Section 425.20  Requirements for Registration

a)         The State Superintendent of Education will make available an application to be used for schools' voluntary registration.  A school's initial registration may occur at any time from October 1 through June 30 of the relevant school year.  Initial registration of a school must occur by means of an application process specified by the State Superintendent.  Each registration application must be received by the State Board no later than June 25 for the school to be registered by June 30.

1)         Descriptive information that must be submitted by the school shall include, but is not limited to, the following:

A)        the name of the school, its location and telephone number, its affiliation, and the name of the chief school administrator;

B)        demographic and other data on the enrolled students, including a student's race, ethnicity, and grade level; and

C)        data on the staff employed in various capacities.

2)         The chief school administrator of each school shall provide assurances to the State Superintendent that the school can document the following:

A)        the school offers:

i)          an academic term of at least 176 days of pupil attendance annually that meets the current statutory requirements regarding minimum hours of instruction per day (see Section 10-19.05 of the Code);

ii)         at least 880 per-pupil clock hours of instruction annually; or

iii)        an academic term that satisfies any other minimum instructional requirement established in statute that is applicable to public schools, including possible incorporation of exceptions provided for public schools;

B)        it provides instruction in English, except as otherwise permitted pursuant to Section 27-2 of the Code, in the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools [105 ILCS 5/26-1], including the language arts, mathematics, the biological, physical and social sciences, the fine arts, and physical development and health [105 ILCS 5/27-1];

C)        it requires the students who are enrolled to attend daily during the school's entire regular school term;

D)        the physical facilities occupied by the school comply with the applicable local building code and fire safety requirements;

E)        it requires evidence that, and furnishes to the State Superintendent, the required reports regarding the extent to which students have complied with the requirements of Section 27-8.1 of the Code and the rules of the Department of Public Health at 77 Ill. Adm. Code 665 with respect to health examinations, immunizations, eye examinations, and dental examinations; and cooperates in the implementation of the Child Vision and Hearing Test Act [410 ILCS 205] and the rules of the Department of Public Health at 77 Ill. Adm. Code 675 and 685 regarding hearing and vision screenings, respectively;

F)         it complies with the applicable requirements of Section 22-30 of the Code, to the extent that the school allows the self-administration and self-carry of asthma medication, diabetes medication, and/or epinephrine auto-injectors, Section 22-33 of the Code, the Care of Students with Diabetes Act, 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1.540 (Undesignated Epinephrine Auto-injectors; Opioid Antagonists), to the extent that the school allows the administration of undesignated epinephrine auto-injectors or opioid antagonists, and any other law or rule pertaining to the administration or self-administration of prescription or non-prescription medications;

G)        it can document that each student participating in interscholastic athletics has had an annual physical examination (23 Ill. Adm. Code 1.530) and that it complies with the concussion policy and other requirements under Section 22-80 of the Code and Section 1.20 of the Interscholastic Athletic Organization Act;

H)        it complies with applicable federal and State laws prohibiting discrimination, including, but not limited to, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.), Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq., 2000e et seq.), the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the School Code, and relevant case law; and

I)         it complies with applicable State and federal laws, relevant case law, and State and federal rules and regulations.

3)         The chief school administrator of each school must provide evidence to the State Superintendent that the school is a not-for-profit entity that is subject to the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 [805 ILCS 105] or is incorporated as a not-for-profit entity in another state and authorized to do business in the State of Illinois pursuant to the Business Corporation Act of 1983 [805 ILCS 5].  The evidence provided must consist of the file number assigned to the not-for-profit entity by the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services.  Under certain circumstances, as determined by the State Superintendent, the State Superintendent may accept an alternative form of evidence from the chief school administrator to satisfy the requirements of this subsection (a)(3).

4)         The chief school administrator of each school must provide documentation that it complies with the requirements of Section 2-3.13a of the Code and 23 Ill. Adm. Code 375.75.

b)         Upon receipt of complete information for initial registration, including the required assurances, the State Superintendent must assign a unique identifying number to the school.  This number is evidence of completed registration and permits the school's chief school administrator to apply for a user account affording access to the Illinois Web Application Security (IWAS) System, which the school may then use to exchange information with the State Superintendent as relevant to its situation.

c)         The application for renewal of a school's registration in any subsequent year must be submitted no sooner than October 1 and no later than November 15 of that school year or when prescribed by the State Superintendent.  Annual renewal of a school's registration must be performed in a manner prescribed by the State Superintendent and must be submitted only by the school's chief school administrator.

d)         The chief school administrator of each school applying to renew its registration must submit to the State Superintendent the same information and assurances required in subsection (a).

e)         The State Superintendent may only register schools that have two or more of grades pre-kindergarten through 12. 

f)         Each school that is registered must have access to official documentation of the school's status. The State Superintendent must maintain a publicly available list of registered schools by school year for, at a minimum, the preceding 5 school years.

(Source:  Amended at 46 Ill. Reg. 6491, effective April 11, 2022)