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Public Act 102-0266 Public Act 0266 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Public Act 102-0266 | HB0576 Enrolled | LRB102 12693 CMG 18032 b |
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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 | 26-1 and 26-2a as follows:
| (105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)
| Sec. 26-1. Compulsory school age; exemptions. Whoever has | custody or control of any child (i) between the ages of 7 and | 17
years (unless the child has already graduated from high | school) for school years before the 2014-2015 school year or | (ii) between the ages
of 6 (on or before September 1) and 17 | years (unless the child has already graduated from high | school) beginning with the 2014-2015 school year
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, a licensed advanced | practice registered nurse, a licensed physician assistant, | or 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 , with | absence for cause by illness being required to include the | mental or behavioral health of the child for up to 5 days | for which the child need not provide a medical note, in | which case the child shall be given the opportunity to | make up any school work missed during the mental or | behavioral health absence and, after the second mental | health day used, may be referred to the appropriate school | support personnel ; 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 | 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
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| 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; | 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;
| 7. A child in any of grades 6 through 12 absent from a | public school on a particular day or days or at a | particular time of day for the purpose of sounding "Taps" | at a military honors funeral held in this State for a | deceased veteran. In order to be excused under this | paragraph 7, the student shall notify the school's | administration at least 2 days prior to the date of the | absence and shall provide the school's administration with | the date, time, and location of the military
honors | funeral. The school's administration may waive this 2-day |
| notification requirement if the student did not receive at | least 2 days advance notice, but the student shall notify | the school's administration as soon as possible of the | absence. A student whose absence is excused under this | paragraph 7 shall be counted as if the student attended | school for purposes of calculating the average daily | attendance of students in the school district. A student | whose absence is excused under this paragraph 7 must be | allowed a reasonable time to make up school work missed | during the absence. If the student satisfactorily | completes the school work, the day of absence shall be | counted as a day of compulsory attendance and he or she may | not be penalized for that absence; and | 8. Any child absent from a public school on a | particular day or days or at a particular time of day for | the reason that his or her parent or legal guardian is an | active duty member of the uniformed services and has been | called to duty for, is on leave from, or has immediately | returned from deployment to a combat zone or | combat-support postings. Such a student shall be granted 5 | days of excused absences in any school year and, at the | discretion of the school board, additional excused | absences to visit the student's parent or legal guardian | relative to such leave or deployment of the parent or | legal guardian. In the case of excused absences pursuant | to this paragraph 8, the student and parent or legal |
| guardian shall be responsible for obtaining assignments | from the student's teacher prior to any period of excused | absence and for ensuring that such assignments are | completed by the student prior to his or her return to | school from such period of excused absence. | (Source: P.A. 99-173, eff. 7-29-15; 99-804, eff. 1-1-17; | 100-185, eff. 8-18-17; 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; 100-863, eff. | 8-14-18.)
| (105 ILCS 5/26-2a) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-2a) | Sec. 26-2a. A "truant" is defined as a child who is subject | to compulsory school
attendance and who is absent without | valid cause, as defined under this Section, from such | attendance for more than 1% but less than 5% of the past 180 | school days. | "Valid cause" for absence shall be illness , including the | mental or behavioral health of the student , observance of a | religious
holiday, death in the immediate family,
or family | emergency , and shall include such other situations beyond the | control
of the student , as determined by the board of | education in each district,
or such other circumstances which | cause reasonable concern to the parent
for the mental, | emotional, or physical health or safety of the student. | "Chronic or habitual truant" shall be defined as a child | who is subject to compulsory
school attendance and who is | absent without valid cause from such attendance
for 5% or more |
| of the previous 180 regular attendance days. | "Truant minor" is defined as a chronic truant to whom | supportive
services, including prevention, diagnostic, | intervention and remedial
services, alternative programs and | other school and community resources
have been provided and | have failed to result in the cessation of chronic
truancy, or | have been offered and refused. | A "dropout" is defined as any child enrolled in grades 9 | through 12 whose
name has been removed from the district | enrollment roster for any reason
other than the student's | death, extended illness, removal for medical non-compliance, | expulsion, aging out, graduation, or completion of a
program | of studies and who has not transferred to another public or | private school and is not known to be home-schooled by his or | her parents or guardians or continuing school in another | country. | "Religion" for the purposes of this Article, includes all | aspects of
religious observance and practice, as well as | belief. | (Source: P.A. 100-810, eff. 1-1-19; 100-918, eff. 8-17-18; | 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
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Effective Date: 1/1/2022
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