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• School districts.
• Independent authorities authorized under Section 2-3.25f of the School Code are eligible to apply. (NOTE: Independent authorities are entities appointed by the State Superintendent when a district fails to perform under certain conditions as specified in law.)
• Joint agreements made up of member school districts, such as special education or vocational education cooperatives, may apply on behalf of their member school districts.
• Regional Superintendents of Schools may apply on behalf of schools and programs that they operate.
• Intermediate Service Centers (ISCs) that operate alternative schools established pursuant to Article 13A of the School Code (i.e., the Safe Schools Law) may apply for waivers or modifications on behalf of only those alternative schools.​

• Eligible entities may petition the State Board of Education for approval of waivers or modifications of State Board of Education rules or modifications of School Code mandates for the following reasons only:
  • to meet the intent of the mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical manner; or
  • to stimulate innovation; or
  • to improve student performance.
• Eligible entities may petition the State Board of Education for General Assembly approval of waivers of School Code mandates for the following reasons only:
  • to meet the intent of the mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical manner; or
  • to stimulate innovation, or
  • to improve student performance.
• Applicants seeking waivers from Section 17-1.5 of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/17-1.5) pertaining to administrative expenditure limitations can only do so when the circumstances for exceeding the cap are beyond the control of the district and when the district has exhausted all available remedies to comply with the law. The waiver application also must specify the amount, nature, and reason for the relief requested, as well as all the remedies the district has exhausted in its attempt to comply with the 5 percent limitation.
• Waivers cannot be requested from laws or rules pertaining to:
  • special education,
  • teacher certification,
  • teacher tenure and seniority,
  • compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act, or
    
  • township treasurers (105 ILCS 5/5-2.1).
  • In addition, after the applicable implementation date, eligible applicants may not seek a waiver or a modification of a mandate regarding the following requirements for the evaluation of certified employees (105 ILCS 5/24A-2.5), (24A-5)​

All eligible entities wishing to petition for a waiver or modification first must hold a public hearing to consider the request. The hearing must provide for a time to take testimony about the request separate from the time when any other business is being conducted or testimony on other matters is being heard.

All applicants must post a notice on their official website at least 14 days in advance of the hearing. The posting must state the time, date, location, and general subject matter of the hearing.

School district hearings must be preceded by a public notice published in a newspaper of general circulation within the district’s boundaries. Hearings for joint agreements, ISCs, or regional superintendents must be preceded by a public notice in a newspaper of general circulation in each school district that is a member of the joint agreement or that is served by the educational service region or service center, provided that a notice in a newspaper generally circulated in more than one school district shall be considered sufficient notice to all of the affected districts. All applicants must publish the newspaper notice at least seven days in advance of the public hearing.

In addition, all applicants must provide written notice addressed to the affected exclusive collective bargaining agent at least seven days prior to the hearing date. The notice must indicate the applicant’s intent to seek a waiver or modification and that testimony will be taken at the hearing.

Finally, all applicants must provide advance written notice to the state legislators who represent the territory in which the school district or other applicant is located. Copies of the website notice, newspaper notice, the notice(s) to the collective bargaining agent(s), and the notices to the applicant’s state legislators must be included with the application.

Please Note: The public hearing held to consider waiver applications must conform to the requirements of the Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/1).

Applications must be postmarked not later than 15 calendar days following approval by the governing board in the case of school districts, joint agreements and ISCs, or by the regional superintendent of schools.

Application forms and instructions for waivers and modifications are provided by the State Board and are available for download. Each applicant must:

• identify the rule or mandate involved (citation or quote of exact language);
• identify the specific waiver or modification sought (to include modified wording of the rule or mandate involved);
• provide justification for the waiver or modification request (i.e., how the request would be more effective, efficient or economical; a fiscal analysis, if the request proposes a more economical method; or a plan for improving student performance or stimulating innovation that indicates how success will be determined);
• describe any testimony provided at the public hearing, to include:
  • the number of people in attendance,
  • the number of people who spoke as proponents or opponents of the waiver or modification,
  • a brief description of any comments made, and
  • whether any written statements were submitted at the hearing;
• state the time period for which the waiver or modification is sought (can be no more than 5 years, except in the case of administrative expenditure limitation requests (Section 17-1.5 of the School Code), which are limited to the school year in which relief is sought (i.e. one year only) .
• identify whether the request is for an initial waiver or modification or renewal of a previously approved request; and
• attach to the application (a) a copy of the notice posted on the applicant's official website at least 14 days in advance of the public hearing; (b) a copy of the notice published in a newspaper of general circulation showing the date of publication; (c) a dated copy of the written notification provided to the applicant's collective bargaining agent; and (d) a copy of the written notification provided to the applicant’s state legislators, each of which must state the time, date, location, and subject matter of the hearing and the fact that testimony about the request will be taken.​​​
  

If the State Board determines that an application for waiver or modification of rules or a modification of law cannot be approved, then it must notify the applicant within 45 calendar days following the date the application was received. If no action is taken within that time frame, then the application will be deemed granted.

• Applications are sent to the Department of Legislative Affairs​, which determines whether the application is complete (i.e., appropriate citation and rationale provided, public hearing held and described, notices included with the application). Action is not taken on applications deemed to be incomplete, and the 45-day response time does not begin until the applicant submits the additional materials necessary to complete the application that State Board of Education staff have requested.
• Each application is reviewed and, as appropriate, forwarded to the Legal Department for recommended action and/or other departments ​within the agency knowledgeable about the requested relief.
• If the recommendation is to approve a request for a waiver or modification of rules or modification of a School Code mandate, then the district receives written notification (via e-mail) informing it of the State Board of Education's approval.
• Any staff recommendation for denial of a request for waiver or modification of rules or modification of a School Code mandate is provided to the State Board of Education for action either at its next regularly scheduled meeting or, if necessary to meet the 45-day response time, at a specially scheduled meeting.
• If the request is for a waiver of a School Code mandate, then the district receives written notification (via e-mail) that the request will be forwarded in the next scheduled report to the General Assembly for its consideration.

The State Board of Education may deny applications for waivers or modifications of rules or a modification of a School Code mandate for the following reasons:

• the request is not based upon sound educational practices;
• the requested action would endanger the health or safety of students or staff;
• the requested action would compromise equal opportunities for learning;
• the request does not address the intent of the rule or mandate in a more effective, efficient or economical manner; or
• the request does not have improved student performance as a primary goal.

Applications for General Assembly approval of waivers of School Code mandates are reviewed for completeness and submitted in a report to the General Assembly before March 1 and October 1 of each year.

The report is reviewed by a panel of 4 members consisting of the Speaker of the House of Representatives; the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; the President of the Senate; and the Minority Leader of the Senate. The members of the panel submit to the State Board of Education any notice of further consideration to any waiver request within 14 days after the member receives the report. If 3 or more of the panel members submit a notice of further consideration to any waiver request contained within the report, the State Board of Education shall submit the waiver request to the General Assembly for consideration. If less than 3 panel members submit a notice of further consideration to a waiver request, the waiver may be approved, denied, or modified by the State Board. If the State Board does not act on a waiver request within 10 days, then the waiver request is approved. If the waiver request is denied by the State Board, it shall submit the waiver request to the General Assembly for consideration.

The General Assembly may disapprove any waiver request submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to this subsection (d) the report of the State Board in whole or in part within 60 calendar days after each house of the General Assembly next convenes after the waiver request is submitted report is filed by adoption of a resolution by a record vote of the majority of members elected in each house. If the General Assembly fails to disapprove any waiver request or appealed request within such 60 day period, the waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. Any resolution adopted by the General Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board in whole or in part shall be binding on the State Board.

A decision by the State Board of Education to deny a waiver or modification of agency rules or modification of a School Code mandate may be appealed to the General Assembly.

The applicant must notify the State Board of Education in writing within 30 calendar days after receiving the denial letter that it wishes to appeal the denial.

The written appeal must include:

• the date the local board of education, governing board or regional superintendent of schools approved the original request,​
  
• the citation of the rule or School Code section involved, and
• a brief description of the issue.

Appeals are forwarded to the General Assembly in the next report submitted.

The General Assembly must consider the appeals contained in the report the next time it reconvenes following receipt of the report. The General Assembly has 60 calendar days after reconvening to disapprove any appeals contained in the report. If it does not act to disapprove any appeals during that time period, then the appeals are deemed granted.​