Racism-Free Schools Law

Likely, you have already adopted the updated policies related to the Illinois Racism-Free Schools Law, which took effect on August 1, 2024.  We previously updated you on the RFSL here.

The RFSL requires every school district to implement a policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin, among other very specific policy requirements, which must be distinguished from other non-discrimination policies with an appropriate title, heading, or label.  PRESS has included the mandatory policy requirements in a new Policy 2:270 and its associated administrative procedures.

The RFSL also amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to create a civil rights violation for school districts to fail to take appropriate action to stop harassment, and it creates additional reporting obligations to ISBE.

In addition to carefully reviewing the changes in policy required by this statute, take note of the following:

There are new and specific training requirements for all school employees, which must include either the training created by the Illinois Department of Human Rights (which we continue to await), or an equivalent training.  Schools must train their existing employees at least once every two years. Initial training must be completed by July 31, 2026.  New employees must receive the training as a component of their new employee training program, and then every two years thereafter.

Also, the policy must be posted on the school district’s website, must be posted in a prominent and accessible location and distributed to ensure notice of the policy to all employees, and must be published in the school’s parent/student handbook.

An important note: in addition to including the policy in the handbook, the school must provide a summary of the policy in accessible, age-appropriate language which must be annually distributed to students and parents/guardians.  Including the summary in the student handbook (in addition to the policy) satisfies the requirement to annually distribute the summary.   The summary of the policy must be provided in a parent/guardian’s native language.

IDHR has published an FAQ found here.