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1 AN ACT concerning education.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
5 3-11 as follows:
6 (105 ILCS 5/3-11)
7 Sec. 3-11. Institutes or inservice training workshops.
8 (a) In counties of less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, the
9 regional superintendent may arrange for or conduct district,
10 regional, or county institutes, or equivalent professional
11 educational experiences, not more than 4 days annually. Of
12 those 4 days, 2 days may be used as a teachers, administrators,
13 and school support personnel workshop, when approved by the
14 regional superintendent, up to 2 days may be used for
15 conducting parent-teacher conferences, or up to 2 days may be
16 utilized as parental institute days as provided in Section
17 10-22.18d. School support personnel may be exempt from a
18 workshop if the workshop is not relevant to the work they do. A
19 school district may use one of its 4 institute days on the last
20 day of the school term. "Institute" or "Professional
21 educational experiences" means any educational gathering,
22 demonstration of methods of instruction, visitation of schools
23 or other institutions or facilities, sexual abuse and sexual
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1 assault awareness seminar, or training in First Aid (which may
2 include cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillator
3 training) held or approved by the regional superintendent and
4 declared by the regional superintendent to be an institute
5 day, or parent-teacher conferences. With the concurrence of
6 the State Superintendent of Education, the regional
7 superintendent may employ such assistance as is necessary to
8 conduct the institute. Two or more adjoining counties may
9 jointly hold an institute. Institute instruction shall be free
10 to holders of licenses good in the county or counties holding
11 the institute and to those who have paid an examination fee and
12 failed to receive a license.
13 In counties of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, the regional
14 superintendent may arrange for or conduct district, regional,
15 or county inservice training workshops, or equivalent
16 professional educational experiences, not more than 4 days
17 annually. Of those 4 days, 2 days may be used as a teachers,
18 administrators, and school support personnel workshop, when
19 approved by the regional superintendent, up to 2 days may be
20 used for conducting parent-teacher conferences, or up to 2
21 days may be utilized as parental institute days as provided in
22 Section 10-22.18d. School support personnel may be exempt from
23 a workshop if the workshop is not relevant to the work they do.
24 A school district may use one of those 4 days on the last day
25 of the school term. "Inservice Training Workshops" or
26 "Professional educational experiences" means any educational
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1 gathering, demonstration of methods of instruction, visitation
2 of schools or other institutions or facilities, sexual abuse
3 and sexual assault awareness seminar, or training in First Aid
4 (which may include cardiopulmonary resuscitation or
5 defibrillator training) held or approved by the regional
6 superintendent and declared by the regional superintendent to
7 be an inservice training workshop, or parent-teacher
8 conferences. With the concurrence of the State Superintendent
9 of Education, the regional superintendent may employ such
10 assistance as is necessary to conduct the inservice training
11 workshop. With the approval of the regional superintendent, 2
12 or more adjoining districts may jointly hold an inservice
13 training workshop. In addition, with the approval of the
14 regional superintendent, one district may conduct its own
15 inservice training workshop with subject matter consultants
16 requested from the county, State or any State institution of
17 higher learning.
18 Such institutes as referred to in this Section may be held
19 on consecutive or separate days at the option of the regional
20 superintendent having jurisdiction thereof.
21 Whenever reference is made in this Act to "institute", it
22 shall be construed to include the inservice training workshops
23 or equivalent professional educational experiences provided
24 for in this Section.
25 Any institute advisory committee existing on April 1,
26 1995, is dissolved and the duties and responsibilities of the
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1 institute advisory committee are assumed by the regional
2 office of education advisory board.
3 Districts providing inservice training programs shall
4 constitute inservice committees, 1/2 of which shall be
5 teachers, 1/4 school service personnel and 1/4 administrators
6 to establish program content and schedules.
7 In addition to other topics not listed in this Section,
8 the teachers institutes may include training committed to
9 health conditions of students; social-emotional learning;
10 developing cultural competency; identifying warning signs of
11 mental illness and suicidal behavior in youth; domestic and
12 sexual violence and the needs of expectant and parenting
13 youth; protections and accommodations for students; educator
14 ethics; responding to child sexual abuse and grooming
15 behavior; and effective instruction in violence prevention and
16 conflict resolution. Institute programs in these topics shall
17 be credited toward hours of professional development required
18 for license renewal as outlined in subsection (e) of Section
19 21B-45.
20 (b) In this subsection (b):
21 "Trauma" is defined according to an event, an experience,
22 and effects. Individual trauma results from an event, series
23 of events, or set of circumstances, including early relational
24 trauma, caregiver separation, disrupted attachment, or
25 prolonged instability during early development, that is
26 experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally
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1 harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse
2 effects on the individual's functioning and mental, physical,
3 social, or emotional well-being. Collective trauma is a
4 psychological reaction to a traumatic event shared by any
5 group of people. This may include, but is not limited to,
6 community violence, experiencing racism and discrimination,
7 and the lack of the essential supports for well-being, such as
8 educational or economic opportunities, food, health care,
9 housing, and community cohesion. Trauma can be experienced by
10 anyone, though it is disproportionately experienced by members
11 of marginalized groups. Systemic and historical oppression,
12 such as racism, is often at the root of this inequity. Symptoms
13 may vary at different developmental stages and across
14 different cultural groups and different communities and may
15 emerge or intensify during adolescence as identity
16 development, autonomy, and neurological changes intersect with
17 earlier trauma.
18 "Trauma-informed practices" include awareness of
19 populations for whom trauma may be ongoing, relational, and
20 developmentally expressed over time, including, but not
21 limited to, students in adoptive, foster, kinship, or
22 guardianship families.
23 "Trauma-responsive learning environments" means learning
24 environments developed during an ongoing, multiyear-long
25 process that typically progresses across the following 3
26 stages:
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1 (1) A school or district is "trauma aware" when it:
2 (A) has personnel that demonstrate a foundational
3 understanding of a broad definition of trauma that is
4 developmentally and culturally based; includes
5 students, personnel, and communities; and recognizes
6 the potential effect on biological, cognitive,
7 academic, and social-emotional functioning; and
8 (B) recognizes that traumatic exposure can impact
9 behavior and learning and should be acknowledged in
10 policies, strategies, and systems of support for
11 students, families, and personnel.
12 (2) A school or district is "trauma responsive" when
13 it progresses from awareness to action in the areas of
14 policy, practice, and structural changes within a
15 multi-tiered system of support to promote safety, positive
16 relationships, and self-regulation, including practices
17 that promote an effective partnership with caregivers and
18 family systems supporting students impacted by trauma,
19 while underscoring the importance of personal well-being
20 and cultural responsiveness. Such progress may:
21 (A) be aligned with the Illinois Quality Framework
22 and integrated into a school or district's continuous
23 improvement process as evidence to support allocation
24 of financial resources;
25 (B) be assessed and monitored by a
26 multidisciplinary leadership team on an ongoing basis;
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1 and
2 (C) involve the engagement and capacity building
3 of personnel at all levels to ensure that adults in the
4 learning environment are prepared to recognize and
5 respond to those impacted by trauma.
6 (3) A school or district is healing centered when it
7 acknowledges its role and responsibility to the community,
8 fully responds to trauma, and promotes resilience and
9 healing through genuine, trusting, and creative
10 relationships. Such school or district may:
11 (A) promote holistic and collaborative approaches
12 that are grounded in culture, spirituality, civic
13 engagement, and equity; and
14 (B) support agency within individuals, families,
15 and communities while engaging people in collective
16 action that moves from transactional to
17 transformational.
18 "Whole child" means using a child-centered, holistic,
19 equitable lens across all systems that prioritizes physical,
20 mental, and social-emotional health to ensure that every child
21 is healthy, safe, supported, challenged, engaged, and
22 protected.
23 Starting with the 2024-2025 school year, institutes shall
24 provide instruction on trauma-informed practices and include
25 the definitions of trauma, trauma-responsive learning
26 environments, and whole child set forth in this subsection (b)
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1 before the first student attendance day of each school year.
2 (Source: P.A. 103-413, eff. 1-1-24; 103-542, eff. 7-1-24 (see
3 Section 905 of P.A. 103-563 for effective date of P.A.
4 103-542); 103-603, eff. 1-1-25; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24.)
5 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6 becoming law.Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.