Senate Bill 100  the change in use of punitive school discipline practices across the state. The effort to pass SB 100 was led by VOYCE (Voices of Youth in Chicago Education), a group of mostly high school students from Chicago. They created the bill in 2012 to address the impact of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions on their peers and schools.

KEY ELEMENTS OF ILLINOIS’ SB 100 (Senate Bill 100, passed by both the illinois house and senate) Eliminates “zero-tolerance” polices Puts tighter restrictions on the use of harsh disciplinary consequences Ensures out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and disciplinary referrals to alternative schools are only used for legitimate educational purposes Focus on meeting student needs and addressing root causes of disciplinary issues Promotes proven disciplinary alternates and improved PD for administrators and staff Protects students from additional academic consequences Ensure greater transparency and accountability to parents/Guardians Prohibits School “pushout” Eliminates disciplinary fines and fees Hold charters school and traditional public schools to the same standards

On August 24, 2015, Gov. Rauner signed SB 100, which won bipartisan support from state lawmakers. It was championed by students who argued that big changes would be necessary to drive down the use of exclusionary discipline and to reduce disproportionately high rates of discipline for students of color.

Senate Bill 100, or Public Act 99-456, became effective September 15, 2016 and made significant changes to student suspension and expulsion authority and procedures.

New! Limitation on Suspensions & expulsions Schools officials must make reasonable efforts to resolve school threats and address disruptions while limiting the length of suspensions, expulsions and disciplinary transfers to alternative schools to the greatest extent practicable. SB 100 prioritizes the creation of safe and orderly schools while seeking to address excessive use of the most severe forms of discipline. 

Restorative Justice

What is Restorative Justice? *Is a program that provides an effective alternative to punitive responses to wrongdoing within the school. *The program also allow students to resolve conflicts on their own.

3 Main Goals of Restorative Justice Accountability. Restorative justice strategies provide opportunities for wrongdoers to be accountable to those they have harmed, and enable them to repair the harm they caused to the extent possible. Community safety. Restorative justice recognizes the need to keep the community safe through strategies that build relationships and empower the community to take responsibility for the well-being of its members. Competency development. Restorative justice seeks to increase the pro-social skills of those who have harmed others, address underlying factors that lead youth to engage in delinquent behavior, and build on strengths in each young person.

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