Amends the School Code. Provides that pupils absent from school due to the following valid causes may be counted as in attendance for the number of clock hours and days that the pupil was absent due to the valid cause: (1) illness, including the mental or behavioral health of the student up to 5 days for mental and behavioral health; (2) attendance at a verified medical or therapeutic appointment; and (3) death in the immediate family.
Amends the School Code. Requires a school district to develop and implement a plan to provide additional instructional services, support, or special accommodations to students who suffer from trauma related to experiencing the death of a sibling, parent, guardian, or household member by suicide or homicide or suffer from trauma caused by domestic violence or abuse and whom the school has determined require additional instructional services, support, or special accommodations but do not qualify for an individualized education program or for services under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Sets forth what the plan may include. Provides that the plan shall remain in place until the student (i) is no longer enrolled in the district or (ii) has made such significant and sustained academic progress that the student no longer requires the plan. In provisions relating to children with disabilities, provides that beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, the notice that a school board provides concerning who qualifies for services under Section 504 shall include that a child may qualify for those services if the child is a student who is at least 3 years old or older and under 22 years and who (i) has experienced the death of a sibling, parent, guardian, or household member by suicide or homicide or (ii) suffers from trauma caused by domestic violence or abuse. Effective immediately.
HB 2365 proposes to appropriate $67 million to the State Board of Education. This funding is specifically designated to cover the costs associated with the Healthy School Meals for All Program. The bill directly affects the State Board of Education by providing funds for program operations. Indirectly, it benefits students who participate in the Healthy School Meals for All Program by ensuring continued support for meal provisions. The bill is set to become effective on July 1, 2025.
Appropriates $340,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the State Board of Education to address shortages of school psychologists in this State through specified methods. Effective July 1, 2025.
Appropriates $209,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the State Board of Education for costs associated with the Healthy School Meals for All Program. Effective July 1, 2025.
Amends the School Boards Article of the School Code. Requires the adopted school board policy for a remote educational program to allow a student to apply to participate in the remote educational program if the student (i) provides an employee pay stub, (ii) has a medical need, including pregnancy, or (iii) needs to care for a family member, including the student's own child.
Amends the School Code. Provides that a school district may (rather than shall) make menstrual hygiene products available, at no cost to students, in bathrooms of every school building that are open for student use in grades 4 through 12 during the regular school day.
Amends the School Code. Removes language allowing school districts that collect biometric information from students to adopt specified policies. Instead, prohibits a school district from purchasing or otherwise acquiring biometric systems to use on students. Provides that a school district may not do any of the following with respect to students: (1) obtain, retain, possess, access, request, or use biometric systems or biometric information derived from biometric systems; or (2) enter into an agreement with a third party for the purpose of obtaining, retaining, possessing, accessing, or using, by or on behalf of the school district, biometric systems. Provides that, within 30 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, if a school district is in possession of student biometric information, then the school district shall destroy the biometric information and provide certified documentation of destruction to the State Board of Education. Provides that, within 30 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, any school district that has contracted with a third party to obtain, collect, or store student biometric information shall require the third party to destroy all biometric information in its possession and confirm in writing the completion of this destruction to the school district. During the 30-day period in which a school district may still have student biometric information in its possession, prohibits the school district from selling, leasing, or otherwise disclosing the biometric information to another person or entity unless: (1) the individual who has legal custody of the student or the student, if he or she has reached the age of 18, consents to the disclosure; or (2) the disclosure is required by court order. Makes other changes.
Amends the School Code. Removes language providing that at the end of each school year, a school district shall catalogue and report to the State Board of Education the total amount that remains unpaid by students due to a prohibition on withholding a student's grades, transcripts, or diploma because of an unpaid balance on the student's school account. Removes language providing that the prohibition is inoperative on a certain date.
Appropriates $2,000,000 to the State Board of Education for grants, contracts, and administration expenses under the federal Farm to School State Formula Grant. Effective July 1, 2025.
