Public Act 099-0592
 
HB0119 EnrolledLRB099 03606 NHT 23614 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
14-6.01 and by adding Section 34-18.49 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/14-6.01)  (from Ch. 122, par. 14-6.01)
    Sec. 14-6.01. Powers and duties of school boards. School
boards of one or more school districts establishing and
maintaining any of the educational facilities described in this
Article shall, in connection therewith, exercise similar
powers and duties as are prescribed by law for the
establishment, maintenance and management of other recognized
educational facilities. Such school boards shall include only
eligible children in the program and shall comply with all the
requirements of this Article and all rules and regulations
established by the State Board of Education. Such school boards
shall accept in part-time attendance children with
disabilities of the types described in Sections 14-1.02 through
14-1.07 who are enrolled in nonpublic schools. A request for
part-time attendance must be submitted by a parent or guardian
of the disabled child and may be made only to those public
schools located in the district where the child attending the
nonpublic school resides; however, nothing in this Section
shall be construed as prohibiting an agreement between the
district where the child resides and another public school
district to provide special educational services if such an
arrangement is deemed more convenient and economical. Special
education and related services must be provided in accordance
with the student's IEP no later than 10 school attendance days
after notice is provided to the parents pursuant to Section
300.503 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations and
implementing rules adopted by the State Board of Education.
Transportation for students in part time attendance shall be
provided only if required in the child's individualized
educational program on the basis of the child's disabling
condition or as the special education program location may
require.
    A school board shall publish a public notice in its
newsletter of general circulation or in the newsletter of
another governmental entity of general circulation in the
district or if neither is available in the district, then in a
newspaper of general circulation in the district, the right of
all children with disabilities to a free appropriate public
education as provided under this Code. Such notice shall
identify the location and phone number of the office or agent
of the school district to whom inquiries should be directed
regarding the identification, assessment and placement of such
children.
    School boards shall immediately provide upon request by any
person written materials and other information that indicates
the specific policies, procedures, rules and regulations
regarding the identification, evaluation or educational
placement of children with disabilities under Section 14-8.02
of the School Code. Such information shall include information
regarding all rights and entitlements of such children under
this Code, and of the opportunity to present complaints with
respect to any matter relating to educational placement of the
student, or the provision of a free appropriate public
education and to have an impartial due process hearing on the
complaint. The notice shall inform the parents or guardian in
the parents' or guardian's native language, unless it is
clearly not feasible to do so, of their rights and all
procedures available pursuant to this Act and federal Public
Law 94-142; it shall be the responsibility of the State
Superintendent to develop uniform notices setting forth the
procedures available under this Act and federal Public Law
94-142, as amended, to be used by all school boards. The notice
shall also inform the parents or guardian of the availability
upon request of a list of free or low-cost legal and other
relevant services available locally to assist parents or
guardians in exercising rights or entitlements under this Code.
    Any parent or guardian who is deaf, or does not normally
communicate using spoken English, who participates in a meeting
with a representative of a local educational agency for the
purposes of developing an individualized educational program
shall be entitled to the services of an interpreter.
    No disabled student or, in a school district organized
under Article 34 of this Code, child with a learning disability
may be denied promotion, graduation or a general diploma on the
basis of failing a minimal competency test when such failure
can be directly related to the disabling condition of the
student. For the purpose of this Act, "minimal competency
testing" is defined as tests which are constructed to measure
the acquisition of skills to or beyond a certain defined
standard.
    Effective July 1, 1966, high school districts are
financially responsible for the education of pupils with
disabilities who are residents in their districts when such
pupils have reached age 15 but may admit children with
disabilities into special educational facilities without
regard to graduation from the eighth grade after such pupils
have reached the age of 14 1/2 years. Upon a disabled pupil's
attaining the age of 14 1/2 years, it shall be the duty of the
elementary school district in which the pupil resides to notify
the high school district in which the pupil resides of the
pupil's current eligibility for special education services, of
the pupil's current program, and of all evaluation data upon
which the current program is based. After an examination of
that information the high school district may accept the
current placement and all subsequent timelines shall be
governed by the current individualized educational program; or
the high school district may elect to conduct its own
evaluation and multidisciplinary staff conference and
formulate its own individualized educational program, in which
case the procedures and timelines contained in Section 14-8.02
shall apply.
(Source: P.A. 98-219, eff. 8-9-13.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/34-18.49 new)
    Sec. 34-18.49. Committee on the retention of students.
    (a) The board may create a committee on the retention of
students. The committee shall consist of the general
superintendent of schools or his or her designee, a district
administrator who directs student instruction and curriculum,
a principal from a school of the district, and a teacher from a
school of the district.
    (b) Prior to retention in a grade, a school may submit, by
a date as set by the committee on the retention of students,
the names of all students determined by the school to not
qualify for promotion to the next higher grade and the reason
for that determination. The committee shall review the school's
decision to retain with respect to each student and shall make
a final decision regarding whether or not to retain a
particular student. The committee shall take into
consideration the relevant data and evidence gathered during
the Response to Intervention process. The committee may vote to
overturn a retention decision if the committee determines that
the student should be promoted after examining the student's
access to remedial assistance, performance, attendance, and
participation and the resources and facilities provided by the
school district or due to the student having an undiagnosed
learning disability.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 7/22/2016