Bill Text: IL HB2985 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Increases the compulsory school age from 17 to 18 years of age; makes related changes. Effective July 1, 2011.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB2985 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB2985-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB2985 Introduced , by Rep. Jehan A. Gordon SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/3-15.12 from Ch. 122, par. 3-15.12
105 ILCS 5/26-1 from Ch. 122, par. 26-1
105 ILCS 5/26-2 from Ch. 122, par. 26-2
105 ILCS 5/26-14 from Ch. 122, par. 26-14
Amends the School Code. Increases the compulsory school age from 17 to 18 years of age; makes related changes. Effective July 1, 2011.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
3-15.12, 26-1, 26-2, and 26-14 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/3-15.12) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-15.12)
Sec. 3-15.12. High school equivalency testing program. The
regional superintendent of schools shall make available for
qualified individuals residing within the region a High School
Equivalency Testing Program. For that purpose the regional
superintendent alone or with other regional superintendents
may establish and supervise a testing center or centers to
administer the secure forms of the high school level Test of
General Educational Development to qualified persons. Such
centers shall be under the supervision of the regional
superintendent in whose region such centers are located,
subject to the approval of the President of the Illinois
Community College Board.
An individual is eligible to apply to the regional
superintendent of schools for the region in which he or she
resides if he or she is: (a) a person who is 18 17 years of age
or older, has maintained residence in the State of Illinois,
and is not a high school graduate; (b) a person who is

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successfully completing an alternative education program under
Section 2-3.81, Article 13A, or Article 13B; or (c) a person
who is enrolled in a youth education program sponsored by the
Illinois National Guard. For purposes of this Section,
residence is that abode which the applicant considers his or
her home. Applicants may provide as sufficient proof of such
residence and as an acceptable form of identification a
driver's license, valid passport, military ID, or other form of
government-issued national or foreign identification that
shows the applicant's name, address, date of birth, signature,
and photograph or other acceptable identification as may be
allowed by law or as regulated by the Illinois Community
College Board. Such regional superintendent shall determine if
the applicant meets statutory and regulatory state standards.
If qualified the applicant shall at the time of such
application pay a fee established by the Illinois Community
College Board, which fee shall be paid into a special fund
under the control and supervision of the regional
superintendent. Such moneys received by the regional
superintendent shall be used, first, for the expenses incurred
in administering and scoring the examination, and next for
other educational programs that are developed and designed by
the regional superintendent of schools to assist those who
successfully complete the high school level test of General
Education Development in furthering their academic development
or their ability to secure and retain gainful employment,

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including programs for the competitive award based on test
scores of college or adult education scholarship grants or
similar educational incentives. Any excess moneys shall be paid
into the institute fund.
Any applicant who has achieved the minimum passing
standards as established by the Illinois Community College
Board shall be notified in writing by the regional
superintendent and shall be issued a high school equivalency
certificate on the forms provided by the Illinois Community
College Board. The regional superintendent shall then certify
to the Illinois Community College Board the score of the
applicant and such other and additional information that may be
required by the Illinois Community College Board. The moneys
received therefrom shall be used in the same manner as provided
for in this Section.
Any applicant who has attained the age of 18 17 years and
maintained residence in the State of Illinois and is not a high
school graduate, any person who has enrolled in a youth
education program sponsored by the Illinois National Guard, or
any person who has successfully completed an alternative
education program under Section 2-3.81, Article 13A, or Article
13B is eligible to apply for a high school equivalency
certificate (if he or she meets the requirements prescribed by
the Illinois Community College Board) upon showing evidence
that he or she has completed, successfully, the high school
level General Educational Development Tests, administered by

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the United States Armed Forces Institute, official GED Centers
established in other states, or at Veterans' Administration
Hospitals or the office of the State Superintendent of
Education administered for the Illinois State Penitentiary
System and the Department of Corrections. Such applicant shall
apply to the regional superintendent of the region wherein he
has maintained residence, and upon payment of a fee established
by the Illinois Community College Board the regional
superintendent shall issue a high school equivalency
certificate, and immediately thereafter certify to the
Illinois Community College Board the score of the applicant and
such other and additional information as may be required by the
Illinois Community College Board.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, any
applicant who has been out of school for at least one year may
request the regional superintendent of schools to administer
the restricted GED test upon written request of: The director
of a program who certifies to the Chief Examiner of an official
GED center that the applicant has completed a program of
instruction provided by such agencies as the Job Corps, the
Postal Service Academy or apprenticeship training program; an
employer or program director for purposes of entry into
apprenticeship programs; another State Department of Education
in order to meet regulations established by that Department of
Education, a post high school educational institution for
purposes of admission, the Department of Professional

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Regulation for licensing purposes, or the Armed Forces for
induction purposes. The regional superintendent shall
administer such test and the applicant shall be notified in
writing that he is eligible to receive the Illinois High School
Equivalency Certificate upon reaching age 18 17, provided he
meets the standards established by the Illinois Community
College Board.
Any test administered under this Section to an applicant
who does not speak and understand English may at the discretion
of the administering agency be given and answered in any
language in which the test is printed. The regional
superintendent of schools may waive any fees required by this
Section in case of hardship.
In counties of over 3,000,000 population a GED certificate
shall contain the signatures of the President of the Illinois
Community College Board, the superintendent, president or
other chief executive officer of the institution where GED
instruction occurred and any other signatures authorized by the
Illinois Community College Board.
The regional superintendent of schools shall furnish the
Illinois Community College Board with any information that the
Illinois Community College Board requests with regard to
testing and certificates under this Section.
(Source: P.A. 94-108, eff. 7-1-05; 95-609, eff. 6-1-08.)
(105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)

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Sec. 26-1. Compulsory school age-Exemptions. Whoever has
custody or control of any child between the ages of 7 and 18 17
years (unless the child has already graduated from high school)
shall cause such child to attend some public school in the
district wherein the child resides the entire time it is in
session during the regular school term, except as provided in
Section 10-19.1, and during a required summer school program
established under Section 10-22.33B; provided, that the
following children shall not be required to attend the public
schools:
1. Any child attending a private or a parochial school
where children are taught the branches of education taught
to children of corresponding age and grade in the public
schools, and where the instruction of the child in the
branches of education is in the English language;
2. Any child who is physically or mentally unable to
attend school, such disability being certified to the
county or district truant officer by a competent physician
licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in
all its branches, a chiropractic physician licensed under
the Medical Practice Act of 1987, an advanced practice
nurse who has a written collaborative agreement with a
collaborating physician that authorizes the advanced
practice nurse to perform health examinations, a physician
assistant who has been delegated the authority to perform
health examinations by his or her supervising physician, or

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a Christian Science practitioner residing in this State and
listed in the Christian Science Journal; or who is excused
for temporary absence for cause by the principal or teacher
of the school which the child attends; the exemptions in
this paragraph (2) do not apply to any female who is
pregnant or the mother of one or more children, except
where a female is unable to attend school due to a
complication arising from her pregnancy and the existence
of such complication is certified to the county or district
truant officer by a competent physician;
3. Any child necessarily and lawfully employed
according to the provisions of the law regulating child
labor may be excused from attendance at school by the
county superintendent of schools or the superintendent of
the public school which the child should be attending, on
certification of the facts by and the recommendation of the
school board of the public school district in which the
child resides. In districts having part time continuation
schools, children so excused shall attend such schools at
least 8 hours each week;
4. Any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while in
attendance at confirmation classes;
5. Any child absent from a public school on a
particular day or days or at a particular time of day for
the reason that he is unable to attend classes or to
participate in any examination, study or work requirements

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on a particular day or days or at a particular time of day,
because the tenets of his religion forbid secular activity
on a particular day or days or at a particular time of day.
Each school board shall prescribe rules and regulations
relative to absences for religious holidays including, but
not limited to, a list of religious holidays on which it
shall be mandatory to excuse a child; but nothing in this
paragraph 5 shall be construed to limit the right of any
school board, at its discretion, to excuse an absence on
any other day by reason of the observance of a religious
holiday. A school board may require the parent or guardian
of a child who is to be excused from attending school due
to the observance of a religious holiday to give notice,
not exceeding 5 days, of the child's absence to the school
principal or other school personnel. Any child excused from
attending school under this paragraph 5 shall not be
required to submit a written excuse for such absence after
returning to school; and
6. Any child 16 years of age or older who (i) submits
to a school district evidence of necessary and lawful
employment pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Section and (ii)
is enrolled in a graduation incentives program pursuant to
Section 26-16 of this Code or an alternative learning
opportunities program established pursuant to Article 13B
of this Code.
(Source: P.A. 96-367, eff. 8-13-09.)

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(105 ILCS 5/26-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-2)
Sec. 26-2. Enrolled pupils below 7 or over 18 17.
(a) Any person having custody or control of a child who is
below the age of 7 years or is 18 17 years of age or above and
who is enrolled in any of grades kindergarten through 12 in the
public school shall cause him to attend the public school in
the district wherein he resides when it is in session during
the regular school term, unless he is excused under paragraph
2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 of Section 26-1.
(b) A school district shall deny reenrollment in its
secondary schools to any child 19 years of age or above who has
dropped out of school and who could not, because of age and
lack of credits, attend classes during the normal school year
and graduate before his or her twenty-first birthday. A
district may, however, enroll the child in a graduation
incentives program under Section 26-16 of this Code or an
alternative learning opportunities program established under
Article 13B. No child shall be denied reenrollment for the
above reasons unless the school district first offers the child
due process as required in cases of expulsion under Section
10-22.6. If a child is denied reenrollment after being provided
with due process, the school district must provide counseling
to that child and must direct that child to alternative
educational programs, including adult education programs, that
lead to graduation or receipt of a GED diploma.

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(c) A school or school district may deny enrollment to a
student 18 17 years of age or older for one semester for
failure to meet minimum academic standards if all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The student achieved a grade point average of less
than "D" (or its equivalent) in the semester immediately
prior to the current semester.
(2) The student and the student's parent or guardian
are given written notice warning that the student is
failing academically and is subject to denial from
enrollment for one semester unless a "D" average (or its
equivalent) or better is attained in the current semester.
(3) The parent or guardian is provided with the right
to appeal the notice, as determined by the State Board of
Education in accordance with due process.
(4) The student is provided with an academic
improvement plan and academic remediation services.
(5) The student fails to achieve a "D" average (or its
equivalent) or better in the current semester.
A school or school district may deny enrollment to a
student 18 17 years of age or older for one semester for
failure to meet minimum attendance standards if all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The student was absent without valid cause for 20%
or more of the attendance days in the semester immediately
prior to the current semester.

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(2) The student and the student's parent or guardian
are given written notice warning that the student is
subject to denial from enrollment for one semester unless
the student is absent without valid cause less than 20% of
the attendance days in the current semester.
(3) The student's parent or guardian is provided with
the right to appeal the notice, as determined by the State
Board of Education in accordance with due process.
(4) The student is provided with attendance
remediation services, including without limitation
assessment, counseling, and support services.
(5) The student is absent without valid cause for 20%
or more of the attendance days in the current semester.
A school or school district may not deny enrollment to a
student (or reenrollment to a dropout) who is at least 18 17
years of age or older but below 19 years for more than one
consecutive semester for failure to meet academic or attendance
standards.
(d) No child may be denied enrollment or reenrollment under
this Section in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act.
(e) In this subsection (e), "reenrolled student" means a
dropout who has reenrolled full-time in a public school. Each
school district shall identify, track, and report on the
educational progress and outcomes of reenrolled students as a
subset of the district's required reporting on all enrollments.

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A reenrolled student who again drops out must not be counted
again against a district's dropout rate performance measure.
The State Board of Education shall set performance standards
for programs serving reenrolled students.
(f) The State Board of Education shall adopt any rules
necessary to implement the changes to this Section made by
Public Act 93-803.
(Source: P.A. 95-417, eff. 8-24-07.)
(105 ILCS 5/26-14) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-14)
Sec. 26-14. Truancy programs for dropouts. Any dropout, as
defined in Section 26-2a, who is 18 17 years of age may apply
to a school district for status as a truant, and the school
district shall permit such person to participate in the
district's various programs and resources for truants. At the
time of the person's application, the district may request
documentation of his dropout status for the previous 6 months.
(Source: P.A. 93-858, eff. 1-1-05.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2011.