Bill Amendment: IL HB2921 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: EDUCATION-TECH

Status: 2015-03-27 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB2921 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB2921-House_Amendment_001.html

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Rep. Esther Golar

Filed: 3/18/2015

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2921
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2921 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
34-4.5 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/34-4.5)
Sec. 34-4.5. Chronic truants. In accordance with Section
26-13 of this Code, the board shall create a policy to address
chronic truancy. The chief executive officer shall biennially
review this policy beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.
(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.

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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

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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

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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 3-33.5 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
not required to attend a public school pursuant to Section
26-1.
(Source: P.A. 94-1011, eff. 7-7-06.)
Section 10. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
changing Section 3-33.5 as follows:
(705 ILCS 405/3-33.5)
Sec. 3-33.5. Truant minors in need of supervision.
(a) Definition. A minor who is reported by the office of
the regional superintendent of schools, or, in cities of over
500,000 inhabitants, by the school district Office of Chronic
Truant Adjudication, as a chronic truant may be subject to a
petition for adjudication and adjudged a truant minor in need
of supervision, provided that prior to the filing of the
petition, the office of the regional superintendent of schools,
the school district Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, or a
community truancy review board certifies that the local school
has provided appropriate truancy intervention services to the
truant minor and his or her family. For purposes of this

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Section, "truancy intervention services" means services
designed to assist the minor's return to an educational
program, and includes but is not limited to: assessments,
counseling, mental health services, shelter, optional and
alternative education programs, tutoring, and educational
advocacy. If, after review by the regional office of education,
the school district Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, or
the community truancy review board, it is determined the local
school did not provide the appropriate interventions, then the
minor shall be referred to a comprehensive community based
youth service agency for truancy intervention services. If the
comprehensive community based youth service agency is
incapable to provide intervention services, then this
requirement for services is not applicable. The comprehensive
community based youth service agency shall submit reports to
the office of the regional superintendent of schools, the
school district Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, or the
community truancy review board within 20, 40, and 80 school
days of the initial referral or at any other time requested by
the office of the regional superintendent of schools, the
school district Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, or the
community truancy review board, which reports each shall
certify the date of the minor's referral and the extent of the
minor's progress and participation in truancy intervention
services provided by the comprehensive community based youth
service agency. In addition, if, after referral by the office

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of the regional superintendent of schools, the school district
Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, or the community truancy
review board, the minor declines or refuses to fully
participate in truancy intervention services provided by the
comprehensive community based youth service agency, then the
agency shall immediately certify such facts to the office of
the regional superintendent of schools, the school district
Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, or the community truancy
review board.
(a-1) There is a rebuttable presumption that a chronic
truant is a truant minor in need of supervision.
(a-2) There is a rebuttable presumption that school records
of a minor's attendance at school are authentic.
(a-3) For purposes of this Section, "chronic truant" has
the meaning ascribed to it in Section 26-2a of the School Code.
(a-4) For purposes of this Section, a "community truancy
review board" is a local community based board comprised of but
not limited to: representatives from local comprehensive
community based youth service agencies, representatives from
court service agencies, representatives from local schools,
representatives from health service agencies, and
representatives from local professional and community
organizations as deemed appropriate by the office of the
regional superintendent of schools, or, in cities of over
500,000 inhabitants, by the school district Office of Chronic
Truant Adjudication. The regional superintendent of schools,

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or, in cities of over 500,000 inhabitants, the school district
Office of Chronic Truant Adjudication, must approve the
establishment and organization of a community truancy review
board and the regional superintendent of schools or his or her
designee, or, in cities of over 500,000 inhabitants, the
general superintendent of schools or his or her designee, shall
chair the board.
(a-5) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to create
a private cause of action or right of recovery against a
regional office of education or school district the Office of
Chronic Truant Adjudication, its superintendent, or its staff
with respect to truancy intervention services where the
determination to provide the services is made in good faith.
(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 student assistance team
staffing, a service plan, or referral to a comprehensive
community based youth service agency;
(2) required to comply with a 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

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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
driving privilege suspended for a period of time as
determined by the court but only until he or she attains 18
years of age.
A dispositional order may include a fine, public service,
or suspension of a driver's license or privilege only if the
court has made an express written finding that a truancy
prevention program has been offered by the school, regional
superintendent of schools, or a comprehensive community based
youth service agency to the truant minor in need of
supervision.
(c) Orders entered under this Section may be enforced by
contempt proceedings.
(Source: P.A. 97-975, eff. 8-17-12.)".