Public Act 90-0143 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0143
HB0053 Enrolled LRB9000682THcw
AN ACT concerning chronic truants in the Chicago Public
Schools, amending named Acts.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
34-4.5 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/34-4.5 new)
Sec. 34-4.5. Chronic truants.
(a) Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication. The board
shall establish and implement an Office of Chronic Truant
Adjudication, which shall be responsible for administratively
adjudicating cases of chronic truancy and imposing
appropriate sanctions. The board shall appoint or employ
hearing officers to perform the adjudicatory functions of
that Office. Principals and other appropriate personnel may
refer pupils suspected of being chronic truants, as defined
in Section 26-2a of this Code, to the Office of Chronic
Truant Adjudication.
(b) Notices. Before any hearing may be held under
subsection (c), the principal of the school attended by the
pupil or the principal's designee shall notify the pupil's
parent or guardian by personal visit, letter, or telephone of
each unexcused absence of the pupil. After giving the parent
or guardian notice of the tenth unexcused absence of the
pupil, the principal or the principal's designee shall send
the pupil's parent or guardian a letter, by certified mail,
return receipt requested, notifying the parent or guardian
that he or she is subjecting himself or herself to a hearing
procedure as provided under subsection (c) and clearly
describing any and all possible penalties that may be imposed
as provided for in subsections (d) and (e) of this Section.
(c) Hearing. Once a pupil has been referred to the
Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, a hearing shall be
scheduled before an appointed hearing officer, and the pupil
and the pupil's parents or guardian shall be notified by
certified mail, return receipt requested stating the time,
place, and purpose of the hearing. The hearing officer shall
hold a hearing and render a written decision within 14 days
determining whether the pupil is a chronic truant as defined
in Section 26-2a of this Code and whether the parent or
guardian took reasonable steps to assure the pupil's
attendance at school. The hearing shall be private unless a
public hearing is requested by the pupil's parent or
guardian, and the pupil may be present at the hearing with a
representative in addition to the pupil's parent or guardian.
The board shall present evidence of the pupil's truancy, and
the pupil and the parent or guardian or representative of the
pupil may cross examine witnesses, present witnesses and
evidence, and present defenses to the charges. All testimony
at the hearing shall be taken under oath administered by the
hearing officer. The decision of the hearing officer shall
constitute an "administrative decision" for purposes of
judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.
(d) Penalties. The hearing officer may require the
pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian or both the pupil and
the pupil's parent or guardian to do any or all of the
following: perform reasonable school or community services
for a period not to exceed 30 days; complete a parenting
education program; obtain counseling or other supportive
services; and comply with an individualized educational plan
or service plan as provided by appropriate school officials.
If the parent or guardian of the chronic truant shows that he
or she took reasonable steps to insure attendance of the
pupil at school, he or she shall not be required to perform
services.
(e) Non-compliance with sanctions. If a pupil
determined by a hearing officer to be a chronic truant or the
parent or guardian of the pupil fails to comply with the
sanctions ordered by the hearing officer under subsection (c)
of this Section, the Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication
may refer the matter to the State's Attorney for prosecution
under Section 3-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(f) Limitation on applicability. Nothing in this
Section shall be construed to apply to a parent or guardian
of a pupil in a valid home school program.
Section 10. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
changing Section 3-33 as follows:
(705 ILCS 405/3-33) (from Ch. 37, par. 803-33)
Sec. 3-33. Truant Minor in Need of Supervision.
(a) Definition. Any minor who is reported by a regional
superintendent of schools, or in cities of over 500,000
inhabitants, by the Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication in
a county of less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, as a chronic
truant (i) to whom prevention, diagnostic, intervention and
remedial services and alternative programs and other school
and community resources have been provided and have failed to
result in the cessation of chronic truancy, or (ii) to whom
such services, programs and resources have been offered and
have been refused, shall be adjudged a truant minor in need
of supervision.
(b) Kinds of dispositional orders. A minor found to be
a truant minor in need of supervision may be:
(1) committed to the appropriate regional
superintendent of schools for a multi-disciplinary case
staffing, individualized educational plan or service plan, or
referral to comprehensive community-based youth services;
(2) required to comply with an individualized
educational plan or service plan as specifically provided by
the appropriate regional superintendent of schools;
(3) ordered to obtain counseling or other supportive
services;
(4) subject to a fine in an amount in excess of $5, but
not exceeding $100, and each day of absence without valid
cause as defined in Section 26-2a of The School Code is a
separate offense;
(5) required to perform some reasonable public service
work such as, but not limited to, the picking up of litter in
public parks or along public highways or the maintenance of
public facilities; or
(6) subject to having his or her driver's license or
privilege suspended.
(Source: P.A. 85-1235.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.