Bill Text: IL SB0123 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning contractual continued service in school districts other than the Chicago school district, adds an exception to the probationary period of 4 consecutive school terms for a teacher who is first employed as a full-time teacher by a school district on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act but who, prior to employment with the district, already entered upon contractual continued service in another school district, in which case the probationary period is 2 consecutive school terms. Makes a similar change with respect to a teacher employed in a program of a special education joint agreement. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-05-08 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [SB0123 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-SB0123-Engrossed.html

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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
24-11 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/24-11) (from Ch. 122, par. 24-11)
Sec. 24-11. Boards of Education - Boards of School
Inspectors - Contractual continued service. As used in this and
the succeeding Sections of this Article:
"Teacher" means any or all school district employees
regularly required to be certified under laws relating to the
certification of teachers.
"Board" means board of directors, board of education, or
board of school inspectors, as the case may be.
"School term" means that portion of the school year, July 1
to the following June 30, when school is in actual session.
This Section and Sections 24-12 through 24-16 of this
Article apply only to school districts having less than 500,000
inhabitants.
Any teacher who has been employed in any district as a
full-time teacher for a probationary period of 2 consecutive
school terms shall enter upon contractual continued service
unless given written notice of dismissal stating the specific

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reason therefor, by certified mail, return receipt requested by
the employing board at least 45 days before the end of such
period; except that (i) for a teacher who is first employed as
a full-time teacher by a school district on or after January 1,
1998 and who has not before that date already entered upon
contractual continued service in that district, the
probationary period shall be 4 consecutive school terms before
the teacher shall enter upon contractual continued service and
(ii) for a teacher who is first employed as a full-time teacher
by a school district on or after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly but who, prior to
employment with the district, already entered upon contractual
continued service in another school district pursuant to this
Section, the probationary period shall be 2 consecutive school
terms before the teacher shall enter upon contractual continued
service if the employment from the one school district to the
other has been continuous. For the purpose of determining
contractual continued service, the first probationary year
shall be any full-time employment from a date before November 1
through the end of the school year. If, however, a teacher who
was first employed prior to January 1, 1998 has not had one
school term of full-time teaching experience before the
beginning of a probationary period of 2 consecutive school
terms, the employing board may at its option extend the
probationary period for one additional school term by giving
the teacher written notice by certified mail, return receipt

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requested, at least 45 days before the end of the second school
term of the period of 2 consecutive school terms referred to
above. This notice must state the reasons for the one year
extension and must outline the corrective actions that the
teacher must take to satisfactorily complete probation. The
changes made by this amendatory Act of 1998 are declaratory of
existing law.
Any full-time teacher who is not completing the last year
of the probationary period described in the preceding
paragraph, or any teacher employed on a full-time basis not
later than January 1 of the school term, shall receive written
notice from the employing board at least 45 days before the end
of any school term whether or not he will be re-employed for
the following school term. If the board fails to give such
notice, the employee shall be deemed reemployed, and not later
than the close of the then current school term the board shall
issue a regular contract to the employee as though the board
had reemployed him in the usual manner.
Contractual continued service shall continue in effect the
terms and provisions of the contract with the teacher during
the last school term of the probationary period, subject to
this Act and the lawful regulations of the employing board.
This Section and succeeding Sections do not modify any existing
power of the board except with respect to the procedure of the
discharge of a teacher and reductions in salary as hereinafter
provided. Contractual continued service status shall not

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restrict the power of the board to transfer a teacher to a
position which the teacher is qualified to fill or to make such
salary adjustments as it deems desirable, but unless reductions
in salary are uniform or based upon some reasonable
classification, any teacher whose salary is reduced shall be
entitled to a notice and a hearing as hereinafter provided in
the case of certain dismissals or removals.
The employment of any teacher in a program of a special
education joint agreement established under Section 3-15.14,
10-22.31 or 10-22.31a shall be under this and succeeding
Sections of this Article. For purposes of attaining and
maintaining contractual continued service and computing length
of continuing service as referred to in this Section and
Section 24-12, employment in a special educational joint
program shall be deemed a continuation of all previous
certificated employment of such teacher for such joint
agreement whether the employer of the teacher was the joint
agreement, the regional superintendent, or one of the
participating districts in the joint agreement.
Any teacher employed after July 1, 1987 as a full-time
teacher in a program of a special education joint agreement,
whether the program is operated by the joint agreement or a
member district on behalf of the joint agreement, for a
probationary period of two consecutive years shall enter upon
contractual continued service in all of the programs conducted
by such joint agreement which the teacher is legally qualified

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to hold; except that (i) for a teacher who is first employed on
or after January 1, 1998 in a program of a special education
joint agreement and who has not before that date already
entered upon contractual continued service in all of the
programs conducted by the joint agreement that the teacher is
legally qualified to hold, the probationary period shall be 4
consecutive years before the teacher enters upon contractual
continued service in all of those programs and (ii) for a
teacher who is first employed on or after the effective date of
this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly in a program
of a special education joint agreement but who, prior to this
employment, already entered upon contractual continued service
in the programs of another joint agreement pursuant to this
Section, the probationary period shall be 2 consecutive years
before the teacher enters upon contractual continued service if
the employment from the programs of the one joint agreement to
the other has been continuous. In the event of a reduction in
the number of programs or positions in the joint agreement, the
teacher on contractual continued service shall be eligible for
employment in the joint agreement programs for which the
teacher is legally qualified in order of greater length of
continuing service in the joint agreement unless an alternative
method of determining the sequence of dismissal is established
in a collective bargaining agreement. In the event of the
dissolution of a joint agreement, the teacher on contractual
continued service who is legally qualified shall be assigned to

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any comparable position in a member district currently held by
a teacher who has not entered upon contractual continued
service or held by a teacher who has entered upon contractual
continued service with shorter length of contractual continued
service.
The governing board of the joint agreement, or the
administrative district, if so authorized by the articles of
agreement of the joint agreement, rather than the board of
education of a school district, may carry out employment and
termination actions including dismissals under this Section
and Section 24-12.
For purposes of this and succeeding Sections of this
Article, a program of a special educational joint agreement
shall be defined as instructional, consultative, supervisory,
administrative, diagnostic, and related services which are
managed by the special educational joint agreement designed to
service two or more districts which are members of the joint
agreement.
Each joint agreement shall be required to post by February
1, a list of all its employees in order of length of continuing
service in the joint agreement, unless an alternative method of
determining a sequence of dismissal is established in an
applicable collective bargaining agreement.
The employment of any teacher in a special education
program authorized by Section 14-1.01 through 14-14.01, or a
joint educational program established under Section 10-22.31a,

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shall be under this and the succeeding Sections of this
Article, and such employment shall be deemed a continuation of
the previous employment of such teacher in any of the
participating districts, regardless of the participation of
other districts in the program. Any teacher employed as a
full-time teacher in a special education program prior to
September 23, 1987 in which 2 or more school districts
participate for a probationary period of 2 consecutive years
shall enter upon contractual continued service in each of the
participating districts, subject to this and the succeeding
Sections of this Article, and in the event of the termination
of the program shall be eligible for any vacant position in any
of such districts for which such teacher is qualified.
(Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 90-653, eff. 7-29-98.)
Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.33 as follows:
(30 ILCS 805/8.33 new)
Sec. 8.33. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the
implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of
the 96th General Assembly.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.