Governor Pritzker signed PA 101-643 on June 18, 2020, As Well as Others New Laws
PA 101-643 (SB1569) (effective June 18, 2020) contains several important education-related matters, which went into effect on June 18th. This is a lengthy bill with many unrelated provisions, but here is a summary of a few of the key items in PA 101-643* for your review:
- Added Section 10-30 to the Illinois School Code, which codifies the prior emergency rules for Remote Learning Days during a declared emergency, including provisions for "blended remote learning days".
- Extends the deadline for many interfund transfers until June 30, 2021.
- Amends the default rating for a tenured teacher with a most recent evaluation rating of "Excellent" to "Excellent" if their evaluation was unable to be completed during a declared emergency, unless the school board and union have agreed on an alternate plan. Also amends the timeline for remediation plans during a declared emergency.
- Provides that, in the future, RIF and dismissal notices may be provided by regular mail and also by either certified mail, personal delivery, or electronic mail.
- Within 10 days after a superintendent, regional office of education, or entity that provides background checks of license holders to public schools receives information of a pending criminal charge against a license holder for an offense set forth in Section 21B-80 of this Code, the superintendent, regional office of education, or entity must notify the State Superintendent of Education of the pending criminal charge.
- Beginning July 1, 2020, not later than three school days prior to an IEP meeting or eligibility meeting, parents must be provided copies of "all written material" that will be considered at the meeting (other than components related to service minutes and proposed placement). Parents must have the option of choosing the method of delivery, which must include the option of regular mail or picking up the materials at school. Parents must also be informed of their right to review and copy their child's school student records prior to any eligibility or IEP meeting.
- Related service logs for designated related services must be kept and made available to parents upon request, and parents must be informed of their right to request these logs within twenty days of the beginning of the school year (or upon their child getting an IEP for the first time).
- Parent notice for failure to implement an IEP service is required now only when that service is not implemented within ten school days after the service was to be initiated as set forth in the IEP. That notice must inform the parent about the procedures for requesting compensatory services.
- Requires a school district's RTI/MTSS process to use a collaborative team approach and include the engagement of and regular communication with the child's parent (removing the prior requirement that parents be a member of the team). However, parents now must be provided written notice of the school district's use of RTI and must be provided all data collected and reviewed by the school district with regard to RTI for their child.
In addition to PA 101-643, the Governor signed other bills which have an impact on school districts:
- PA 101-633 (effective June 5, 2020) removes certain restrictions on non-certified school employees being eligible for unemployment benefits during the summer break, noting that "with respect to a week of unemployment beginning on or after March 15, 2020, and before December 31, 2020, benefits shall be payable to an individual on the basis of wages for employment in other than an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity performed for an educational institution or an educational service agency under any of the circumstances described in this Section, to the extent permitted under Section 3304(a)(6) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, as long as the individual is otherwise eligible for benefits." These benefits may also be partially chargeable to the employer, depending on whether the unemployment is directly or indirectly attributable to COVID-19, so it is likely wise to review with legal counsel the potential to contest these claims if any are made against your district.
- PA 101-641 and PA 101-642* (effective June 16, 2020) expand voting by mail and makes Election Day (November 3, 2020) a state holiday, including a legal school holiday.
- PA 101-640 (effective June 12, 2020) codifies many of the Open Meetings Act changes previously in place via Executive Order, permitting virtual or remote meetings during a declared emergency, subject to some additional provisions not previously required in the Executive Orders, including, but not limited to:
- All members of the body participating in the meeting, wherever their physical location, shall be verified and can hear one another and can hear all discussion and testimony.
- For open meetings, members of the public present at the regular meeting location of the body can hear all discussion and testimony and all votes of the members of the body, unless attendance at the regular meeting location is not feasible due to the disaster, including the issued disaster declaration, in which case the public body must make alternative arrangements and provide notice pursuant to this Section of such alternative arrangements in a manner to allow any interested member of the public access to contemporaneously hear all discussion, testimony, and roll call votes, such as by offering a telephone number or a web-based link.
- at least one member of the body, chief legal counsel, or chief administrative officer is physically present at the regular meeting location, unless unfeasible due to the disaster.
- All votes are conducted by roll call, so each member's vote on each issue can be identified and recorded.
- Public bodies holding open meetings under this provision must also keep a verbatim record of all their meetings in the form of an audio or video recording.
*As of the time of this writing, the link is broken, but the text is identical to the language of approved SB1569, linked above.