Along with New Years’ resolutions, 2019 brings a host of new laws that affect school districts. Summarized below are laws that go into effect January 1, 2019 and will likely require school districts to review and change their current practices. Of course, this list is not exhaustive of all new laws but provides a summary of those that will require immediate compliance changes.

Human Trafficking Hotline
Effective January 1, 2019, the Human Trafficking Resource Center Notice Act will require elementary and secondary schools to post the Department of Human Services notice giving information on human trafficking and a hotline number for those in need of assistance. The notice must be placed in the District administrative office or another location in view of school employees. The notice may be accessed here.

Concussion Brochure
Public Act 100-747 requires the Department of Public Health to develop a brochure regarding the potential warning signs and effects of concussions in children. This brochure must be distributed, free of charge, to parents/guardians of students who may have sustained a concussion, regardless of whether the concussion occurred while the student was participating in an interscholastic athletic activity. Although this brochure has not been developed, a school district may find materials to distribute on the Illinois Department of Public Health website or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. In fact, the CDC has customizable materials regarding concussions that school districts may use.

Dual Credit Courses
Starting January 1, 2019, the Dual Credit Quality Act will allow school districts within the jurisdiction of a community college to enter into partnership agreements with those colleges to offer dual credit coursework that can be completed at the high school taught by a high school instructor for college credit. If a school district requests such a partnership, the local community college must oblige and enter into a partnership agreement with the school district. The statute lists 9 requirements that must be contained in the partnership agreement. A model partnership agreement will also be developed by the Dual Credit Committee by June 30, 2019.

With this change, the School Code has also been revised to allow qualified students to enroll in an unlimited amount of dual credit courses and earn an unlimited amount of academic credits from dual credit courses if they are provided under the requirements of the Dual Credit Quality Act.

Dental Exams
Effective January 1, 2019, Illinois law now requires entering ninth graders, along with entering kindergarteners, second graders and sixth graders to obtain a dental examination.

Black History
The Illinois School Code requires elementary schools and high schools to offer a unit of instruction on the events of Black History. Public Act 100-634 now allows schools to meet this requirement through an online program or course.

Happy Holidays from Kriha Law LLC!