105 ILCS 5/14-6.01
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 105 - SCHOOLS|105 ILCS 5/ - School Code.|Article 14 - Children With Disabilities

 (from Ch. 122, par. 14-6.01)Sec. 14-6.01. Powers and duties of school boards. School boards of  one or more school districts establishing and maintaining any of the  educational facilities described in this Article shall, in connection  therewith, exercise similar powers and duties as are prescribed by law  for the establishment, maintenance, and management of other recognized  educational facilities. Such school boards shall include only eligible  children in the program and shall comply with all the requirements of  this Article and all rules and regulations established by the State  Board of Education.  Such school boards shall accept in part-time  attendance children with disabilities of the types  described in Sections  14-1.02 through 14-1.07 who are enrolled in nonpublic schools.  A  request for part-time attendance must be submitted by a parent or  guardian of the child with a disability and may be made  only to those public  schools located in the district where the child attending the nonpublic  school resides; however, nothing in this Section shall be construed as  prohibiting an agreement between the district where the child resides  and another public school district to provide special educational  services if such an arrangement is deemed more convenient and  economical. 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.  Transportation for students in part time attendance shall be  provided only if required in the child's individualized educational program  on the basis of the child's disabling condition or as the  special education  program location may require.Beginning  with the 2019-2020 school year, a school board shall post on its Internet website, if any, and incorporate into its student handbook or newsletter notice that students with disabilities who do not qualify for an individualized education program, as required by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and implementing provisions of this Code, may qualify for services under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 if the child (i) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (ii) has a record of a physical or mental impairment, or (iii) is regarded as having a physical or mental impairment. Such notice shall identify the location and  phone number of the office or agent of the school district to whom  inquiries should be directed regarding the identification, assessment and  placement of such children.For a school district organized under Article 34 only, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the school district shall, in collaboration with its primary office overseeing special education, publish on the school district's publicly available website any proposed changes to its special education policies, directives, guidelines, or procedures that impact the provision of educational or related services to students with disabilities or the procedural safeguards afforded to students with disabilities or their parents or guardians made by the school district or school board. Any policy, directive, guideline, or procedural change that impacts those provisions or safeguards that is authorized by the school district's primary office overseeing special education or any other administrative office of the school district must be published on the school district's publicly available website no later than 45 days before the adoption of that change. Any policy directive, guideline, or procedural change that impacts those provisions or safeguards that is authorized by the school board must be published on the school district's publicly available website no later than 30 days before the date of presentation to the school board for adoption. The school district's website must allow for virtual public comments on proposed special education policy, directive, guideline, or procedural changes that impact the provision of educational or related services to students with disabilities or the procedural safeguards afforded to students with disabilities or their parents or guardians from the date of the notification of the proposed change on the website until the date the change is adopted by the school district or until the date the change is presented to the school board for adoption. After the period for public comment is closed, the school district must maintain all public comments for a period of not less than 2 years from the date the special education change is adopted. The public comments are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The school board shall, at a minimum, advertise the notice of the change and availability for public comment on its website. The State Board of Education may add additional reporting requirements for the district beyond policy, directive, guideline, or procedural changes that impact the provision of educational or related services to students with disabilities or the procedural safeguards afforded to students with disabilities or their parents or guardians if the State Board determines it is in the best interest of the students enrolled in the district receiving special education services.School boards shall immediately provide upon request by any person  written materials and other information that indicates the specific  policies, procedures, rules and regulations regarding the identification,  evaluation or educational placement of children with  disabilities under Section  14-8.02 of the School Code.  Such information shall include information  regarding all rights and entitlements of such children under this Code, and  of the opportunity to present complaints with respect to any matter  relating to educational placement of the student, or the provision of a  free appropriate public education and to have an impartial due process  hearing on the complaint.  The notice shall inform the parents or guardian  in the parents' or guardian's native language, unless it is clearly not  feasible to do so, of their rights and all procedures available pursuant to  this Act and federal Public Law 94-142; it shall be the responsibility of  the State Superintendent to develop uniform notices setting forth the  procedures available under this Act and federal Public Law 94-142, as  amended, to be used by all school boards.  The notice shall also inform the  parents or guardian of the availability upon request of a list of free or  low-cost legal and other relevant services available locally to assist  parents or guardians in exercising rights or entitlements under this Code. For a school district organized under Article 34 only, the school district must make the entirety of its special education Procedural Manual and any other guidance documents pertaining to special education publicly available, in print and on the school district's website, in both English and Spanish. Upon request, the school district must make the Procedural Manual and other guidance documents available in print in any other language and accessible for individuals with disabilities.Any parent or guardian who is deaf, or does not normally communicate  using spoken English, who participates in a meeting with a representative  of a local educational agency for the purposes of developing an  individualized educational program shall be entitled to the services of  an interpreter.No student with a disability or, in a school district organized under Article 34 of this Code, child with a learning disability may be denied promotion,  graduation or a general  diploma on the basis of failing a minimal competency test when such failure  can be directly related to the disabling  condition of the student.  For the  purpose of this Act, "minimal competency testing" is defined as tests which  are constructed to measure the acquisition of skills to or beyond a certain  defined standard.Effective July 1, 1966, high school districts are financially  responsible for the education of pupils with disabilities who  are residents in their  districts when such pupils have reached age 15 but may admit  children with disabilities into special educational facilities without  regard to graduation  from the eighth grade after such pupils have reached the age of 14 1/2 years.  Upon a pupil with a disability attaining the age of 14 1/2 years,  it shall be  the duty of the elementary school district in which the pupil resides to  notify the high school district in which the pupil resides of the pupil's  current eligibility for special education services, of the pupil's current  program, and of all evaluation data upon which the current program is  based.  After an examination of that information the high school district  may accept the current placement and all subsequent timelines shall be  governed by the current individualized educational program; or the high  school district may elect to conduct its own evaluation and  multidisciplinary staff conference and formulate its own individualized  educational program, in which case the procedures and timelines contained  in Section 14-8.02 shall apply.  (Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 100-1112, eff. 8-28-18; 101-515, eff. 8-23-19.)