Bill Text: IL SB3768 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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

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Bill Title: Reinserts the contents of the bill as engrossed with the following changes. Provides that priority of services shall be given to students referred to the Philip J. Rock Center and School who qualify as individuals with concomitant hearing and visual impairments or who are eligible for special education services under the category of deafblind. Provides that such a student may not be denied enrollment unless the student's placement in the Center and School would endanger the health or safety of any other student.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-5)

Status: (Passed) 2024-08-09 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-1045 [SB3768 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3768-Engrossed.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
14-11.02 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/14-11.02) (from Ch. 122, par. 14-11.02)
Sec. 14-11.02. The Philip J. Rock Center and School for
the Deafblind. Notwithstanding any other Sections of this
Article, the State Board of Education shall develop and
operate or contract for the operation of a service center for
persons who are deaf-blind.
(a) For the purpose of this Section, persons who are
deafblind with deaf-blindness are (i) individuals with
concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of
which causes such severe communication and other developmental
and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in
special education programs solely for children with deafness
or children with blindness, (ii) individuals with solely a
hearing impairment, or (iii) individuals with solely a visual
impairment persons who have both auditory and visual
impairments, the combination of which causes such severe
communication and other developmental, educational, vocational
and rehabilitation problems that such persons cannot be

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properly accommodated in special education or vocational
rehabilitation programs solely for persons with both hearing
and visual disabilities.
(b) To be eligible for deafblind deaf-blind services under
this Section, a person must have (i) a visual impairment, a
hearing and an auditory impairment, or both or (ii) a
condition in which there is a progressive loss of hearing, or
vision, or both that results in concomitant vision and hearing
impairments and that adversely affects educational performance
as determined by the multidisciplinary conference. For
purposes of this paragraph and Section:
(1) (A) A visual impairment shall have the same
meaning as in the federal Individuals With Disabilities
Education Act and its implementing regulations is defined
to mean one or more of the following: (i) corrected visual
acuity poorer than 20/70 in the better eye; (ii)
restricted visual field of 20 degrees or less in the
better eye; (iii) cortical blindness; (iv) does not appear
to respond to visual stimulation, which adversely affects
educational performance as determined by the
multidisciplinary conference.
(2) A hearing (B) An auditory impairment shall have
the same meaning as in the federal Individuals With
Disabilities Education Act and its implementing
regulations is defined to mean one or more of the
following: (i) a sensorineural or ongoing or chronic

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conductive hearing loss with aided sensitivity of 30dB HL
or poorer; (ii) functional auditory behavior that is
significantly discrepant from the person's present
cognitive and/or developmental levels, which adversely
affects educational performance as determined by the
multidisciplinary conference.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of Article 14, the
The State Board of Education shall is empowered to establish,
maintain and operate or contract for the operation of a
permanent, statewide, residential education facility
state-wide service center known as the Philip J. Rock Center
and School that services . The School serves eligible students
children between the ages of 3 and 21, unless a student's 22nd
birthday occurs during the school year, in which case the
student is eligible for such services through the end of the
school year. Subject to appropriation, the Philip J. Rock
Center and School may provide additional services to 21; the
Center serves eligible deafblind persons of all ages. The
State Board of Education shall include a line item in its
budget to pay the costs of operating and maintaining the
Philip J. Rock Center and School. If the Center and School
receives appropriated funding to serve eligible deafblind
persons of all ages, services Services provided by the Center
and School shall include, but are not limited to:
(1) identifying Identifying and providing case
management of individuals with combined vision and hearing

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loss persons who are auditorily and visually impaired;
(2) providing Providing families with appropriate
information and dissemination of information counseling;
(3) providing information to Referring persons who are
deafblind about the deaf-blind to appropriate agencies for
medical and diagnostic services;
(4) referring Referring persons who are deafblind
deaf-blind to appropriate agencies for educational,
rehabilitation, and support training and care services;
(5) developing Developing and expanding services
throughout the State to persons who are deafblind
deaf-blind. This shall will include ancillary services,
such as transportation, so that these persons the
individuals can take advantage of the expanded services;
(6) maintaining Maintaining a residential-educational
training facility, with or without a day program, in the
Chicago metropolitan area located near in an area
accessible to public transportation;
(7) (blank); Receiving, dispensing, and monitoring
State and Federal funds to the School and Center
designated for services to persons who are deaf-blind;
(8) coordinating Coordinating services to persons who
are deafblind deaf-blind through all appropriate agencies,
including the Department of Children and Family Services
and the Department of Human Services;
(9) entering Entering into contracts with other

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agencies to provide services to persons who are deafblind
deaf-blind;
(10) (blank); Operating on a no-reject basis. Any
individual referred to the Center for service and
diagnosed as deaf-blind, as defined in this Act, shall
qualify for available services;
(11) serving Serving as the information referral
clearinghouse for all persons who are deafblind
deaf-blind, age 21 and older; and
(12) (blank). Providing transition services for
students of Philip J. Rock School who are deaf-blind and
between the ages of 14 1/2 and 21.
(d) For the purposes of employment, the Philip J. Rock
Center and School shall be considered its own employer. The
State Board of Education shall appoint a chief administrator
of the Philip J. Rock Center and School, who shall be employed
by the Center and School and shall manage the daily operations
of the Center and School. The chief administrator shall have
the authority on behalf of the Center and School to:
(1) hire, evaluate, discipline, and terminate staff of
the Center and School;
(2) determine wages, benefits, and other conditions of
employment for all Center and School employees;
(3) bargain with the exclusive bargaining
representative of the employees of the Center and School;
(4) develop a budget to be submitted to the State

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Board of Education for review and approval;
(5) contract for any professional, legal, and
educational services necessary for the operation of the
Center and School;
(6) make all decisions regarding the daily operations
of the Center and School; and
(7) perform any other duties as set forth in the
employment contract for the chief administrator.
(e) If the State Board of Education contracts for the
fiscal administration of the Philip J. Rock Center and School,
then the contract shall be with a school district, special
education cooperative, or regional office of education that
can serve as the fiscal agent for the Center and School. To the
extent possible, the fiscal agent shall be in close geographic
proximity to the Center and School.
(f) Through the individualized education program process
with the student's resident school district, a student who
resides at the Philip J. Rock Center and School may be placed
in an alternate educational program by the student's
individualized education program team. Educational placement
and services shall be provided free of charge to the student's
resident school district, unless there is tuition associated
with the educational placement and services. If the Philip J.
Rock Center and School must pay tuition or provide
transportation for a student's educational placement and
services, such tuition or transportation shall be billed to

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the student's resident school district.
(g) The Advisory Board for Services for Persons who are
deafblind Deaf-Blind shall provide advice to the State
Superintendent of Education, the Governor, and the General
Assembly on all matters pertaining to policy concerning
persons who are deafblind deaf-blind, including the
implementation of legislation enacted on their behalf.
The Regarding the maintenance, operation and education
functions of the Philip J. Rock Center and School, the
Advisory Board shall also make recommendations pertaining to
but not limited to the following matters:
(1) existing Existing and proposed programs of all
State agencies that provide services for persons who are
deafblind deaf-blind;
(2) the The State program and financial plan for
deafblind deaf-blind services and the system of priorities
to be developed by the State Board of Education;
(3) standards Standards for services in facilities
serving persons who are deafblind deaf-blind;
(4) standards Standards and rates for State payments
for any services purchased for persons who are deafblind
deaf-blind;
(5) services Services and research activities in the
field of deafblindness deaf-blindness, including the
evaluation of services; and
(6) planning Planning for personnel or preparation

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personnel/preparation, both preservice and inservice.
The Advisory Board shall consist of 3 persons appointed by
the Governor; 2 persons appointed by the State Superintendent
of Education; 4 persons appointed by the Secretary of Human
Services; and 2 persons appointed by the Director of Children
and Family Services. The 3 appointments of the Governor shall
consist of a senior citizen 60 years of age or older, a
consumer who is deaf-blind, and a parent of a person who is
deaf-blind; provided that if any gubernatorial appointee
serving on the Advisory Board on the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1991 is not either a senior citizen 60 years
of age or older or a consumer who is deaf-blind or a parent of
a person who is deaf-blind, then whenever that appointee's
term of office expires or a vacancy in that appointee's office
sooner occurs, the Governor shall make the appointment to fill
that office or vacancy in a manner that will result, at the
earliest possible time, in the Governor's appointments to the
Advisory Board being comprised of one senior citizen 60 years
of age or older, one consumer who is deaf-blind, and one parent
of a person who is deaf-blind. One person designated by each
agency other than the Department of Human Services may be an
employee of that agency. Two persons appointed by the
Secretary of Human Services may be employees of the Department
of Human Services. The appointments of each appointing
authority other than the Governor shall include at least one
parent of an individual who is deafblind deaf-blind or a

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