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Illinois Compiled Statutes

105 ILCS 5/26-1 (2026)

Compulsory school age; exemptions

✓ current as of May 2026
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(105 ILCS 5/26-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 26-1)
    Sec. 26-1. Compulsory school age; exemptions. Whoever has custody or control of any child (i) between the ages of 7 and 17 years (unless the child has already graduated from high school) for school years before the 2014-2015 school year or (ii) between the ages of 6 (on or before September 1) and 17 years (unless the child has already graduated from high school) beginning with the 2014-2015 school year shall cause such child to attend some public school in the district wherein the child resides the entire time it is in session during the regular school term, except as provided in Section 10-19.1, and during a required summer school program established under Section 10-22.33B; provided, that the following children shall not be required to attend the public schools:
        1. Any child attending a private or a parochial
    
school where children are taught the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools, and where the instruction of the child in the branches of education is in the English language;
        2. Any child who is physically or mentally unable to
    
attend school, such disability being certified to the county or district truant officer by a competent physician licensed in Illinois to practice medicine and surgery in all its branches, a chiropractic physician licensed under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, a licensed physician assistant, or a Christian Science practitioner residing in this State and listed in the Christian Science Journal; or who is excused for temporary absence for cause by the principal or teacher of the school which the child attends, with absence for cause by illness being required to include the mental or behavioral health of the child for up to 5 days for which the child need not provide a medical note, in which case the child shall be given the opportunity to make up any school work missed during the mental or behavioral health absence and, after the second mental health day used, may be referred to the appropriate school support personnel; the exemptions in this paragraph (2) do not apply to any female who is pregnant or the mother of one or more children, except where a female is unable to attend school due to a complication arising from her pregnancy and the existence of such complication is certified to the county or district truant officer by a competent physician;
        3. Any child necessarily and lawfully employed
    
according to the provisions of the Child Labor Law of 2024 may be excused from attendance at school by the county superintendent of schools or the superintendent of the public school which the child should be attending, on certification of the facts by and the recommendation of the school board of the public school district in which the child resides. In districts having part-time continuation schools, children so excused shall attend such schools at least 8 hours each week;
        4. Any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while
    
in attendance at confirmation classes;
        5. Any child absent from a public school on a
    
particular day or days or at a particular time of day for the reason that he is unable to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirements on a particular day or days or at a particular time of day because of religious reasons, including the observance of a religious holiday or participation in religious instruction, or because the tenets of his religion forbid secular activity on a particular day or days or at a particular time of day. A school board may require the parent or guardian of a child who is to be excused from attending school because of religious reasons to give notice, not exceeding 5 days, of the child's absence to the school principal or other school personnel. Any child excused from attending school under this paragraph 5 shall not be required to submit a written excuse for such absence after returning to school. A district superintendent shall develop and distribute to schools appropriate procedures regarding a student's absence for religious reasons, how schools are notified of a student's impending absence for religious reasons, and the requirements of Section 26-2b of this Code;
        6. Any child 16 years of age or older who (i) submits
    
to a school district evidence of necessary and lawful employment pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Section and (ii) is enrolled in a graduation incentives program pursuant to Section 26-16 of this Code or an alternative learning opportunities program established pursuant to Article 13B of this Code;
        7. A child in any of grades 6 through 12 absent from
    
a public school on a particular day or days or at a particular time of day for the purpose of sounding "Taps" at a military honors funeral held in this State for a deceased veteran. In order to be excused under this paragraph 7, the student shall notify the school's administration at least 2 days prior to the date of the absence and shall provide the school's administration with the date, time, and location of the military honors funeral. The school's administration may waive this 2-day notification requirement if the student did not receive at least 2 days advance notice, but the student shall notify the school's administration as soon as possible of the absence. A student whose absence is excused under this paragraph 7 shall be counted as if the student attended school for purposes of calculating the average daily attendance of students in the school district. A student whose absence is excused under this paragraph 7 must be allowed a reasonable time to make up school work missed during the absence. If the student satisfactorily completes the school work, the day of absence shall be counted as a day of compulsory attendance and he or she may not be penalized for that absence; and
        8. Any child absent from a public school on a
    
particular day or days or at a particular time of day for the reason that his or her parent or legal guardian is an active duty member of the uniformed services and has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or has immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat-support postings. Such a student shall be granted 5 days of excused absences in any school year and, at the discretion of the school board, additional excused absences to visit the student's parent or legal guardian relative to such leave or deployment of the parent or legal guardian. In the case of excused absences pursuant to this paragraph 8, the student and parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for obtaining assignments from the student's teacher prior to any period of excused absence and for ensuring that such assignments are completed by the student prior to his or her return to school from such period of excused absence.
    Any child from a public middle school or high school, subject to guidelines established by the State Board of Education, shall be permitted by a school board one school day-long excused absence per school year for the child who is absent from school to engage in a civic event. The school board may require that the student provide reasonable advance notice of the intended absence to the appropriate school administrator and require that the student provide documentation of participation in a civic event to the appropriate school administrator.
(Source: P.A. 102-266, eff. 1-1-22; 102-321, eff. 1-1-22; 102-406, eff. 8-19-21; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 102-981, eff. 1-1-23; 103-721, eff. 1-1-25.)

    
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1994–2024 · leading case: Derrick Hardaway v. Donald S. Young, Warden, 302 F.3d 757 (7th Cir. 2002).
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Derrick Hardaway v. Donald S. Young, Warden, 302 F.3d 757 (7th Cir. 2002). “Restrictions are placed on their ability to work, 820 ILCS 205/1, to smoke, 720 ILCS 675/1, to operate a motor vehicle, 625 ILCS 5/6-107, to withdraw from compulsory education, 105 ILCS 5/26-1, and to travel outdoors between midnight and 6:00 a.”
Lewis E. v. Spagnolo, 710 N.E.2d 798 (Ill. 1999). “The premise for the plaintiffs' argument is that the Illinois compulsory education law, mandating that children of a certain age attend school (105 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 1996)), operates as a restriction on the plaintiffs' liberty similar to the restriction on liberty present in…”
Mulvey v. Carl Sandburg High Sch., 2016 IL App (1st) 151615 (Ill. App. Ct. 2016). “105 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 2012). And “[i]n all matters relating to the 10 1-15-1615 discipline in and conduct of the schools and the school children, [school employees] stand in the relation of parents and guardians to the pupils.”
Mulvey v. Carl Sandburg High Sch., 2016 IL App (1st) 151615 (Ill. App. Ct. 2017). “105 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 2012). And “[i]n all matters relating to the discipline in and conduct of the schools and the school children, [school employees] stand in the relation of parents and guardians to the pupils.”
Plowman v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 2017 IL App (1st) 160860 (Ill. App. Ct. 2017). “(West 2014)); (3) a parent or another person responsible for the child depends upon prayer for the treatment of disease; or (4) the child “is not attending school in accordance with the requirements of Article 26 of The School Code” (105 ILCS 5/26-1 et seq. (West 2014)). 325…”
In Re Marriage of Mehring, 755 N.E.2d 109 (Ill. App. Ct. 2001). “, 105 ILCS 5/26-1 et seq. (West 2000) (requiring parents to keep their children in school); 820 ILCS 205/1 et seq.”
In Interest of CW, 684 N.E.2d 1076 (Ill. App. Ct. 1997). “See 105 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 1996). Additionally, if a minor below the age of 7 or over the age of 16 is enrolled in school, his custodian is required to cause him to attend school through the end of the regular school term.”
People v. Johnson, 2024 IL App (1st) 230172-U (Ill. App. Ct. 2024). “105 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 2022). 36 No. 1-23-0172 ¶ 110 Subject to limited exceptions, minors under 16 years of age are prohibited from being “employed, permitted or allowed to work in any gainful occupation.”
Metzl v. Leininger, 850 F. Supp. 740 (N.D. Ill. 1994). · cites it 2× “105 ILCS 5/26-1(5) (1992). This same section further provides that “nothing in this paragraph 5 shall be construed to limit the right of any school board, at its discretion, to excuse an absence on any other day by observance of a religious holiday.”
In re Parentage of C.H.P., 2023 IL App (4th) 221003-U (Ill. App. Ct. 2023). “105 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 2020). Cameron contends that C.”
Hardaway, Derrick v. Young, Donald S. (7th Cir. 2002). “Restrictions are placed on their ability to work, 820 ILCS 205/1, to smoke, 720 ILCS 675/1, to operate a motor vehicle, 625 ILCS 5/6-107, to withdraw from compulsory education, 105 ILCS 5/26-1, and to travel outdoors between midnight and 6:00 a.”
In re Marriage of Mehring Opinion corrected August 23, 2001 (Ill. App. Ct. 2001). “, 105 ILCS 5/26-1 et seq. (West 2000) (requiring parents to keep their children in school); 820 ILCS 205/1 et seq.”
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— 105 ILCS 5/26-1(5) — 1 case
Metzl v. Leininger, 850 F. Supp. 740 (N.D. Ill. 1994). “105 ILCS 5/26-1(5) (1992). This same section further provides that “nothing in this paragraph 5 shall be construed to limit the right of any school board, at its discretion, to excuse an absence on any other day by observance of a religious holiday.”
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