Illinois Rep. Davis school district residency and financial responsibility bill passes House and Senate

Passed bill authored by State Rep. William Davis aims to clarify the determination of a student’s resident school district and outline financial responsibilities for educational placements, including those involving residential facilities, with final dispute resolution by the State Superintendent of Education, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 75 Democrats and 38 Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 39 Democrats and 19 Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

Davis introduced the bill in the Illinois House on Jan. 29, 2025 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as HB1861, was passed on May 22, 2025 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill’s official text as follows: “Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that for a child residing in a long-term, acute care facility serving a majority of patients who are (i) minor children and (ii) Medicaid-eligible in Harvey School District 152, if a parent or guardian moves out of the State after the child is placed in such a facility, that parent or guardian shall enroll the child in a school in the other state to initiate reimbursement to Illinois. With respect to determining the location of a student’s parent or guardian, provides that the information submitted to the State Superintendent of Education must include an affidavit from that school district’s superintendent or the facility’s director attesting that the location of the parent or guardian is unknown and at least 3 satisfactory attempts (rather than 4 items of documentary evidence that a minimum of 4 separate attempts) were made on 3 separate days to locate the parent or guardian and no response was received from the parent or guardian within 14 days after such satisfactory attempts. Provides that for a child residing in a long-term, acute care facility serving a majority of patients who are (i) minor children and (ii) Medicaid-eligible in Harvey School District 152, the following apply: (1) if the child is not currently enrolled in a school district or if the resident school district is unknown, the appropriate resident school district must be identified and the child must be enrolled in that district prior to the placement of the child, except in emergency situations; (2) for a child with an out-of-state resident district whose out-of-state resident district has refused to enroll the child in the district, despite being contacted by both the nonpublic school within the applicable facility and the State Board of Education, the resident district shall be the student’s most recent resident district in Illinois and that resident district shall be the responsible payee; and (3) the equivalent of each applicable child’s tuition receipts for the 2025-2026 school year shall be paid to the resident district. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.”

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends sections of the Illinois School Code concerning the determination of a student’s resident school district and financial responsibilities related to educational placements. It defines the resident district as the district where the legal guardian, public agency, or student resides under varied circumstances, detailing provisions for students placed in residential facilities, including those involving out-of-state placements. It outlines the district’s financial liability for educational costs and reimbursement processes for the education of students placed in residential settings by state agencies or courts. Additionally, the bill mandates notifications from residential facilities to resident districts and stipulates how disputes over district residency should be addressed, with the State Superintendent of Education offering the final decision. It clarifies responsibilities regarding notification and placement processes, striving for compliance with state and federal guidelines. The bill takes effect immediately upon becoming law.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Camille Y. Lilly (Democrat-78th District), Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock (Democrat-46th District), and Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel (Democrat-49th District), along with one other sponsor.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Davis graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1989 with a BA.

Davis, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State House in 2003 to represent the state’s 30th House District, replacing previous state representative Harold Murphy.

Lawmakers listed as “Not Voting” were present for the vote but did not cast a vote. Those marked as having an “Excused Absence” were not present and formally provided a reason for their absence, which was accepted.