Just hours before the conclusion of the spring legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly passed two bills that will significantly impact students who receive services until age 22. The first, HB40, impacts students...more
Over the past year, the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools has come under increased scrutiny. While ISBE issued emergency rules at the end of last November, followed by a series of updates and then final...more
Our Franczek team received many inquiries about staffing options for classrooms where the teacher of record is teaching remotely. While many districts are staffing these classrooms with licensed paraprofessionals, the...more
The Fifth District recently upheld the dismissal of a complaint filed by 22 Illinois school districts against Governor Pritzker and the State of Illinois challenging the constitutionality of the state’s public education...more
In the wake of Governor Pritzker’s recent order requiring all Illinois schools to close between March 17 and March 30, many schools and school districts have been left guessing how to best serve students with disabilities and...more
School districts across the country are facing uncertainty when it comes to the legal rights of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming students. A lawsuit in Connecticut and a bill in Arizona, for instance, aim to...more
Last week, ISBE reversed course on isolated time out. After initially banning the practice in late November 2019, ISBE heard from many stakeholders that having a staff member in a time out room with an escalated student was...more
On February 25, 2020, ISBE posted a second amendment to its emergency rules governing physical restraint and time out. This new amendment, which is effective immediately, is the most recent development in ISBE’s attempts to...more
On February 18, 2020, ISBE approved revised proposed rules related to the use of physical restraint and time out in schools. The revised proposed rules follow ISBE’s receipt and review of over three hundredb comments on...more
After receiving and reviewing questions and concerns from stakeholders regarding the practical implications of its emergency rules on the use of time out and physical restraint, the Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”)...more
Within the last few weeks, there have been significant changes to the Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) rules regarding time out and physical restraint. First, ISBE issued emergency rules, then it...more
As we reported at the time, in 2015 the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) issued non-regulatory guidance regarding the application of Section 24-14 of the Illinois School Code to teacher resignations. After amendments...more
On August 23, 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-531 (Act) which puts into place a number of measures aimed at increasing student safety....more