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90_HB0053
105 ILCS 5/34-18.19 new
Amends the School Code. Adds provisions applicable in
Chicago that supplement and operate independently of
existing truancy laws. Requires the principal of each
attendance center to create a 5 member Truancy Board from
representatives of local police, community service
organizations, staff of the attendance center, parents, and
students (in secondary attendance centers). Provides for
referral by the principal to the Truancy Board of the cases
of students who have 10 days of unexcused absences and whose
parents have been given notice of the truancy. Provides for
a hearing and the imposition of a community service order
with respect to a parent or guardian who knowingly allows a
student to be absent from school without a valid excuse.
Adds provisions relative to judicial review and enforcement
of a community service order of the Truancy Board.
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1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by adding Section
2 34-18.19.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
6 34-18.19 as follows:
7 (105 ILCS 5/34-18.19 new)
8 Sec. 34-18.19. Truancy Board.
9 (a) The provisions of this Section are intended to
10 supplement and operate independently of the provisions of
11 Article 26 and shall not be construed as a limitation upon
12 the provisions of that Article or upon the implementation and
13 enforcement of those provisions in a school district to which
14 this Section applies.
15 (b) The principal of each attendance center shall
16 appoint a Truancy Board (hereinafter in this Section referred
17 to as the "Board") for the attendance center consisting of 5
18 unpaid members chosen by the principal from among local
19 police officers, local community service organizations, the
20 administration, faculty, staff, and parents of students of
21 the attendance center, and, at secondary attendance centers
22 only, students of the attendance center. One appointed
23 member of the Board shall be designated by the principal as
24 the chairperson of the Board and another appointed member
25 shall be designated by the principal as the secretary of the
26 Board. Each member of the Board shall serve a term of 2
27 years, and a vacancy on the Board shall be filled through
28 appointment by the principal for the unexpired term.
29 (c) After a student accumulates 10 days of unexcused
30 absences during a school year and the student's parent or
31 guardian has been given a written notice by certified mail in
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1 accordance with Section 26-7 of the School Code, the
2 principal may forward the student's case to the Board for a
3 hearing under this Section.
4 (d) If the principal forwards a student's case to the
5 Board, the Board shall provide the student's parent or
6 guardian with reasonable notice of the time and place of the
7 hearing, which the parent or guardian and the student shall
8 be required to attend. At the hearing the Board shall
9 receive and consider evidence and, by a majority vote of the
10 full membership of the Board, find and determine: (1) whether
11 the student was absent; (2) if the student was absent,
12 whether the absence was without valid excuse; and (3) if the
13 student was absent without valid excuse, whether the parent
14 or guardian knowingly allowed that absence. If the Board
15 determines that the parent or guardian knowingly allowed the
16 student to remain absent without valid excuse for 5 days or
17 more, the Board shall enter a written finding against the
18 parent or guardian, summarizing the evidence and the reasons
19 for the finding. As used in this subsection, a parent or
20 guardian shall be deemed to have "knowingly allowed" an
21 unexcused absence if the parent or guardian after having
22 received notice took insufficient steps to prevent the
23 unexcused absence.
24 (e) After entering a finding against a parent or
25 guardian under subsection (d), the Board, at the same hearing
26 at which it made the finding or at a subsequent hearing,
27 shall consider a range of school-based community service
28 sentencing options that may, by order of the Board adopted by
29 majority vote of its full membership, be imposed against a
30 parent or guardian with respect to whom the finding was made,
31 including but not limited to requiring the parent or
32 guardian, for a period not exceeding one month, to: accompany
33 the student in the student's classes; monitor in the hall,
34 gymnasium, playground, or lunchroom; assist in a classroom or
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1 on a committee; or other appropriate measures. The order may
2 also require the parent or guardian to learn when the next
3 PTA meeting or local school council program is to be held,
4 the names and telephone numbers of the principal and
5 secretary of the attendance center, and whom to call when the
6 student is sick.
7 (f) A parent or guardian against whom a community
8 service order is entered by the Truancy Board may institute
9 proceedings for judicial review of that order, which shall
10 constitute an administrative decision, under the
11 Administrative Review Law, in the Circuit Court of Cook
12 County. Alternatively, if the parent or guardian does not
13 seek judicial review but nevertheless fails to comply with
14 the order, the Board shall have the right, through the
15 Chicago Corporation Counsel, to seek enforcement of its order
16 in the circuit court. In either case, the circuit court may
17 make its finding based on the record developed before the
18 Truancy Board and may uphold the Board's order in its
19 entirety or modify or vacate the order. If the parent or
20 guardian refuses to comply with the order of the circuit
21 court, the court may punish the offending party or parties
22 for civil or criminal contempt in accordance with law.