S.B. 313: Board of Education Act Amendment

The Board of Higher Education Act establishes minimum admission standards for public community colleges, public colleges, and state universities. Senate Bill 313 amends the Act by mandating that if a state university determines that a student needs remedial course work, the university must require that the student complete it before pursuing a major course of study.

S.B. 543: School Code Amendment

Under current law, parents and guardians are not required to have their children attend kindergarten. Under Senate Bill 543, kindergarten becomes a mandatory educational year for children.

S.B. 715: School Center Health Act

Senate Bill 715 creates the School Center Health Act. The bill's legislative findings are that school health centers increase access to health care, reduce absenteeism among students, lessen health care access disparities, and correct unhealthy behaviors that compromise health and education success. Illinois school health centers significantly cut the state costs of emergency room visits, immunizations, and asthma-related hospitalizations. Under the Act, all students under 18 in the school where a health center is located would be eligible for services as long as they obtained parental consent. Subject to the appropriation of funding, the Department of Human Services will initiate twenty new school health centers over a five-year period, while building the capacity of existing school health centers in Illinois.

Senate Bill 364 expands the definition of community that receives notification about sex offenders, child murderers, and violent offenders against youth to include libraries located in the county (other than Chicago) where the offender is required to register, resides, is employed, or is attending an institution of higher learning. In Chicago, notification extends to libraries located in the police district where the offender is required to register or is employed.

S.B. 1428: Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act Amendment

Senate Bill 1428 amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act by increasing the list of mandated reporters. The bill requires school board members, the Chicago Board of Education members, and private school governing bodies with reasonable cause to believe that a child known to them in their professional or official capacity may be an abused or neglected child to report or cause a report to be made immediately to the Department of Child and Family Services.

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For more information contact Wendy Pollack, director of the Women’s Law & Policy Project at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, at 312-263-3830 ext. 238 or wendypollack@povertylaw.org.