Bill Text: IL HB3950 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code in provisions concerning transition services. Makes changes relating to the definition of terms. Provides that, as a component of transition planning, a school district shall provide a student with information about the school district's career and technical education (CTE) opportunities and postsecondary CTE opportunities; sets forth what the CTE information must include. Provides that a student in high school with an individualized education program may enroll in the school district's CTE program at any time if participation in a CTE program is consistent with the student's transition goals. Makes changes concerning the participants in the transition planning process. Amends the Dual Credit Quality Act. Requires a high school and community college partnership agreement to include the collaborative process and criteria by which a school district and a community college district shall work to ensure that individual students with disabilities have access to dual credit courses, provided that those students are able to meet the criteria for entry into a dual credit course; sets forth other requirements. Amends the Public Community College Act. Requires each community college district to provide access to higher education for students with disabilities. Encourages each community college to offer for-credit and non-credit courses as deemed appropriate for the individual student based on the student's abilities, interests, and postsecondary transition goals, with the appropriate individualized supplementary aids and accommodations. Strongly encourages each community college to have its disability services coordinator or the coordinator's representative participate either in person or remotely in meetings held by high schools within the community college district to provide information to the student's individualized education program team about the community college and the availability of courses and programs at the community college. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 26-3)

Status: (Passed) 2021-08-20 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0516 [HB3950 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB3950-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
14-8.03 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/14-8.03) (from Ch. 122, par. 14-8.03)
Sec. 14-8.03. Transition services.
(a) For purposes of this Section: ,
"Independent living skills" may include, without
limitation, personal hygiene, health care, fitness, food
preparation and nutrition, home management and safety,
dressing and clothing care, financial management and wellness,
self-esteem, self-advocacy, self-determination, community
living, housing options, public safety, leisure and
recreation, and transportation.
"Transition transition services" means a coordinated set
of activities for a child with a disability that (i) is
designed to be within a results-oriented process that is
focused on improving the academic and functional achievement
of the child with a disability to facilitate the child's
movement from school to post-school activities, including
post-secondary education, which may include for-credit
courses, career and technical education, and non-credit

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courses and instruction, vocational education, integrated
employment (including supported employment), continuing and
adult education, adult services, independent living, or
community participation; (ii) is based on the individual
child's needs, taking into account the child's strengths,
preferences, and interests; and (iii) includes instruction,
related services, community experiences, the development of
employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and,
if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills, benefits
counseling and planning, work incentives education, and the
provision of a functional vocational evaluation. Transition
services for a child with a disability may be special
education, if provided as specially designed instruction, or a
related service if required to assist a child with a
disability to benefit from special education.
(a-5) Beginning no later than the first individualized
education plan (IEP) in effect when the student turns age 14
1/2 (or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team) and
updated annually thereafter, the IEP must include (i)
measurable post-secondary goals based upon age-appropriate
transition assessments and other information available
regarding the student that are related to training, education,
employment, and independent living skills and (ii) the
transition services needed to assist the student in reaching
those goals, including courses of study.
As a component of transition planning, the school district

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shall provide the student with information about the school
district's career and technical education (CTE) opportunities
and postsecondary CTE opportunities. The CTE information shall
include a list of programming options, the scope and sequence
of study for pursuing those options, and the locations of
those options. A student in high school with an IEP may enroll
in the school district's CTE program at any time if
participation in a CTE program is consistent with the
student's transition goals.
(b) Transition planning must be conducted as part of the
IEP process and must be governed by the procedures applicable
to the development, review, and revision of the IEP, including
notices to the parents and student, parent and student
participation, and annual review. To appropriately assess and
develop IEP transition goals and transition services for a
child with a disability, additional participants may be
necessary and may be invited by the school district, parent,
or student to participate in the transition planning process.
Additional participants may include without limitation a
representative from the Department of Human Services or
another State agency, a case coordinator, or persons
representing other public or community agencies or services,
such as adult service providers, disability services
coordinators of or public community colleges, and a CTE
coordinator. The IEP shall identify each person responsible
for coordinating and delivering transition services. If the

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IEP team determines that the student requires transition
services from a public or private entity outside of the school
district, the IEP team shall identify potential outside
resources, assign one or more IEP team members to contact the
appropriate outside entities, make the necessary referrals,
provide any information and documents necessary to complete
the referral, follow up with the entity to ensure that the
student has been successfully linked to the entity, and
monitor the student's progress to determine if the student's
IEP transition goals and benchmarks are being met. The
student's IEP shall indicate one or more specific time periods
during the school year when the IEP team shall review the
services provided by the outside entity and the student's
progress in such activities. The public school's
responsibility for delivering educational services does not
extend beyond the time the student leaves school or when the
student's eligibility ends due to age under this Article.
(c) A school district shall submit annually a summary of
each eligible student's IEP transition goals and transition
services resulting from the IEP Team meeting to the
appropriate local Transition Planning Committee. If students
with disabilities who are ineligible for special education
services request transition services, local public school
districts shall assist those students by identifying
post-secondary school goals, delivering appropriate education
services, and coordinating with other agencies and services

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for assistance.
(Source: P.A. 98-517, eff. 8-22-13.)
Section 10. The Dual Credit Quality Act is amended by
changing Section 16 and by adding Section 40 as follows:
(110 ILCS 27/16)
Sec. 16. High school and community college partnership
agreements; dual credit. A community college district shall,
upon the request of a school district within the jurisdiction
of the community college district, enter into a partnership
agreement with the school district to offer dual credit
coursework.
A school district may offer any course identified in the
Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core
Curriculum package under the Illinois Articulation Initiative
Act as a dual credit course on the campus of a high school of
the school district and may use a high school instructor who
has met the academic credential requirements under this Act to
teach the dual credit course.
The partnership agreement shall include all of the
following:
(1) The establishment of the school district's and the
community college district's respective roles and
responsibilities in providing the program and ensuring the
quality and instructional rigor of the program. This must

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include an assurance that the community college district
has appropriate academic control of the curriculum,
consistent with any State or federal law and as required
or negotiated with the Higher Learning Commission or other
applicable accrediting agency.
(2) The dual credit courses that the school district
will offer its students and whether those courses will be
offered on the high school or community college campus or
through an online platform established by the Illinois
Community College Board.
(3) The establishment of academic criteria for
granting eligibility for high school students to enroll in
dual credit coursework. The academic criteria shall be
evidence-based and shall include multiple appropriate
measures to determine whether a student is prepared for
any dual credit coursework in which the student enrolls.
(4) The establishment of any limitations that the
school district or community college district may put on
course offerings due to availability of instructors, the
availability of students for specific course offerings, or
local board policy.
(5) The requirement that the dual credit instructor
meet the academic credential requirements to teach a dual
credit course, consistent with paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3) of Section 20 of this Act, but shall not be required to
exceed those credentials.

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(6) The collaborative process and criteria by which
the school district shall identify and recommend and the
community college district shall review and approve high
school instructors of dual credit courses taught on the
campus of a high school. This provision shall require that
the school district be responsible for hiring and
compensating the instructor.
(7) The requirement that a community college district
take the appropriate steps to ensure that dual credit
courses are equivalent to those courses offered at the
community college in quality and rigor to qualify for
college credit. The dual credit programs shall encompass
the following characteristics:
(A) Student learning outcomes expected for dual
credit courses in General Education Core Curriculum
courses and the professional and career and technical
disciplines shall be the same as the student learning
outcomes expected for the same courses taught on the
postsecondary campus.
(B) Course content, course delivery, and course
rigor shall be evaluated by the community college
chief academic officer or his or her designee, in
consultation with the school district's superintendent
or his or her designee. The evaluation shall be
conducted in a manner that is consistent with the
community college district's review and evaluation

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policy and procedures for on-campus adjunct faculty,
including visits to the secondary class. This
evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
ability of the instructor to deliver quality, rigorous
college credit coursework. This evaluation shall not
impact the instructor's performance evaluation under
Article 24A of the School Code.
(C) The academic supports and, if applicable,
guidance that will be provided to students
participating in the program by the high school and
the community college district.
(8) Identify all fees and costs to be assessed by the
community college district for dual credit courses. This
provision shall require that any fees and costs assessed
for dual credit courses shall be reasonable and promote
student access to those courses, and may take into account
regional considerations and differences.
(8.5) The collaborative process and criteria by which
a school district and a community college district shall
work to ensure that individual students with disabilities
have access to dual credit courses, provided that those
students are able to meet the criteria for entry into a
dual credit course. Through this process and criteria, the
student shall have access to the supplementary aids and
accommodations included in the student's individualized
education program under Article 14 of the School Code or

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Section 504 plan under the federal Rehabilitation Act of
1973 while the student is accessing a dual credit course
on a high school campus, in accordance with established
practices at the high school for providing these services.
A student who accesses a dual credit course on a community
college campus shall have access to supplementary aids and
accommodations provided in the partnership agreement,
including access to the community college's disability
services. A school district and community college district
shall work together to provide seamless communication
about the student's progress.
(9) The community college district shall establish a
mechanism for evaluating and documenting on a regular
basis the performance of students who complete dual credit
courses, consistent with paragraph (9) of Section 20 and
Section 30 of this Act, and for sharing that data in a
meaningful and timely manner with the school district.
This evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
coursework. This evaluation shall not impact the
instructor's performance evaluation under Article 24A of
the School Code.
If, within 180 calendar days of the school district's
initial request to enter into a partnership agreement with the
community college district, the school district and the
community college district do not reach agreement on the
partnership agreement, then the school district and community

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college district shall jointly implement the provisions of the
Model Partnership Agreement established under Section 19 of
this Act for which local agreement could not be reached. A
community college district may combine its negotiations with
multiple school districts to establish one multi-district
partnership agreement or may negotiate individual partnership
agreements at its discretion.
(Source: P.A. 100-1049, eff. 1-1-19.)
(110 ILCS 27/40 new)
Sec. 40. Students with disabilities. Within one year after
the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General
Assembly, each community college district in this State, in
partnership with the appropriate high schools, shall modify
its dual credit plan to ensure access to dual credit courses by
students with disabilities consistent with Section 16 of this
Act. The partnership agreement shall address how a high school
and community college district will ensure the incorporation
of an individualized education program or supplementary aids
and accommodations pursuant to a Section 504 plan under the
federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for students with
disabilities who enroll in dual credit courses.
Section 15. The Public Community College Act is amended by
adding Section 3-29.14 as follows:

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(110 ILCS 805/3-29.14 new)
Sec. 3-29.14. Students with disabilities.
(a) Each community college district shall provide access
to higher education for students with disabilities, including,
but not limited to, students with intellectual or
developmental disabilities. Each community college is
encouraged to offer for-credit and non-credit courses as
deemed appropriate for the individual student based on the
student's abilities, interests, and postsecondary transition
goals, with the appropriate individualized supplementary aids
and accommodations, including general education courses,
career and technical education, vocational training,
continuing education certificates, individualized learning
paths, and life skills courses for students with disabilities.
(b) Each community college is strongly encouraged to have
its disability services coordinator or the coordinator's
representative participate either in person or remotely in
meetings held by high schools within the community college
district to provide information to the student's
individualized education program team, including the student
and the student's parent or guardian, about the community
college and the availability of courses and programs at the
community college.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.