Context
May 19, 2022
Security guards and deans at both campuses are usually the first responders when behavior issues arise at the school, but an Illinois law restricts them from issuing tickets to students.
The ProPublica / Chicago Tribune investigation’s first installment found that students received over 11,800 tickets in the past three school years. Most tickets were for municipal ordinance violations like littering, truancy, vaping and fighting — and could carry fines as high as $750.
The problem? By issuing tickets, schools and police departments violate the intent of two Illinois laws set in place to protect students. These laws were Illinois’ attempts at reducing the “school-to-prison pipeline” and fairly consequencing children.
Since 2015’s amendment to SB0100, Section I states that “a student may not be issued a monetary fine or fee as a disciplinary consequence, though this shall not preclude requiring a student to provide restitution for lost, stolen, or damaged property.”
Four years later, ILCS 5/26-12 was also modified. Section B states that “a school may not refer a truant … minor to another local public entity … for that local public entity to issue the child a fine or fee as a punishment for his or her truancy.”
While SB100 aims to protect students, its language is vague and does not clarify who can or cannot issue a fine. Since schools are within the police department’s jurisdiction, student resource officers are able to ticket students — which has been the case at MCHS — without breaking the law, only the intent of the law.
With 255 tickets over three years, MCHS sits at number seven for most issued tickets in Illinois high schools, at least for the schools investigated by ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune. According to their database, MCHS students most often received tickets for possessing tobacco or electronic cigarettes and disorderly conduct. Following the 2019 truancy law, truant students have received no tickets.