Illinois Schools
Racism-Free Schools training your staff will actually sit through.
Illinois requires it of every school employee, every two years. You can satisfy that with a self-paced module, or you can use the same hours to change what happens in your building on Monday.
The Requirement
The Illinois Racism-Free Schools Law, in four lines.
Public Act 103-0472 took effect August 1, 2024. The training standards sit at 775 ILCS 5/5A-103. Everything below is stated on the Illinois Department of Human Rights page, linked at the bottom of this section. Confirm the details against your own records and your Regional Office of Education.
Who
All employees of public and private elementary and secondary schools in Illinois. Teachers, administrators, staff, support personnel. The state is explicit that private religious schools must provide the training to their employees as well.
How often
At least once every two years. New hires complete it as part of onboarding, then again on the same two-year cycle. This is a recurring obligation, not a one-time task.
By when
The state lists July 31, 2026 as the deadline for existing employees to complete their first training. That date has passed. If your staff were not trained, the cycle still applies and the work still needs doing.
With what
Either the IDHR Model Training, or an equivalent training that meets the eleven minimum standards set out in Section 5A-103 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. Your school verifies compliance and provides documentation to your Regional Office of Education.
The state’s official page: dhr.illinois.gov/training/racism-free-schools
Two Ways to Comply
Both satisfy the law. They do not do the same thing.
The state’s model training is a self-paced module that most people finish in ninety minutes to two hours. It is free, it is legitimate, and for some schools it is the right call. We are not here to talk you out of it.
The law also allows an equivalent training that meets the eleven minimum standards. If your staff are going to spend the hours anyway, that is the option worth considering, because those same hours can leave something behind.
Led, not clicked through
A person facilitates it. Staff ask the question they actually have, in the room, instead of choosing the least wrong answer on a screen and moving on.
Montessori examples
The observation note. The placement conversation. What happens to a family concern after it is raised at pickup. The scenarios are the ones your staff will recognize from last Tuesday.
Adults treated as adults
The state frames participants as bystanders rather than offenders, and so do we. Your staff arrive already caring about children. The training starts there.
Documentation you can file
Every participant receives a certificate of completion for your records, alongside a roster for the school.
What It Covers
Built to meet the state’s minimum standards.
The eleven standards in Section 5A-103 set the floor. This is what your staff work through, in language that assumes they are thinking about children rather than about liability.
- ·How discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on race, color and national origin are actually defined, and where the line sits between harassment under the Act and bullying
- ·How conduct accumulates, and why a pattern reads differently than any single incident in it
- ·Disparate treatment and disparate impact, and how a neutral policy produces an uneven result
- ·The protections and remedies available under state and federal law, and what your school is responsible for
- ·How staff and families report an incident, how a report reaches IDHR, and what protects the person who raises it
Please read this part
This training is built to meet the minimum standards set out in Section 5A-103, and it is designed to help your school satisfy the Racism-Free Schools requirement. Montessori Makers Group is an independent provider and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Each school is responsible for verifying equivalency for its own records and for providing documentation to its Regional Office of Education. If you want the standards mapped line by line for your file, ask and we will send that with your proposal.
Bring It to Your Staff
Tell us about your school.
Send your staff size and the window you are working toward, and we will come back with format, available dates and pricing. If you are already past your deadline, say so. It is common right now and it changes nothing about how we respond.
Prefer email? info@montessorimakers.org. More on how MMG approaches this work on the equity page.