Advocacy

Governor JB Pritzker has completed action on all bills that have been sent to him by the General Assembly. The legislature approved 600 bills this spring that required action by the Governor. The Governor signed most all of them into law. Seven bills were vetoed – most of those being duplicative of other bills that already had been signed. One bill was issued an amendatory veto.

Of the 600 bills passed, nearly 20 percent either directly or indirectly affected local school districts. The Digest of Bills Passed contains a summary of all of these bills.

BILLS RECENTY SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR

HB 247 (Carroll, D-Northbrook) requires school districts contracting with a third party for drivers education to ensure that the private instructor has a teaching license and that the district administrator evaluate and observe the instructor. The bill is now Public Act 101-0450, effective August 23, 2019

HB 254 (Guzzardi, D-Chicago) requires school districts to report certain information about actively employed teachers, pupil-teacher ratios, class instructors by grade level and subject, and class sizes to ISBE. The bill is now Public Act 101-0451, effective January 1, 2020

HB 1561 (Crespo, D-Streamwood) requires all school boards to develop threat assessment protocols and create threat assessment teams. Additionally, it allows receipts from county wide sales tax for school facilities and health/life safety funds to be used for personnel such as school resource officers or mental health professionals. The bill is now Public Act 101-0455, effective August 26, 2019

HB 2121 (Evans, D-Chicago) changes offenses penalties that a person seeking a school bus driver permit must not have been convicted of committing or attempting to commit including: solicitation or solicitation of murder; permitting sexual abuse of a child; presence or loitering of a sexual predator or child sex offender near a park; aggravated battery; use of a dangerous place for the commission of a controlled substance or cannabis; and holds no conviction of misdemeanor offense under the Cannabis Control Act within the last 20 years. The bill is now Public Act 101-0458, effective January 1, 2020

HB 2124 (Welch, D-Westchester) provides that a public body may hold a closed meeting to consider the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific independent contractors, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body. The bill is now Public Act 101-0459, effective August 26, 2019

HB 2165 (Murphy, R-Springfield), for the high school graduation requirement of three years of math, requires one year to be Algebra I and one year to include geometry content that may be an Advanced Placement computer science course. It further allows the geometry content to be integrated, applied, interdisciplinary, or career and technical education that prepares a student for career readiness. The bill is now Public Act 101-0464, effective January 1, 2020

HB 2627 (Kifowit, D-Aurora) requires that, before detaining and questioning a student on school grounds who is under 18 years of age and who is suspected of committing a criminal act, a law enforcement officer or other school security personnel must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the student's parent or guardian or school personnel is present during the questioning. The bill is now Public Act 101-0478, effective August 23, 2019

HB 2830 (Stava-Murray, D-Downers Grove) prohibits an employer from terminating an employee because of absence due to attendance at a school conference, behavioral meeting or academic meeting. The bill is now Public Act 101-0486, effective August 1, 2020

HB 3086 (Lilly, D-Oak Park) requires the Emotional Intelligence and Social and Emotional Learning Task Force to discuss anger management in students as well as ways to provide funding for social and emotional learning. The bill is now Public Act 101-0498, effective January 1, 2020

HB 3462 (Bristow, D-Alton) allows a school district to include in its curriculum a unit of instruction on hunting education that includes instruction on hunting safety. Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) may make available resources on hunting safety that may be used as guidelines for the development of the course. The bill is now Public Act 101-0152, effective July 26, 2019

HB 3550 (Williams, D-Chicago) requires a sex education course provided in grades 6-12 to include an age-appropriate discussion on the meaning of consent to sexual activity.

The bill is now Public Act 101-0579, effective January 1, 2020

HB 3586 (Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates) requires school districts to utilize response to intervention or multi-tiered systems of support as part of an evaluation procedure to determine if a child is eligible for special education services. It provides that the parent or guardian of a student must be involved in the data sharing and decision-making processes of support and that the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) may provide guidance to a school district and identify available resources related to facilitating parent or guardian participation. The bill is now Public Act 101-0515, effective August 23, 2019

HB 3606 (Martwick, D-Chicago), expands responsibilities for school districts and education technology providers under the Student Online Personal Protection Act. Specifically, the bill requires a written agreement between school districts and technology companies before any specific information is collected; requirements to safeguard student data; actions that must be followed if a breach occurs; posting requirements regarding contracts with and data collection by technology companies, and new rights for parents and students regarding collected data.

The bill is now Public Act 101-0516, effective January 1, 2021

HB 3687 (Harper, D-Chicago) provides that upon arrest after commencement of a prosecution for a sex offense against a person known to be an employee of a school, the State's Attorney shall immediately provide the superintendent of schools or school administrator that employs the employee with a copy of the complaint, information, or indictment. 

The bill is now Public Act 101-0521, effective August 23, 2019

SB 456 (Martinez, D-Chicago) makes many changes regarding background investigations of licensed teachers, especially regarding sexual abuse allegations. It requires that school districts review all existing policies and procedures concerning sexual abuse investigations every two years and check the Statewide Sex Offender Database and the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database every five years regarding currently employed teachers. The superintendent must report to the State Superintendent of Education, within 15 days, if any license holder has been convicted of such a crime. The bill provides that, as a condition of employment, each school board must consider the status of a person who has been issued and indicated finding of abuse or neglect of a child by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). The bill further provides that once a licensed teacher is charged with committing or attempting to commit a sex offense, the State Superintendent of Education shall immediately suspend the teaching license. Further, the bill requires that a mandated reporter under DCFS must call the DCFS hotline immediately after obtaining the minimal information necessary to make a report if he/she has knowledge of an alleged incident of sexual abuse. The bill is now Public Act 101-0531, effective August 23, 2019

SB 1213 (Lightford, D-Maywood) requires each school district to implement an appeals process for "unsatisfactory" ratings that includes an assessment of the original rating by a panel of qualified evaluators agreed to by a joint committee that has the power to reevaluate and re-rate a teacher who appeals. The bill is now Public Act 101-0591, effective August 27, 2019

SB 1226 (Holmes, D-Aurora) abolishes the State Charter School Commission and transfers all responsibilities to Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). The bill is now Public Act 101-0543, effective August 23, 2019

SB 1371 (Rose, R-Mahomet) allows a school district to install a security locking device on a door of a school building to prevent unwanted entry through the door if certain requirements are met. School district employees must be trained in the engagement and release of the locking device. The security system must comply with all applicable state and federal accessibility requirements, or must be part of a written agreement among the school board, and local fire and law enforcement officials and made part of the school district safety plan required under the School Safety Drill Act. The bill is now Public Act 101-0548, effective July 1, 2019

SB 1498 (Bennett, D-Champaign) provides that, subject to appropriation, Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) must jointly develop an Agricultural Education Pre-Service Teacher Training Program, subject to appropriation. The bill is now Public Act 101-0554, effective August 23, 2019

SB 1778 (Morrison, J., D-Deerfield) amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (ANCRA) to re-organize the list of mandated reporters. Education personnel are defined as administrators and certified and non-certified employees. It requires persons under the Act to complete mandated reporter training within three months of their date of engagement in a professional or official capacity as a mandated reporter, and at least every three years thereafter. The underlying law still includes the provision that if an allegation is raised to a school board member during the course of an open or closed school board meeting that there has been abuse of a child, the school board member shall direct the case to the superintendent who must report the incident. The bill is now Public Act 101-0564, effective January 1, 2020