ii)
7    voluntarily departed or was honorably dismissed from that
8    school district or program in the school term immediately
9    prior to the teacher's first school term of service
10    applicable to the attainment of contractual continued
11    service under this subdivision (3), and (iii) received, in
12    his or her 2 most recent overall annual or biennial
13    evaluations from the prior school district or program,
14    ratings of at least "Proficient", with both such ratings
15    occurring after the school district's or program's PERA
16    implementation date. For a teacher to attain contractual
17    continued service under this subdivision (3), the teacher
18    shall provide official copies of his or her 2 most recent
19    overall annual or biennial evaluations from the prior
20    school district or program to the new school district or
21    program within 60 days from the teacher's first day of
22    service with the new school district or program. The prior
23    school district or program must provide the teacher with
24    official copies of his or her 2 most recent overall annual
25    or biennial evaluations within 14 days after the teacher's
26    request. If a teacher has requested such official copies

 

 

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1    prior to 45 days after the teacher's first day of service
2    with the new school district or program and the teacher's
3    prior school district or program fails to provide the
4    teacher with the official copies required under this
5    subdivision (3), then the time period for the teacher to
6    submit the official copies to his or her new school
7    district or program must be extended until 14 days after
8    receipt of such copies from the prior school district or
9    program. If the prior school district or program fails to
10    provide the teacher with the official copies required
11    under this subdivision (3) within 90 days from the
12    teacher's first day of service with the new school
13    district or program, then the new school district or
14    program shall rely upon the teacher's own copies of his or
15    her evaluations for purposes of this subdivision (3).
16    If the teacher does not receive overall annual evaluations
17of "Excellent" in the school terms necessary for eligibility
18to achieve accelerated contractual continued service in
19subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection (d), the teacher
20shall be eligible for contractual continued service pursuant
21to subdivision (1) of this subsection (d). If, at the
22conclusion of 4 consecutive school terms of service that count
23toward attainment of contractual continued service, the
24teacher's performance does not qualify the teacher for
25contractual continued service under subdivision (1) of this
26subsection (d), then the teacher shall not enter upon

 

 

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1contractual continued service and shall be dismissed. If a
2performance evaluation is not conducted for any school term
3when such evaluation is required to be conducted under Section
424A-5 of this Code, then the teacher's performance evaluation
5rating for such school term for purposes of determining the
6attainment of contractual continued service shall be deemed
7"Proficient", except that, during any time in which the
8Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health
9emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency
10Management Agency Act, this default to "Proficient" does not
11apply to any teacher who has entered into contractual
12continued service and who was deemed "Excellent" on his or her
13most recent evaluation. During any time in which the Governor
14has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency
15pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management
16Agency Act and unless the school board and any exclusive
17bargaining representative have completed the performance
18rating for teachers or mutually agreed to an alternate
19performance rating, any teacher who has entered into
20contractual continued service, whose most recent evaluation
21was deemed "Excellent", and whose performance evaluation is
22not conducted when the evaluation is required to be conducted
23shall receive a teacher's performance rating deemed
24"Excellent". A school board and any exclusive bargaining
25representative may mutually agree to an alternate performance
26rating for teachers not in contractual continued service

 

 

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1during any time in which the Governor has declared a disaster
2due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the
3Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, as long as the
4agreement is in writing.
5    (e) For the purposes of determining contractual continued
6service, a school term shall be counted only toward attainment
7of contractual continued service if the teacher actually
8teaches or is otherwise present and participating in the
9district's or program's educational program for 120 days or
10more, provided that the days of leave under the federal Family
11Medical Leave Act that the teacher is required to take until
12the end of the school term shall be considered days of teaching
13or participation in the district's or program's educational
14program. A school term that is not counted toward attainment
15of contractual continued service shall not be considered a
16break in service for purposes of determining whether a teacher
17has been employed for 4 consecutive school terms, provided
18that the teacher actually teaches or is otherwise present and
19participating in the district's or program's educational
20program in the following school term.
21    (f) If the employing board determines to dismiss the
22teacher in the last year of the probationary period as
23provided in subsection (c) of this Section or subdivision (1)
24or (2) of subsection (d) of this Section, but not subdivision
25(3) of subsection (d) of this Section, the written notice of
26dismissal provided by the employing board must contain

 

 

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1specific reasons for dismissal. Any full-time teacher who does
2not receive written notice from the employing board at least
345 days before the end of any school term as provided in this
4Section and whose performance does not require dismissal after
5the fourth probationary year pursuant to subsection (d) of
6this Section shall be re-employed for the following school
7term.
8    (g) Contractual continued service shall continue in effect
9the terms and provisions of the contract with the teacher
10during the last school term of the probationary period,
11subject to this Act and the lawful regulations of the
12employing board. This Section and succeeding Sections do not
13modify any existing power of the board except with respect to
14the procedure of the discharge of a teacher and reductions in
15salary as hereinafter provided. Contractual continued service
16status shall not restrict the power of the board to transfer a
17teacher to a position which the teacher is qualified to fill or
18to make such salary adjustments as it deems desirable, but
19unless reductions in salary are uniform or based upon some
20reasonable classification, any teacher whose salary is reduced
21shall be entitled to a notice and a hearing as hereinafter
22provided in the case of certain dismissals or removals.
23    (h) If, by reason of any change in the boundaries of school
24districts, by reason of a special education cooperative
25reorganization or dissolution in accordance with Section
2610-22.31 of this Code, or by reason of the creation of a new

 

 

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1school district, the position held by any teacher having a
2contractual continued service status is transferred from one
3board to the control of a new or different board, then the
4contractual continued service status of the teacher is not
5thereby lost, and such new or different board is subject to
6this Code with respect to the teacher in the same manner as if
7the teacher were its employee and had been its employee during
8the time the teacher was actually employed by the board from
9whose control the position was transferred.
10    (i) The employment of any teacher in a program of a special
11education joint agreement established under Section 3-15.14,
1210-22.31 or 10-22.31a shall be governed by this and succeeding
13Sections of this Article. For purposes of attaining and
14maintaining contractual continued service and computing length
15of continuing service as referred to in this Section and
16Section 24-12, employment in a special educational joint
17program shall be deemed a continuation of all previous
18licensed employment of such teacher for such joint agreement
19whether the employer of the teacher was the joint agreement,
20the regional superintendent, or one of the participating
21districts in the joint agreement.
22    (j) For any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a
23full-time teacher in a program of a special education joint
24agreement, whether the program is operated by the joint
25agreement or a member district on behalf of the joint
26agreement, in the event of a reduction in the number of

 

 

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1programs or positions in the joint agreement in which the
2notice of dismissal is provided on or before the end of the
32010-2011 school term, the teacher in contractual continued
4service is eligible for employment in the joint agreement
5programs for which the teacher is legally qualified in order
6of greater length of continuing service in the joint
7agreement, unless an alternative method of determining the
8sequence of dismissal is established in a collective
9bargaining agreement. For any teacher employed after July 1,
101987 as a full-time teacher in a program of a special education
11joint agreement, whether the program is operated by the joint
12agreement or a member district on behalf of the joint
13agreement, in the event of a reduction in the number of
14programs or positions in the joint agreement in which the
15notice of dismissal is provided during the 2011-2012 school
16term or a subsequent school term, the teacher shall be
17included on the honorable dismissal lists of all joint
18agreement programs for positions for which the teacher is
19qualified and is eligible for employment in such programs in
20accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of Section 24-12 of
21this Code and the applicable honorable dismissal policies of
22the joint agreement.
23    (k) For any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a
24full-time teacher in a program of a special education joint
25agreement, whether the program is operated by the joint
26agreement or a member district on behalf of the joint

 

 

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1agreement, in the event of the dissolution of a joint
2agreement, in which the notice to teachers of the dissolution
3is provided during the 2010-2011 school term, the teacher in
4contractual continued service who is legally qualified shall
5be assigned to any comparable position in a member district
6currently held by a teacher who has not entered upon
7contractual continued service or held by a teacher who has
8entered upon contractual continued service with a shorter
9length of contractual continued service. Any teacher employed
10after July 1, 1987 as a full-time teacher in a program of a
11special education joint agreement, whether the program is
12operated by the joint agreement or a member district on behalf
13of the joint agreement, in the event of the dissolution of a
14joint agreement in which the notice to teachers of the
15dissolution is provided during the 2011-2012 school term or a
16subsequent school term, the teacher who is qualified shall be
17included on the order of honorable dismissal lists of each
18member district and shall be assigned to any comparable
19position in any such district in accordance with subsections
20(b) and (c) of Section 24-12 of this Code and the applicable
21honorable dismissal policies of each member district.
22    (l) The governing board of the joint agreement, or the
23administrative district, if so authorized by the articles of
24agreement of the joint agreement, rather than the board of
25education of a school district, may carry out employment and
26termination actions including dismissals under this Section

 

 

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1and Section 24-12.
2    (m) The employment of any teacher in a special education
3program authorized by Section 14-1.01 through 14-14.01, or a
4joint educational program established under Section 10-22.31a,
5shall be under this and the succeeding Sections of this
6Article, and such employment shall be deemed a continuation of
7the previous employment of such teacher in any of the
8participating districts, regardless of the participation of
9other districts in the program.
10    (n) Any teacher employed as a full-time teacher in a
11special education program prior to September 23, 1987 in which
122 or more school districts participate for a probationary
13period of 2 consecutive years shall enter upon contractual
14continued service in each of the participating districts,
15subject to this and the succeeding Sections of this Article,
16and, notwithstanding Section 24-1.5 of this Code, in the event
17of the termination of the program shall be eligible for any
18vacant position in any of such districts for which such
19teacher is qualified.
20(Source: P.A. 101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 102-552, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
21    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22becoming law.