105 ILCS 5/3-11 — Illinois Code / Chapter 105 / Act 5 / Section 3-11
Section 3-11
Status: in_force

(105 ILCS 5/3-11) Sec. 3-11. Institutes or inservice training workshops. (a) In counties of less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, the regional superintendent may arrange for or conduct district, regional, or county institutes, or equivalent professional educational experiences, not more than 4 days annually. Of those 4 days, 2 days may be used as a teachers, administrators, and school support personnel workshop, when approved by the regional superintendent, up to 2 days may be used for conducting parent-teacher conferences, or up to 2 days may be utilized as parental institute days as provided in Section 10-22.18d. School support personnel may be exempt from a workshop if the workshop is not relevant to the work they do. A school district may use one of its 4 institute days on the last day of the school term. "Institute" or "Professional educational experiences" means any educational gathering, demonstration of methods of instruction, visitation of schools or other institutions or facilities, sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness seminar, or training in First Aid (which may include cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillator training) held or approved by the regional superintendent and declared by the regional superintendent to be an institute day, or parent-teacher conferences. With the concurrence of the State Superintendent of Education, the regional superintendent may employ such assistance as is necessary to conduct the institute. Two or more adjoining counties may jointly hold an institute. Institute instruction shall be free to holders of licenses good in the county or counties holding the institute and to those who have paid an examination fee and failed to receive a license. In counties of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, the regional superintendent may arrange for or conduct district, regional, or county inservice training workshops, or equivalent professional educational experiences, not more than 4 days annually. Of those 4 days, 2 days may be used as a teachers, administrators, and school support personnel workshop, when approved by the regional superintendent, up to 2 days may be used for conducting parent-teacher conferences, or up to 2 days may be utilized as parental institute days as provided in Section 10-22.18d. School support personnel may be exempt from a workshop if the workshop is not relevant to the work they do. A school district may use one of those 4 days on the last day of the school term. "Inservice Training Workshops" or "Professional educational experiences" means any educational gathering, demonstration of methods of instruction, visitation of schools or other institutions or facilities, sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness seminar, or training in First Aid (which may include cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillator training) held or approved by the regional superintendent and declared by the regional superintendent to be an inservice training workshop, or parent-teacher conferences. With the concurrence of the State Superintendent of Education, the regional superintendent may employ such assistance as is necessary to conduct the inservice training workshop. With the approval of the regional superintendent, 2 or more adjoining districts may jointly hold an inservice training workshop. In addition, with the approval of the regional superintendent, one district may conduct its own inservice training workshop with subject matter consultants requested from the county, State or any State institution of higher learning. Such institutes as referred to in this Section may be held on consecutive or separate days at the option of the regional superintendent having jurisdiction thereof. Whenever reference is made in this Act to "institute", it shall be construed to include the inservice training workshops or equivalent professional educational experiences provided for in this Section. Any institute advisory committee existing on April 1, 1995, is dissolved and the duties and responsibilities of the institute advisory committee are assumed by the regional office of education advisory board. Districts providing inservice training programs shall constitute inservice committees, 1/2 of which shall be teachers, 1/4 school service personnel and 1/4 administrators to establish program content and schedules. In addition to other topics not listed in this Section, the teachers institutes may include training committed to health conditions of students; social-emotional learning; developing cultural competency; identifying warning signs of mental illness and suicidal behavior in youth; domestic and sexual violence and the needs of expectant and parenting youth; protections and accommodations for students; educator ethics; responding to child sexual abuse and grooming behavior; and effective instruction in violence prevention and conflict resolution. Institute programs in these topics shall be credited toward hours of professional development required for license renewal as outlined in subsection (e) of Section 21B-45. (b) In this subsection (b): "Trauma" is defined according to an event, an experience, and effects. Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual's functioning and mental, physical, social, or emotional well-being. Collective trauma is a psychological reaction to a traumatic event shared by any group of people. This may include, but is not limited to, community violence, experiencing racism and discrimination, and the lack of the essential supports for well-being, such as educational or economic opportunities, food, health care, housing, and community cohesion. Trauma can be experienced by anyone, though it is disproportionately experienced by members of marginalized groups. Systemic and historical oppression, such as racism, is often at the root of this inequity. Symptoms may vary at different developmental stages and across different cultural groups and different communities. "Trauma-responsive learning environments" means learning environments developed during an ongoing, multiyear-long process that typically progresses across the following 3 stages: (1) A school or district is "trauma aware" when it: (A) has personnel that demonstrate a foundational understanding of a broad