HB5327 Summary

• Requires Equip for Equality, Illinois' federally mandated Protection and Advocacy System, to expand its Special Education Rights Clinic and Parent Helpline to serve parents of the state's 282,000 special education students.

• Mandates the Special Education Rights Clinic partner with the State Board of Education to make parent materials visible and accessible locally, conduct rights training, and provide parents strategies to resolve school problems through the Parent Helpline.

• Requires the Parent Helpline to answer questions about parental and student rights, provide advice on misuse of restraints and timeout in schools, and offer anonymous complaint filing assistance with the State Board.

• Requires school districts to cooperate in distributing standardized student and parent rights materials provided by the Clinic through the State Board.

• Directs Equip for Equality to conduct statewide in-person training for diverse parents on special education rights, with specific training on restraints and timeout, and submit annual reports to the Governor, General Assembly, and State Superintendent.