ORDINANCE NO. ______

TRUANCY ORDINANCE

WHEREAS, the City of Lincoln is a municipal corporation situated in Logan County, Illinois; and,

WHEREAS, Chapter 4 of Title 6 of the City Code of the City of Lincoln sets forth miscellaneous offenses; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Lincoln has a vital and continuing interest and obligation to protect students enrolled in the schools within the City; and,

WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Lincoln deems it necessary to address the long-term benefits of school attendance to adequately educate students so that they are better prepared for the future; and,

WHEREAS, truancy from schools by students is an ongoing and significant problem; and,

WHEREAS, the procedures provided in the Illinois School Code and the Juvenile Court Act for addressing truancy are time consuming and expensive and have proven to be ineffective in stemming the tide of truancy in the schools within the City; and,

WHEREAS, various school officials and the Regional Superintendent of Schools of Logan County have requested that the City of Lincoln adopt a truancy Ordinance as an additional tool to be used to more effectively combat truancy; and,

WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Lincoln recognizes the need to involve parents to secure the attendance of students enrolled in schools; and,

WHEREAS, an Ordinance addressing the issue of truancy within the City of Lincoln is in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the City of Lincoln.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois, as follows:

1.  That Section 25 is hereby added to Chapter 4 of Title 6 of the City Code of the City of Lincoln as follows:

"SECTION 6-4-25  TRUANCY.

(A)  Definitions.

(1)  "Parent" means any person having legal custody of a person or a student who is:

(a) a natural parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent; or

(b) at least eighteen (18) years of age and authorized by a parent or guardian to have the care and custody of a student; or

(c) a legal guardian; or

(d) a person who stands in loco parentis; or

(e) a person to whom legal custody has been given by court order.

(2)  "Student" means any person between the ages of seven (7) and seventeen (17) years subject to compulsory school attendance under the Illinois School Code, 105 ILCS 5/26-1, enrolled in a public school within the corporate limits of the City of Lincoln.  Persons who are instructed in a private or parochial school within the corporate limits of the City of Lincoln shall be considered students under this Section only if the administration of the private or parochial school informs the Regional Office of Education that their school is placing themselves under the jurisdiction of the Regional Office of Education in order to receive truancy services.

(3)  "Truant" means a student, as defined in paragraph (2) above, who has been identified by the Regional Office of Education or school administration as having been absent without valid excuse on a prior occasion from attendance for a school day or portion thereof in the current school year or the school year immediately prior.

(4)  "Valid Cause" for absence means illness, observance of a religious holiday, death in the immediate family, family emergency, and shall include such other situations beyond the control of the student as determined by the principal of each school district or the principal’s designee, or such other circumstances which cause reasonable concern to the parent for the safety or health of the student.

(B)  Truancy Prohibited.

(1)  It shall be unlawful for any truant to absent himself or herself from attendance during all, or part of, a school day during a time when school is in session without valid cause.

(2)  Each day, or period, that a truant absents himself or herself from attendance in school or a school class during a time when school is in session without valid cause shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punishable as such.

(3)  For a violation to be effective under this Section, A truant student or his/her parent must be served with a citation for a violation within (30) days of the violation.

(C)  Parental Responsibility.

(1)  No parent or other person having custody or control of a truant under the age of ten (10) years of age shall, without valid cause, permit such student to absent himself or herself from attendance at school on such date(s), and during such hour(s), as the school may be regularly in session.  Such parent shall be deemed to permit a student’s unexcused absence from school if a student under the age of ten (10) years of age is convicted of violating any provision(s) of this Section.

(2)  If a truant under ten (10) years of age is convicted of violating any provision(s) of this Section, the parent or custodian of said truant is liable for the violation(s) and shall be subject to the penalties set forth in the following subsections.

(3)  It shall be an offense under this Section for a parent to knowingly submit to school authorities a written excuse, which explains the absence from school attendance of the student in his or her care or control that contains false information.

(D)  Enforcement Procedures.  A citation for the violation of this section may be issued by a police officer of the Lincoln Police Department or a truancy case worker from Logan/Mason/Menard Regional Office of Education No. 38 or a truancy case worker from the Lincoln Community High School district.

Prior to a citation being issued, the police officer or truancy case worker must confirm with the Regional Office of Education or school administration, or have a good faith belief, that the student has been truant within the current school year or the school year immediately prior.

(E)  Exemptions.  The following students shall be exempt from the provisions of this section:

(1)  Any student attending a school sanctioned event away from school grounds with the school’s permission.

(2)  Any student over twelve (12) years of age and under fourteen (14) years of age while in attendance at Confirmation classes.

(3)  Any student necessarily or lawfully employed according to the provisions of the laws regulating child labor may be excused from attendance at school by the Regional Superintendent of Schools or the Superintendent of the public school which the child should be attending on certification of the facts by and the recommendation of the school board of the public school district in which the child resides.

(4)  Any student who is excused for the lunch period pursuant to the rules of the school in which the student is enrolled.

(5)  Any student who is physically or mentally unable to attend school, such disability being certified to the County or district truant officer by a competent physician licensed in Illinois to practice medicine, surgery, and all of its branches, an advance practice nurse who has written a collaborative agreement with a collaborating physician that authorizes the advance practice nurse to perform health examinations, a physician assistant who has been delegated the authority to perform health examinations by his or her supervising physician, or a Christian Science practitioner residing in the State and listed in the Christian Science Journal, or who is excused for temporary absence for cause by the principal or teacher of the school which the student attends; the exemptions of this subparagraph do not apply to any female who is pregnant or the mother of one or more children, except where a female is unable to attend school due to a complication arising from her pregnancy and the existence of such complication is certified to the County or district truant officer by a competent physician.

(6)  Any student absent from school on a particular day or days or at a particular time of day for the reason that he is unable to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirements on a particular day or days or a particular time of day because the tenets of his or her religion forbid secular activity on a particular day or days or at a particular time of day.  Each school board shall prescribe rules and regulations relative to absences for religious holidays, including, but not limited to, a list of religious holidays on which it shall be mandatory to excuse a student; but nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to limit the right of any school board, at its discretion, to excuse an absence on any other day by reason of the observance of a religious holiday.  A school board may require the parent or guardian of the student who is excused from attending school due to the observance of a religious holiday to give notice, not exceeding five (5) days, of the student’s absence to the school principal or other school personnel.  Any student excused from attending school under this subparagraph shall not be required to submit a written excuse for such absence after returning to school.

(7)  Any student sixteen (16) years of age or older who (i) submits to a school district evidence of necessary and lawful employment pursuant to this section; and (ii) is enrolled in a graduation incentives program pursuant to Section 26-16 of the Illinois School Code or an alternative learning opportunities program established pursuant to Article 13B of the Illinois School Code.

F.  Penalties.  Any person convicted of a violation of any provision of this subsection shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) for the first offense, seventy-five dollars ($75.00) for the second offense, and one hundred dollars ($100.00) for the third and subsequent offenses.  In lieu of a fine, any person convicted of a violation of this subsection may be ordered to perform community service as directed by the Circuit Court."

2.  That should any clause, sentence, or paragraph of this Ordinance be declared to be invalid by any Court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect any other portion of said Ordinance.

3.  That this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and publication in pamphlet form.

 

The vote on the adoption of this Ordinance was as follows:

 

Ayes: ________________________________________________________________

Nays: ________________________________________________________________

Absent: ______________________________________________________________

Abstentions: _________________________________________________________