On Friday, August 23rd, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 3586, which amends Article 14 of the Illinois School Code and provides additional requirements for public school districts across the state relative to providing draft documents in advance of IEP meetings and the Response to Intervention (“RtI”) Protocol. The new statute is in effect immediately, although it may be subject to amendment in the upcoming “veto session” of the Legislature.
Article 14 of the School Code now requires all public school districts in the state of Illinois to provide the child’s parent or guardian with “copies of all written material” that will be considered at the IEP meeting at least three school days in advance of such meeting. The written drafts provided to the parents must include, but are not limited to:
- All evaluations and collected data that will be considered at the meeting; and
- For students already eligible, a copy of all IEP components that will be discussed by the IEP team, “[and] copies of all written material that will be considered by the individualized education program team at the meeting other than the components related to the educational and related service minutes proposed for the child and the child’s educational placement.”
In addition to the draft document requirement, the amended statute also requires public school districts to make related service logs and make these logs available to the parent at the student’s annual review meeting or upon request. School districts must also inform parents of their right to request these logs within twenty school days of the start of the 2019-2020 school year.
Finally, the amended statute clarifies school districts’ obligations relative to response to intervention and parent involvement in the RtI process. School districts must utilize RtI as part of the evaluation process to determine eligibility for a specific learning disability.
As a result of these changes, school districts will need to put protocols and procedures into place to ensure timely transmission of information to parents/guardians and tracking mechanisms for the delivery of related services.
For questions regarding the statutory changes and their impacts, please contact Michelle Todd or Kaitlin Atlas.
