Bill Text: IL HB3977 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Permits student instruction to be received electronically under a school district's program for e-learning days while students are not physically present because a school was selected to be a polling place under the Election Code.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3977 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB3977-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB3977 Introduced , by Rep. Rita Mayfield SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/10-20.56
Amends the School Code. Permits student instruction to be received electronically under a school district's program for e-learning days while students are not physically present because a school was selected to be a polling place under the Election Code.
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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 Section
10-20.56 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/10-20.56)
Sec. 10-20.56. E-learning days.
(a) The State Board of Education shall establish and
maintain, for implementation in school districts, a program for
use of electronic-learning (e-learning) days, as described in
this Section.
(b) The school board of a school district may, by
resolution, adopt a research-based program or research-based
programs for e-learning days district-wide that shall permit
student instruction to be received electronically while
students are not physically present in lieu of the district's
scheduled emergency days as required by Section 10-19 of this
Code or because a school was selected to be a polling place
under Section 11-4.1 of the Election Code. The research-based
program or programs may not exceed the minimum number of
emergency days in the approved school calendar and must be
verified by the regional office of education or intermediate
service center for the school district on or before September

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1st annually to ensure access for all students. The regional
office of education or intermediate service center shall ensure
that the specific needs of all students are met, including
special education students and English learners, and that all
mandates are still met using the proposed research-based
program. The e-learning program may utilize the Internet,
telephones, texts, chat rooms, or other similar means of
electronic communication for instruction and interaction
between teachers and students that meet the needs of all
learners. The e-learning program shall address the school
district's responsibility to ensure that all teachers and staff
who may be involved in the provision of e-learning have access
to any and all hardware and software that may be required for
the program. If a proposed program does not address this
responsibility, the school district must propose an alternate
program.
(c) Before its adoption by a school board, the school board
must hold a public hearing on a school district's initial
proposal for an e-learning program or for renewal of such a
program, at a regular or special meeting of the school board,
in which the terms of the proposal must be substantially
presented and an opportunity for allowing public comments must
be provided. Notice of such public hearing must be provided at
least 10 days prior to the hearing by:
(1) publication in a newspaper of general circulation
in the school district;

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(2) written or electronic notice designed to reach the
parents or guardians of all students enrolled in the school
district; and
(3) written or electronic notice designed to reach any
exclusive collective bargaining representatives of school
district employees and all those employees not in a
collective bargaining unit.
(d) The regional office of education or intermediate
service center for the school district must timely verify that
a proposal for an e-learning program has met the requirements
specified in this Section and that the proposal contains
provisions designed to reasonably and practicably accomplish
the following:
(1) to ensure and verify at least 5 clock hours of
instruction or school work, as required under Section
10-19.05, for each student participating in an e-learning
day;
(2) to ensure access from home or other appropriate
remote facility for all students participating, including
computers, the Internet, and other forms of electronic
communication that must be utilized in the proposed
program;
(2.5) to ensure that non-electronic materials are made
available to students participating in the program who do
not have access to the required technology or to
participating teachers or students who are prevented from

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accessing the required technology;
(3) to ensure appropriate learning opportunities for
students with special needs;
(4) to monitor and verify each student's electronic
participation;
(5) to address the extent to which student
participation is within the student's control as to the
time, pace, and means of learning;
(6) to provide effective notice to students and their
parents or guardians of the use of particular days for
e-learning;
(7) to provide staff and students with adequate
training for e-learning days' participation;
(8) to ensure an opportunity for any collective
bargaining negotiations with representatives of the school
district's employees that would be legally required,
including all classifications of school district employees
who are represented by collective bargaining agreements
and who would be affected in the event of an e-learning
day;
(9) to review and revise the program as implemented to
address difficulties confronted; and
(10) to ensure that the protocol regarding general
expectations and responsibilities of the program is
communicated to teachers, staff, and students at least 30
days prior to utilizing an e-learning day.

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The school board's approval of a school district's initial
e-learning program and renewal of the e-learning program shall
be for a term of 3 years.
(e) The State Board of Education may adopt rules consistent
with the provision of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 100-760, eff. 8-10-18; 101-12, eff. 7-1-19.)