Full Text of HB5240 102nd General Assembly
HB5240 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022 HB5240 Introduced 1/31/2022, by Rep. Keith R. Wheeler SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the School Code. Provides that at any time the State Board of Education moves to remove a nonpublic school's recognition status due to a perceived emergency situation being present at the nonpublic school, the State Board of Education shall file a notice of emergency rulemaking pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to adopt emergency rules that specifically detail the perceived emergency situation and its impact on students and school personnel. Effective immediately.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 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 Section | 5 | | 2-3.25o as follows: | 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25o)
| 7 | | Sec. 2-3.25o. Registration and recognition of non-public | 8 | | elementary and
secondary schools.
| 9 | | (a) Findings. The General Assembly finds and declares (i) | 10 | | that the
Constitution
of the State of Illinois provides that a | 11 | | "fundamental goal of the People of the
State is the
| 12 | | educational development of all persons to the limits of their | 13 | | capacities" and
(ii) that the
educational development of every | 14 | | school student serves the public purposes of
the State.
In | 15 | | order to ensure that all Illinois students and teachers have | 16 | | the opportunity
to enroll and
work in State-approved | 17 | | educational institutions and programs, the State Board
of
| 18 | | Education shall provide for the voluntary registration and | 19 | | recognition of
non-public
elementary and secondary schools.
| 20 | | (b) Registration. All non-public elementary and secondary | 21 | | schools in the
State
of
Illinois may voluntarily register with | 22 | | the State Board of Education on an
annual basis. Registration | 23 | | shall
be completed
in conformance with procedures prescribed |
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| 1 | | by the State Board of Education.
Information
required for | 2 | | registration shall include assurances of compliance (i) with
| 3 | | federal
and State
laws regarding health examination and | 4 | | immunization, attendance, length of term,
and
| 5 | | nondiscrimination, including assurances that the school will | 6 | | not prohibit hairstyles historically associated with race, | 7 | | ethnicity, or hair texture, including, but not limited to, | 8 | | protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists, and | 9 | | (ii) with applicable fire and health safety requirements.
| 10 | | (c) Recognition. All non-public elementary and secondary | 11 | | schools in the
State of
Illinois may voluntarily seek the | 12 | | status of "Non-public School Recognition"
from
the State
Board | 13 | | of Education. This status may be obtained by compliance with
| 14 | | administrative
guidelines and review procedures as prescribed | 15 | | by the State Board of Education.
The
guidelines and procedures | 16 | | must recognize that some of the aims and the
financial bases of
| 17 | | non-public schools are different from public schools and will | 18 | | not be identical
to those for
public schools, nor will they be | 19 | | more burdensome. The guidelines and procedures
must
also | 20 | | recognize the diversity of non-public schools and shall not | 21 | | impinge upon
the
noneducational relationships between those | 22 | | schools and their clientele. At any time the State Board of | 23 | | Education moves to remove a non-public school's recognition | 24 | | status due to a perceived emergency situation being present at | 25 | | the non-public school, the State Board of Education shall file | 26 | | a notice of emergency rulemaking pursuant to Section 5-45 of |
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| 1 | | the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to adopt emergency | 2 | | rules that specifically detail the perceived emergency | 3 | | situation and its impact on students and school personnel.
| 4 | | (c-5) Prohibition against recognition. A non-public | 5 | | elementary or secondary school may not obtain "Non-public | 6 | | School Recognition" status unless the school requires all | 7 | | certified and non-certified applicants for employment with the | 8 | | school, after July 1, 2007, to authorize a fingerprint-based | 9 | | criminal history records check as a condition of employment to | 10 | | determine if such applicants have been convicted of any of the | 11 | | enumerated criminal or drug offenses set forth in Section | 12 | | 21B-80 of this Code or have been convicted, within 7 years of | 13 | | the application for employment, of any other felony under the | 14 | | laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in | 15 | | any other state or against the laws of the United States that, | 16 | | if committed or attempted in this State, would have been | 17 | | punishable as a felony under the laws of this State. | 18 | | Authorization for the check shall be furnished by the | 19 | | applicant to the school, except that if the applicant is a | 20 | | substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one | 21 | | non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent part-time | 22 | | employment positions with more than one non-public school (as | 23 | | a reading specialist, special education teacher, or | 24 | | otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee | 25 | | seeking employment positions with more than one non-public | 26 | | school, then only one of the non-public schools employing the |
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| 1 | | individual shall request the authorization. Upon receipt of | 2 | | this authorization, the non-public school shall submit the | 3 | | applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth, social security | 4 | | number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as | 5 | | prescribed by the Illinois State Police, to the Illinois State | 6 | | Police. | 7 | | The Illinois State Police and Federal Bureau of | 8 | | Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based | 9 | | criminal history records check, records of convictions, | 10 | | forever and hereafter, until expunged, to the president or | 11 | | principal of the non-public school that requested the check. | 12 | | The Illinois State Police shall charge that school a fee for | 13 | | conducting such check, which fee must be deposited into the | 14 | | State Police Services Fund and must not exceed the cost of the | 15 | | inquiry. Subject to appropriations for these purposes, the | 16 | | State Superintendent of Education shall reimburse non-public | 17 | | schools for fees paid to obtain criminal history records | 18 | | checks under this Section. | 19 | | A non-public school may not obtain recognition status | 20 | | unless the school also performs a check of the Statewide Sex | 21 | | Offender Database, as authorized by the Sex Offender Community | 22 | | Notification Law, for each applicant for employment, after | 23 | | July 1, 2007, to determine whether the applicant has been | 24 | | adjudicated a sex offender. | 25 | | Any information concerning the record of convictions | 26 | | obtained by a non-public school's president or principal under |
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| 1 | | this Section is confidential and may be disseminated only to | 2 | | the governing body of the non-public school or any other | 3 | | person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for | 4 | | employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from | 5 | | the Illinois State Police shall be provided to the applicant | 6 | | for employment. Upon a check of the Statewide Sex Offender | 7 | | Database, the non-public school shall notify the applicant as | 8 | | to whether or not the applicant has been identified in the Sex | 9 | | Offender Database as a sex offender. Any information | 10 | | concerning the records of conviction obtained by the | 11 | | non-public school's president or principal under this Section | 12 | | for a substitute teacher seeking employment in more than one | 13 | | non-public school, a teacher seeking concurrent part-time | 14 | | employment positions with more than one non-public school (as | 15 | | a reading specialist, special education teacher, or | 16 | | otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee | 17 | | seeking employment positions with more than one non-public | 18 | | school may be shared with another non-public school's | 19 | | principal or president to which the applicant seeks | 20 | | employment. Any unauthorized release of confidential | 21 | | information may be a violation of Section 7 of the Criminal | 22 | | Identification Act. | 23 | | No non-public school may obtain recognition status that | 24 | | knowingly employs a person, hired after July 1, 2007, for whom | 25 | | an Illinois State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation | 26 | | fingerprint-based criminal history records check and a |
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| 1 | | Statewide Sex Offender Database check has not been initiated | 2 | | or who has been convicted of any offense enumerated in Section | 3 | | 21B-80 of this Code or any offense committed or attempted in | 4 | | any other state or against the laws of the United States that, | 5 | | if committed or attempted in this State, would have been | 6 | | punishable as one or more of those offenses. No non-public | 7 | | school may obtain recognition status under this Section that | 8 | | knowingly employs a person who has been found to be the | 9 | | perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of a minor under 18 | 10 | | years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the | 11 | | Juvenile Court Act of 1987. | 12 | | In order to obtain recognition status under this Section, | 13 | | a non-public school must require compliance with the | 14 | | provisions of this subsection (c-5) from all employees of | 15 | | persons or firms holding contracts with the school, including, | 16 | | but not limited to, food service workers, school bus drivers, | 17 | | and other transportation employees, who have direct, daily | 18 | | contact with pupils. Any information concerning the records of | 19 | | conviction or identification as a sex offender of any such | 20 | | employee obtained by the non-public school principal or | 21 | | president must be promptly reported to the school's governing | 22 | | body.
| 23 | | Prior to the commencement of any student teaching | 24 | | experience or required internship (which is referred to as | 25 | | student teaching in this Section) in any non-public elementary | 26 | | or secondary school that has obtained or seeks to obtain |
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| 1 | | recognition status under this Section, a student teacher is | 2 | | required to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history | 3 | | records check. Authorization for and payment of the costs of | 4 | | the check must be furnished by the student teacher to the chief | 5 | | administrative officer of the non-public school where the | 6 | | student teaching is to be completed. Upon receipt of this | 7 | | authorization and payment, the chief administrative officer of | 8 | | the non-public school shall submit the student teacher's name, | 9 | | sex, race, date of birth, social security number, fingerprint | 10 | | images, and other identifiers, as prescribed by the Illinois | 11 | | State Police, to the Illinois State Police. The Illinois State | 12 | | Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, | 13 | | pursuant to a fingerprint-based criminal history records | 14 | | check, records of convictions, forever and hereinafter, until | 15 | | expunged, to the chief administrative officer of the | 16 | | non-public school that requested the check. The Illinois State | 17 | | Police shall charge the school a fee for conducting the check, | 18 | | which fee must be passed on to the student teacher, must not | 19 | | exceed the cost of the inquiry, and must be deposited into the | 20 | | State Police Services Fund. The school shall further perform a | 21 | | check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, as authorized by | 22 | | the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, and of the | 23 | | Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth | 24 | | Database, as authorized by the Murderer and Violent Offender | 25 | | Against Youth Registration Act, for each student teacher. No | 26 | | school that has obtained or seeks to obtain recognition status |
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| 1 | | under this Section may knowingly allow a person to student | 2 | | teach for whom a criminal history records check, a Statewide | 3 | | Sex Offender Database check, and a Statewide Murderer and | 4 | | Violent Offender Against Youth Database check have not been | 5 | | completed and reviewed by the chief administrative officer of | 6 | | the non-public school. | 7 | | A copy of the record of convictions obtained from the | 8 | | Illinois State Police must be provided to the student teacher. | 9 | | Any information concerning the record of convictions obtained | 10 | | by the chief administrative officer of the non-public school | 11 | | is confidential and may be transmitted only to the chief | 12 | | administrative officer of the non-public school or his or her | 13 | | designee, the State Superintendent of Education, the State | 14 | | Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, or, for | 15 | | clarification purposes, the Illinois State Police or the | 16 | | Statewide Sex Offender Database or Statewide Murderer and | 17 | | Violent Offender Against Youth Database. Any unauthorized | 18 | | release of confidential information may be a violation of | 19 | | Section 7 of the Criminal Identification Act. | 20 | | No school that has obtained or seeks to obtain recognition | 21 | | status under this Section may knowingly allow a person to | 22 | | student teach who has been convicted of any offense that would | 23 | | subject him or her to license suspension or revocation | 24 | | pursuant to Section 21B-80 of this Code or who has been found | 25 | | to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of a minor | 26 | | under 18 years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II |
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| 1 | | of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. | 2 | | Any school that has obtained or seeks to obtain | 3 | | recognition status under this Section may not prohibit | 4 | | hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity, or | 5 | | hair texture, including, but not limited to, protective | 6 | | hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists. | 7 | | (d) Public purposes. The provisions of this Section are in | 8 | | the public
interest, for
the public benefit, and serve secular | 9 | | public purposes.
| 10 | | (e) Definition. For purposes of this Section, a non-public | 11 | | school means any
non-profit, non-home-based, and non-public | 12 | | elementary or secondary school that
is
in
compliance with | 13 | | Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and attendance at
| 14 | | which
satisfies the requirements of Section 26-1 of this Code.
| 15 | | (Source: P.A. 102-360, eff. 1-1-22; 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; | 16 | | revised 10-4-21.)
| 17 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 18 | | becoming law.
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