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90_HB0053ham003
LRB9000682THsbam
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 53
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 53, AS AMENDED, by
3 replacing the title with the following:
4 "AN ACT concerning chronic truants in the Chicago Public
5 Schools, amending named Acts."; and
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
8 "Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
9 34-4.5 as follows:
10 (105 ILCS 5/34-4.5 new)
11 Sec. 34-4.5. Chronic truants.
12 (a) Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication. The board
13 shall establish and implement an Office of Chronic Truant
14 Adjudication, which shall be responsible for administratively
15 adjudicating cases of chronic truancy and imposing
16 appropriate sanctions. The board shall appoint or employ
17 hearing officers to perform the adjudicatory functions of
18 that Office. Principals and other appropriate personnel may
19 refer pupils suspected of being chronic truants, as defined
20 in Section 26-2a of this Code, to the Office of Chronic
21 Truant Adjudication.
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1 (b) Notices. Before any hearing may be held under
2 subsection (c), the principal of the school attended by the
3 pupil or the principal's designee shall notify the pupil's
4 parent or guardian by personal visit, letter, or telephone of
5 each unexcused absence of the pupil. After giving the parent
6 or guardian notice of the tenth unexcused absence of the
7 pupil, the principal or the principal's designee shall send
8 the pupil's parent or guardian a letter, by certified mail,
9 return receipt requested, notifying the parent or guardian
10 that he or she is subjecting himself or herself to a hearing
11 procedure as provided under subsection (c) and clearly
12 describing any and all possible penalties that may be imposed
13 as provided for in subsections (d) and (e) of this Section.
14 (c) Hearing. Once a pupil has been referred to the
15 Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, a hearing shall be
16 scheduled before an appointed hearing officer, and the pupil
17 and the pupil's parents or guardian shall be notified by
18 certified mail, return receipt requested stating the time,
19 place, and purpose of the hearing. The hearing officer shall
20 hold a hearing and render a written decision within 14 days
21 determining whether the pupil is a chronic truant as defined
22 in Section 26-2a of this Code and whether the parent or
23 guardian took reasonable steps to assure the pupil's
24 attendance at school. The hearing shall be private unless a
25 public hearing is requested by the pupil's parent or
26 guardian, and the pupil may be present at the hearing with a
27 representative in addition to the pupil's parent or guardian.
28 The board shall present evidence of the pupil's truancy, and
29 the pupil and the parent or guardian or representative of the
30 pupil may cross examine witnesses, present witnesses and
31 evidence, and present defenses to the charges. All testimony
32 at the hearing shall be taken under oath administered by the
33 hearing officer. The decision of the hearing officer shall
34 constitute an "administrative decision" for purposes of
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1 judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.
2 (d) Penalties. The hearing officer may require the
3 pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian or both the pupil and
4 the pupil's parent or guardian to do any or all of the
5 following: perform reasonable school or community services
6 for a period not to exceed 30 days; complete a parenting
7 education program; obtain counseling or other supportive
8 services; and comply with an individualized educational plan
9 or service plan as provided by appropriate school officials.
10 If the parent or guardian of the chronic truant shows that he
11 or she took reasonable steps to insure attendance of the
12 pupil at school, he or she shall not be required to perform
13 services.
14 (e) Non-compliance with sanctions. If a pupil
15 determined by a hearing officer to be a chronic truant or the
16 parent or guardian of the pupil fails to comply with the
17 sanctions ordered by the hearing officer under subsection (c)
18 of this Section, the Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication
19 may refer the matter to the State's Attorney for prosecution
20 under Section 3-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
21 (f) Limitation on applicability. Nothing in this
22 Section shall be construed to apply to a parent or guardian
23 of a pupil in a valid home school program.
24 Section 10. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
25 changing Section 3-33 as follows:
26 (705 ILCS 405/3-33) (from Ch. 37, par. 803-33)
27 Sec. 3-33. Truant Minor in Need of Supervision.
28 (a) Definition. Any minor who is reported by a regional
29 superintendent of schools, or in cities of over 500,000
30 inhabitants, by the Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication in
31 a county of less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, as a chronic
32 truant (i) to whom prevention, diagnostic, intervention and
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1 remedial services and alternative programs and other school
2 and community resources have been provided and have failed to
3 result in the cessation of chronic truancy, or (ii) to whom
4 such services, programs and resources have been offered and
5 have been refused, shall be adjudged a truant minor in need
6 of supervision.
7 (b) Kinds of dispositional orders. A minor found to be
8 a truant minor in need of supervision may be:
9 (1) committed to the appropriate regional
10 superintendent of schools for a multi-disciplinary case
11 staffing, individualized educational plan or service plan, or
12 referral to comprehensive community-based youth services;
13 (2) required to comply with an individualized
14 educational plan or service plan as specifically provided by
15 the appropriate regional superintendent of schools;
16 (3) ordered to obtain counseling or other supportive
17 services;
18 (4) subject to a fine in an amount in excess of $5, but
19 not exceeding $100, and each day of absence without valid
20 cause as defined in Section 26-2a of The School Code is a
21 separate offense;
22 (5) required to perform some reasonable public service
23 work such as, but not limited to, the picking up of litter in
24 public parks or along public highways or the maintenance of
25 public facilities; or
26 (6) subject to having his or her driver's license or
27 privilege suspended.
28 (Source: P.A. 85-1235.)
29 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
30 becoming law.".