New Laws Affecting Schools
The General Assembly passed many bills which impact school districts this spring, and the Governor has had a busy August signing these bills. Miller, Tracy, Braun, Funk and Miller, Ltd. will keep you updated on these new statutes throughout this fall, but there are a few that should be on your radar immediately:
Restraint and Time Out: PA 102-339 (effective August 13, 2021) codifies much of the emergency and permanent rules on restraint, time out, and isolated time out (with some alterations). The statute requires ISBE to establish goals for the systemic reduction of restraint, time out, and isolated time out – and its eventual elimination altogether – with each school district. While the statute generally adopts the specific requirements related to the use of these interventions, the statute requires that a parent be offered the opportunity for a meeting within 2 school days of each instance of restraint, time out, or isolated time out.
Suicide Awareness Hotline Notice: PA 102-134 (effective July 23, 2021) requires that each school district provides contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and for the Crisis Text Line on the back of each student identification card issued by the school district. If the school district does not issue student identification cards to its students or to all of its students, the school district must publish this information on its website. Also, PA 102-416 (effective August 20, 2021) requires that each school district that serves pupils in any of grades 6 through 12 and that issues an identification card to pupils in any of grades 6 through 12 shall provide contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), the Crisis Text Line, and either the Safe2Help Illinois helpline or a local suicide prevention hotline or both on the identification card. The contact information shall identify each helpline that may be contacted through text messaging. The contact information shall be included in the school's student handbook and also the student planner if a student planner is custom printed by the school for distribution to pupils in any of grades 6 through 12. Please make sure that your district has complied with both of these new laws for the 2021-2022 school year.
Special Education – Age of Eligibility: PA 102-172 (effective July 28, 2021) extends eligibility for all IEP students who have not received a regular high school diploma through the end of the school year during which the student turns 22. ISBE also published guidance on this statute (as well as PA-102-173, related to extended services for certain 22-year-olds due to the pandemic).
Play Time: PA 102-357 (effective August 13, 2021) requires thirty minutes daily for supervised, unstructured, child-directed play for all students in kindergarten through grade 5.
Mental Health Excused Absence: PA 102-321 (effective August 6, 2021) permits students to have up to 5 excused absences for the mental or behavioral health of the child for which the child need not provide a medical note. The child shall be given the opportunity to make up any school work missed during the mental or behavioral health absence and, after the second mental health day used, may be referred to the appropriate school support personnel.
FMLA: PA 102-335 (Effective August 10, 2021) reduces the number of hours a school employee must work in a 12-month period in order to be eligible for FMLA leave from 1,250 to 1,000 hours.
Teacher Evaluation: PA 102-252 (executed August 6, 2021, effective January 1, 2022) changes the evaluation cycle for certain tenured teachers. No later than September 1, 2022, each school district must establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures that each teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is evaluated at least once in the course of the 3 school years