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Two New Bills Offer Extended Special Education Services to Transition Students

K-12 Education

Originally posted to our Special Education Insights Blog.

Just hours before the conclusion of the spring legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly passed two bills that will significantly impact students who receive services until age 22. 

The first, HB40, impacts students who turn 22 during the school year by allowing them to continue to receive special education services until the end of that school year rather than until the day before their 22nd birthday. This is a change we have been anticipating for some time, and will take effect upon the Governor’s signature.   

The second, HB 2748, titled “COVID-19 post-secondary transition recovery eligibility,” provides an extended period of IEP services for students who turned 22 “during the time in which the student’s in-person instruction, services, or activities” were “suspended for a period of 3 months or more during the school year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”  Students who fit these criteria are eligible for services through the end of the regular 2021-2022 school year.  

While the bill that passed is much narrower than the proposed legislation, which required an additional year of eligibility for all students who turned 22 from March 17, 2020 through the end of this school year, many questions remain. For example, what constitutes a “suspension” of services? How is the three-month period measured? Do services delivered through a “hybrid” model count toward the suspension period? 

Click here to read more on our Special Education Insights Blog.