New Illinois Laws Effective in 2026-27 School Year

By Maureen Anichini Lemon and Sierra Vega

The Illinois General Assembly recently passed several new laws and amendments that will require school districts to revise policies and adjust operations. The legislation enacted this session touches on student discipline, employment matters, and other key areas of school governance. Below is a summary of ten noteworthy measures that school districts should have on their radar.

P.A. 104-0657 (eff. July 28, 2026):

Wireless Communication Devices

By the start of the 2027-2028 school year, each school board will need to implement a policy that limits students’ use of cell phones, smart watches, and other wireless communication devices during the school day. The law includes exceptions when a device is needed for a student’s health, an IEP or Section 504 plan, English learner access, or caregiving responsibilities. Schools may also allow devices for high school lunch or passing periods, approved classroom use, and emergencies. Districts must engage key stakeholders (unions, parents, students, etc.) in developing the policy.

P.A. 104-0628 (eff. July 24, 2026):

Service Animal Training

Starting January 1, 2027, school staff training on student protections and accommodations under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act will need to cover service animals.

P.A. 104-0808 (eff. August 7, 2026):

Suicide Prevention Information

Starting January 1, 2027, schools serving students in grades 6 through 12 will need to look at their current classes and add age-appropriate, evidence-based suicide prevention curricula “if opportunities for integration exist.”

The law authorizes but does not require ISBE to make resource materials about mental health and illness available to school districts.

P.A. 104-0565 (eff. July 10, 2026):

Teacher Evaluations and Artificial Intelligence

This law places parameters around the use of Al in teacher evaluation plans. Starting January 1, 2027, evaluators and teachers may use Al to perform basic administrative tasks related to the evaluation. Evaluators and teachers will have to share with one another the name and specific purpose of any Al tool used in the evaluation process. Evaluators will not be able to use Al to perform any evaluative task that requires professional judgment or to assign a numeric score or qualitative rating (excellent, proficient, needs improvement or unsatisfactory). Teachers will not be able to use Al to create evidence of their professional practice as part of the evaluation process. Each joint committee must determine how Al tools may be used as part of the evaluation process.

P.A. 104-0646 (eff. July 24, 2026):

Teacher Evaluation Plans

Starting July 1, 2026, if a district and its teachers cannot agree on whether student growth should be part of the teacher evaluation plan, and no collective bargaining agreement requires it, the student growth piece will be removed from the plan.

P.A. 104-0647 (eff. July 24, 2026):

Removing/Dismissing Teachers

This law grants new rights to teachers to challenge a Notice to Remedy issued by a school board. As a reminder, tenured teachers must receive a Notice to Remedy publicly issued by a school board before that teacher can be dismissed for conduct that is “remediable”. The Notice to Remedy must explain the alleged conduct, and any later dismissal must be reasonably connected to the conduct referenced in the Notice to Remedy. The teacher has a right to respond to the allegations in the Notice to Remedy, either in writing or in person before the board, prior to the board’s vote to issue the Notice to Remedy. If the teacher disagrees with the school board’s action, the teacher’s union or an unrepresented teacher may submit the matter to binding arbitration, following the procedures set forth in the law.

P.A. 104-0723 (eff. July 31, 2026):

Religious Hairstyles

P.A. 104-0723 expands the protections first offered to Illinois school children in 2021 by the Jett Hawkins law. That law prohibited schools from enforcing dress code requirements that discriminated against hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity or hair texture. P.A. 104-0723 extends those protections to religious hairstyles, hair-related religious practices, or facial hair worn because of a student’s or employee’s religious beliefs.

Schools will still be able to require hair or facial hair to be secured, covered, or controlled for health or safety reasons, but they must use the least restrictive option and cannot require cutting, shaving, or another permanent change. Nonpublic schools are not covered by these requirements.

P.A. 104-0743 (eff. July 31, 2026):

Administrative Withdraw – Truancy

Currently, Section 26-12 of the Illinois School Code allows a school district to “expel” a student for nonattendance after the student has been absent for 15 consecutive days without valid cause and cannot be located or, if they have been located, after the school has exhausted all available support services to compel the student to return to school. This amendment changes “expulsion” to an “administrative withdrawal” and requires schools to make at least three documented attempts to notify the student’s parent or guardian before executing an administrative withdrawal.

P.A. 104-0831 (Signed on August 10, 2026):

DCFS -Abused Child – Grooming

P.A. 104-0831 amends several key Illinois statutes intended to keep students safe from sexual abuse and grooming. First, school websites and all school handbooks (student, staff, and parent) must list available methods to report staff-student boundary violations and the guidelines for employees/agents with respect to transporting students, taking or possessing a photo or video of a student, and meeting with a student or contacting a student outside of the employee’s/agent’s professional role. Second, there will be several changes to the employment history review process for applicants. Applicants will have to list only those current and past employers where the applicant has/had direct contact with students (as opposed to being sent to all past employers regardless of student contact). Additionally, regional offices of education and intermediate service centers will be authorized to gather and share the information on behalf of substitute teachers seeking employment in more than one school district. Third, the law allows parents to submit a written objection to opt their pre-K through eighth grade students out of participating in classes or courses with lessons on recognizing and avoiding sexual abuse. Fourth, grooming-related behaviors have been added to the definition of ‘child abuse’ under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. These changes will take effect on January 1, 2027.

P.A. 104-0546 (eff. July 10, 2026):

Suspension/Expulsion

Effective immediately, students as young as kindergarten age who are at risk of ‘academic failure’ may be placed in an out-of-district alternative learning opportunities program (ALOP). Kindergarten – 2nd grade students may be placed in an ALOP for a maximum of 90 days beginning on the student’s first date of attendance. Beginning in the 2028-2029 school year, 1) schools may not expel students in kindergarten through second grade except for possession of a firearm or object used or attempted to be used to cause bodily harm; and 2) kindergarten – 2nd grade students may be suspended from school for longer than three days only with the superintendent’s approval and only for as long as necessary to develop a behavior or safety plan.

If you have any questions regarding these new laws, pending bills, or any other legislation, please contact one of Ottosen DiNolfo’s school attorneys.