TRS has just issued Employer Bulletin 19-12 dated February 2019, which is available on the TRS website at: https://www.trsil.org/employers/employer-bulletins/FY19-12. This bulletin requires that all TRS employers submit all grandfathered individual employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) to the TRS CBA/Contract Collection Portal by March 29, 2019. Grandfathered contracts and CBAs are those entered into […]
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Posted on: Feb 7 2019
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By: admin
On Friday, November 16, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education issued proposed Regulations that would alter what constitutes sexual harassment, what triggers a duty to respond, due process afforded to individuals and procedural responses to complaints, among other things. The Regulations are available for public comment for 60 days. During President Obama’s administration in 2011, […]
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Posted on: Dec 5 2018
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By: admin
Since the change in the law providing for school board candidate filings to be handled by the County Clerk rather than at the local school districts, the Cook County Clerk has been able to handle the volume of filings by using multiple sites in the suburbs, as well as the Clerk’s central office in Chicago. […]
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Posted on: Dec 4 2018
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By: admin
On September 20, 2018, the Illinois Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Oswald v. Hamer, a lawsuit challenging the facial constitutionality of Section 15-86 of the Property Tax Code, the nonprofit hospital property tax exemption legislation enacted by the General Assembly in 2012. That section created a new test for tax exemptions -weighing […]
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Posted on: Sep 25 2018
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By: admin
This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued its anticipated decision regarding fair share agreements and the related deductions from the wages of public sector employees. (Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, et al.) The Court determined that an “agency fee” or “closed shop” which compels payment to a […]
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Posted on: Jun 27 2018
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By: admin
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has released long awaited updated guidance on medication administration in schools which can be found at https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Guidance-on-Medication-June-2018.pdf The new guidance gives school districts 13 points to include in their school medication polices: (1) a Registered Nurse (“RN”) should begin the process of reviewing any request to administer medication at school; […]
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Posted on: Jun 25 2018
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By: admin
On April 20, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education released a Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQ”) document relating to the privacy of student-identifying photographs and surveillance videos. The FAQ, located here, addresses multiple aspects of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”). As to whether photographs or videos could be considered “education records” or student records, […]
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Posted on: Apr 27 2018
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By: admin
Under the Illinois School Student Records Act (“ISSRA”), certain school student records information, called “directory information,” which includes student names, addresses and other information as identified by the Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”), can only be released in accordance with ISBE rules. Under the ISBE rules, unless a parent requests that some or all […]
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Posted on: Mar 29 2018
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By: admin
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (“OSEP”) released nonregulatory guidance discussing the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent unanimous decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. Endrew F. settled a dispute amongst U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal on whether a FAPE required an “educational benefit ‘[that is] merely…more than de minimis’” […]
The Illinois School Code has been amended to codify the practice of accelerating students in certain subjects or grades. Public Act 100-421 amends Article 14A of the Illinois School Code by requiring school districts to adopt a policy regarding the accelerated placement of students. Pursuant to the new law, “accelerated placement” means, but is not […]
