 Aldermen approved Police Chief Stuart Erlenbush's recommendation to
name Sgt. Mike Geriets as deputy police chief. (See:
Lincoln Police Officer Completes Advanced Training at FBI Academy)
It's taken most of a year, with numerous ordinance committee
meetings that included representatives of a concerned citizens group
and the regional superintendent of schools, but the city now has a
truancy ordinance. (See the new truancy
ordinance below.)
Following the meeting, Ron Denlinger, who represented the
concerned citizens group said: "We are very pleased that the city
has a truancy ordinance. It seems that this is an ordinance that is
good for the community as a whole. We're grateful to Marty Neitzel
for listening to our concerns and giving us the opportunity to find
a way to come together. We appreciate Jean Anderson working with us.
And we sincerely hope that this encouragement to stay in school will
help prevent some of our young citizens from traveling a destructive
path."
Properties at the corner of Kickapoo and Keokuk owned by Scott
and Melody Mack were approved to be rezoned from R-2 to C-2. The
addresses are 703 Keokuk, 711 N. Kickapoo and 713 N. Kickapoo
streets. The corner building was formerly a gas station and a car
wash.
The city recently increased fines for two-hour parking space
violations in the downtown area. Last week the council discussed
other parking regulations. Disabled parking was already reset last
year in accordance with state regulations to have a $250 fine for
violations. Fire lane violation will be kept at $50. No parking on
snow days between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., which has $25 on the signs,
will remain that way.
[to top of second column] |
What remains is parking in an alley, double-parking and parking in a
yellow zone. It was decided that for consistency these issues would
follow the two-hour parking violation fees. A ticket would be issued
for $10, increasing to $25 in 48 hours, $50 in 30 days and $100 over
60 days. (See
parking fines.)
The city has received a request from U.S. Cellular to lease city
ground at 103 Third St. to put up a 186-foot tower. The matter was
tabled.
The council approved the use of Postville Park for this year's
Route 66 Garage Sale. This is a second-year event that is scheduled
for June 13 and 14.
[By JAN YOUNGQUIST]
Related information
and past articles:
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(Copy of ordinance)
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, and who is enrolled
in a public, private, or parochial school within the
corporate limits of the City of Lincoln. Students who are
instructed in a home school program are not subject to the
provisions of this section.
(3) "Truant" means a child
subject to compulsory school attendance under the Illinois
School Code, 105 ILCS 5/26-1, and who is absent without
valid cause, as defined in this section, from such
attendance for a school day or portion thereof.
(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 student 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 student 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.
(C) Parental Responsibility.
(1) No parent or other
person having custody or control of a student under the age
of ten (10) years of age shall, without valid cause, permit
such student to absent himself or herself from attendance at
a public, private or parochial 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 student under ten
(10) years of age is convicted of violating any provision(s)
of this Section, the parent or custodian of said student is
liable for their student's 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, a truancy case worker from
Logan/Mason/Menard Regional Office of Education No. 38, or a truancy
case worker from any public school district in the City of Lincoln.
Prior to a citation being issued,
the police officer or the truancy case worker shall confirm with the
Regional Superintendent of Education or the administration of the
public school district in which the individual would normally be
enrolled that the individual to whom a citation is to be issued is
or has been absent from school without valid cause.
(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:
Alderwoman Anderson _____
Alderman Huskins _____
Alderwoman Tibbs _____
Alderman Prather _____
Alderman Busby _____
Alderman Armbrust _____
Alderman Hoinacki _____
Alderwoman Rohlfs _____
Alderwoman Horn _____
Alderman Neitzel _____
Ayes:
_____
Nays:
_____
Absent:
_____
Abstentions:
_____
Passed and approved this _____ day
of ___________, 2008.
CITY OF
LINCOLN
BY:________________________________
Elizabeth
A.
Davis-Kavelman,
Mayor
City of Lincoln, Logan
County, IllinoisATTEST:
________________________________(SEAL)
City Clerk, City of Lincoln,
Logan County, Illinois
[Ordinance copied from file
received]
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