New Laws Effective 1/1/2012

legislature

New Laws Effective 1/1/2012

Jan 4, 2012

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The following laws have an effective date of January 1, 2012.

School Districts

Personnel

  • HB1240/PA97-0248 – Requires school districts to share, with any school district, community college or private school upon request, results of criminal history records checks and Statewide Sex Offender Database checks obtained within past year on employees of persons or firms holding contracts with the school district which received such request.
  • HB147/PA97-0466 – Applicants for an Illinois School Bus Driver Permit must consent, in writing, to have results of reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing conducted by their employers released to the Secretary of State in order to obtain a permit. School districts who employ school bus drivers must notify the Secretary of State within 48 hours of receipt of certain test results indicating drug or alcohol use, or of a driver’s refusal to be tested.
  • SB1578/PA97-0525 –Authorizes paid attendance by educational support personnel (ESPs) at teacher institutes or equivalent ROE institutes, unless the ESP is exempt from attending the workshop because it is not relevant to his or her work. School districts may deduct pro-rata wages from ESPs who refuse to attend such institutes, unless they are exempt from attending.
  • HB 3464/PA97-0256 – Administrator and teacher salary and benefits must be reported to the State Superintendent annually by October 1 rather than July 1. For more information on posting requirements, please see RSNLT’s December 2011 Law Alert.
  • New criminal offense of “trespass to a safe school zone” for employees dismissed for disrupting orderly operation of school. See laws listed under “Property” for further information.

Students

  • HB192/PA97-0294 – Amends the “Stalking No Contact Order Act” and “Illinois Domestic Violence Act” to address situations in which the parties who are the subject of the court orders attend same school.
  • HB2086/PA97-0495 – Expelled students or students who have been suspended for more than 20 school days may be immediately transferred to an alternative program, unless they pose a threat to the safety of students or staff in the program. A school district may adopt a policy requiring students to complete the entire suspension or expulsion in a regional safe school or alternative learning opportunity school before returning to the district, if the student involved does not pose such a safety threat. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, students who have been expelled or suspended for more than 20 school days must be permitted to enroll in an alternative learning opportunity school.
  • HB3281/PA97-0340 – Allows schools to suspend or expel students who make explicit threats on a website against a district student or employee, if the threats meet specified criteria.
  • HB139/PA97-0086 – Permits school districts to emphasize reading and math in remedial summer school programs for students who have performed at least two grades below level for two consecutive school years.
  • New criminal offense of “trespass to a safe school zone” for suspended or expelled students. See laws listed under “Property” for further information.

Property

  • SB2096/PA97-0355 – School districts do not have to comply with Illinois Accessibility Code standards for press boxes which are (1) on school property, (2) in bleachers that have points of entry at only one level, and (3) no larger than 500 square feet in area.
  • HB78/PA97-0547 – Creates the offense of “criminal trespass to a safe school zone” (a Class A misdemeanor) for students who have been suspended or expelled students and for employees who have been dismissed for disrupting the orderly operation of school and who have received written notice that they have been denied access. Such a trespass charge may also be brought against other individuals who enter or remain in the safe school zone without “lawful business” after receiving notice that they may not be present on school grounds.
  • HB1095/PA97-0554 – Prohibits school districts from using rebuilt flame safeguard controls in forced air heating equipment, unless a nationally recognized testing agency has labeled and listed the rebuilt safeguard control. Willful failure to remove any rebuilt flame safeguard control in forced air heating equipment is a Class B misdemeanor. Tampering with, removing, destroying, or disconnecting any installed flame safeguard control, except to inspect, maintain or replace the control, is a Class A misdemeanor (for the first conviction) or a Class 4 felony (subsequent convictions).

Organization

  • SB621-PA97-0097 – Allows four or more contiguous school districts having all or part of their territory located within same municipality to partner with an institution of higher education to jointly operate a science and mathematics partnership school serving some or all of grades K through 8.
  • SB2134/PA97-0357 – Each school district must annually complete a report developed by ISBE, to accompany the district’s annual financial report and be published on ISBE’s website, summarizing its efforts to improve fiscal efficiency through shared services or outsourcing during the prior fiscal year, and listing shared services or outsourcing the district may consider for the next fiscal year. A district that is required to submit a deficit reduction plan to ISBE must prepare a shared services and outsourcing plan in consultation with the regional superintendent.

All Public Bodies

  • HB1277/PA97-0318 – Public bodies subject to the Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) may close a meeting between internal or external auditors, governmental audit committees, finance committees, and their equivalents, when the discussion involves internal control weaknesses, identification of potential fraud risk areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews.
  • HB1670/PA97-0504 – All elected and appointed officials must take OMA training courses administered by the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor. School board members may satisfy this requirement by participating in training offered through the Illinois Association of School Boards.
  • HB3010/PA97-0410 – Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act’s prohibition of discrimination in places of public accommodation to include discrimination based on mental, psychological or developmental disability, including autism spectrum disorder.
  • An employer must pay an additional contribution (“Accelerated Payment”) for earnings increases during the Final Rate of Earnings (“FRE”) period which exceed the prior year’s earnings by the greater of 6% or 1.5% of the CPI-U.
  • An employer must obtain a “Pension Impact Statement” from the IMRF before increasing the earnings of an officer, executive or manager by 12% or more, and pay costs associated with the impact statement.
  • The 125% rule applies to the last 24 months of the FRE period.
  • Future retired IMRF members who return to work in an IMRF-covered position will have their pension payments suspended during the period of that employment. For additional information on the IMRF Pension Reform, please see RSNLT’s October 12, 2011 In-Brief.
  • Requires specific website postings for IMRF-covered employers, as detailed in RSNLT’s September 21, 2011 and October 31, 2011 Law Alerts.
  • SB1471/PA0319 – Changes IMRF’s calculation of the annuity reserve for IMRF employees who have worked for two or more IMRF employers.

Community Colleges

  • HB295/PA97-155 – Sex offenders or predators must register with the public safety or security director of any Illinois institution of higher education which they attend or by which they are employed. For additional information, please see RSNLT’s October 17, 2011 In-Brief.
  • SB122/PA97-0588 – Community colleges and other public institutions of higher education must track statistics on admission, retention and graduation of students who are the first members of their immediate families to attend an institution of higher education.
  • HB1503/PA97-0320 – Beginning in Fiscal Year 2013, the Board of Higher Education’s budget recommendations must include performance-based funding allocations for all institutions, including community colleges, designed to promote and measure student success in degree and certificate completion.

Municipalities

  • HB1513/PA97-120 – Municipalities with populations of less than 500,000 may make deductions from an employee’s wages or final compensation to recoup overpayment of compensation resulting from a typographical or mathematical error, or to collect a debt owed after notice is provided to the employee and the employee is given an opportunity to be heard. The deduction may not exceed 15% of the net amount of the payment. Municipalities must make specific certifications before making such deductions.