105 ILCS 5/14-8.02 — Illinois Code / Chapter 105 / Act 5 / Section 14-8.02::v1
105 ILCS 5/14-8.02
Status: in_force

(Text of Section from P.A. 104-270)

Identification, evaluation, and placement of children.

(a) The State Board of Education shall make rules under which local school boards shall determine the eligibility of children to receive special education. Such rules shall ensure that a free appropriate public education be available to all children with disabilities as defined in Section 14-1.02. The State Board of Education shall require local school districts to administer non-discriminatory procedures or tests to English learners coming from homes in which a language other than English is used to determine their eligibility to receive special education. The placement of low English proficiency students in special education programs and facilities shall be made in accordance with the test results reflecting the student's linguistic, cultural and special education needs. For purposes of determining the eligibility of children the State Board of Education shall include in the rules definitions of "case study", "staff conference", "individualized educational program", and "qualified specialist" appropriate to each category of children with disabilities as defined in this Article. For purposes of determining the eligibility of children from homes in which a language other than English is used, the State Board of Education shall include in the rules definitions for "qualified bilingual specialists" and "linguistically and culturally appropriate individualized educational programs". For purposes of this Section, as well as Sections 14-8.02a, 14-8.02b, and 14-8.02c of this Code, "parent" means a parent as defined in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(23)).

(b) No child shall be eligible for special education facilities except with a carefully completed case study fully reviewed by professional personnel in a multidisciplinary staff conference and only upon the recommendation of qualified specialists or a qualified bilingual specialist, if available. At the conclusion of the multidisciplinary staff conference, the parent of the child and, if the child is in the legal custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department's Office of Education and Transition Services shall be given a copy of the multidisciplinary conference summary report and recommendations, which includes options considered, and, in the case of the parent, be informed of his or her right to obtain an independent educational evaluation if he or she disagrees with the evaluation findings conducted or obtained by the school district. If the school district's evaluation is shown to be inappropriate, the school district shall reimburse the parent for the cost of the independent evaluation. The State Board of Education shall, with advice from the State Advisory Council on Education of Children with Disabilities on the inclusion of specific independent educational evaluators, prepare a list of suggested independent educational evaluators. The State Board of Education shall include on the list clinical psychologists licensed pursuant to the Clinical Psychologist Licensing Act. Such psychologists shall not be paid fees in excess of the amount that would be received by a school psychologist for performing the same services. The State Board of Education shall supply school districts with such list and make the list available to parents at their request. School districts shall make the list available to parents at the time they are informed of their right to obtain an independent educational evaluation. However, the school district may initiate an impartial due process hearing under this Section within 5 days of any written parent request for an independent educational evaluation to show that its evaluation is appropriate. If the final decision is that the evaluation is appropriate, the parent still has a right to an independent educational evaluation, but not at public expense. An independent educational evaluation at public expense must be completed within 30 days of a parent's written request unless the school district initiates an impartial due process hearing or the parent or school district offers reasonable grounds to show that such 30-day time period should be extended. If the due process hearing decision indicates that the parent is entitled to an independent educational evaluation, it must be completed within 30 days of the decision unless the parent or the school district offers reasonable grounds to show that such 30-day period should be extended. If a parent disagrees with the summary report or recommendations of the multidisciplinary conference or the findings of any educational evaluation which results therefrom, the school district shall not proceed with a placement based upon such evaluation and the child shall remain in his or her regular classroom setting. No child shall be eligible for admission to a special class for children with a mental disability who are educable or for children with a mental disability who are trainable except with a psychological evaluation and recommendation by a school psychologist. Consent shall be obtained from the parent of a child before any evaluation is conducted. If consent is not given by the parent or if the parent disagrees with the findings of the evaluation, then the school district may initiate an impartial due process hearing under this Section. The school district may evaluate the child if that is the decision resulting from the impartial due process hearing and the decision is not appealed or if the decision is affirmed on appeal. The determination of eligibility shall be made and the IEP meeting shall be completed within 60 school days from the date of written parental consent. In those instances when written parental consent is obtained with fewer than 60 pupil attendance days left in the school year, the eligibility determination shall be made and the IEP meeting shall be completed prior to the first day of the following school year. Special education and related services must be provided in accordance with the student's IEP no later than 10 school attendance days after notice is provided to the parents pursuant to Section 300.503 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations and implementing rules adopted by the State Board of Education. The appropriate program pursuant to the individualized educational program of students whose native tongue is a language other than English shall reflect the special education, cultural and linguistic needs. No later than September 1, 1993, the State Board of Education shall establish standards for the development, implementation and monitoring of appropriate bilingual special individualized educational programs. The State Board of Education shall further incorporate appropriate monitoring procedures to verify implementation of these standards. The district shall indicate to the parent, the State Board of Education, and, if applicable, the Department's Office of Education and Transition Services the nature of the services the child will receive for the regular school term while awaiting placement in the appropriate special education class. At the child's initial IEP meeting and at each annual review meeting, the child's IEP team shall provide the child's parent or guardian and, if applicable, the Department's Office of Education and Transition Services with a written notification that informs the parent or guardian or the Department's Office of Education and Transition Services that the IEP team is required to consider whether the child requires assistive technology in order to receive free, appropriate public education. The notification must also include a toll-free telephone number and internet address for the State's assistive technology program.

If the child is deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or visually impaired or has an orthopedic impairment or physical disability and he or she might be eligible to receive services from the Illinois School for the Deaf, the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired, the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education-Wood, or the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education-Roosevelt, the school district shall notify the parents, in writing, of the existence of these schools and the services they provide and shall make a reasonable effort to inform the parents of the existence of other, local schools that provide similar services and the services that these other schools provide. This notification shall include, without limitation, information on school services, school admissions criteria, and school contact information.

In the development of the individualized education program for a student who has a disability on the autism spectrum (which includes autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, childhood disintegrative disorder, and Rett Syndrome, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV, 2000)), the IEP team shall consider all of the following factors:

(1) The verbal and nonverbal communication needs of