|
schedule than the other professional worker in that
district. |
Such agreement shall include, but not be limited to, provisions
|
for administration, staff, programs, financing, housing, |
transportation, an
advisory body, and the method or methods to |
be employed for disposing of property upon the withdrawal of a |
school district or dissolution of the joint agreement and shall |
specify procedures for the withdrawal of
districts from
the |
joint agreement as long as these procedures are consistent with |
this Section. Such
agreement may be amended at any time as |
provided in the joint agreement or,
if the joint agreement does |
not so provide, then such agreement may be
amended at any time |
upon the adoption of concurring resolutions by the
school |
boards of all member districts, provided that no later than 6 |
months after August 28, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act |
96-783), all existing agreements shall be amended to be |
consistent with Public Act 96-783. Such an amendment may |
include the removal of a school district from or the addition |
of a school district to the joint agreement without a petition |
as otherwise required in this Section if all member districts |
adopt concurring resolutions to that effect. A fully executed |
copy of any such
agreement or amendment entered into on or |
after January 1, 1989 shall be
filed with the State Board of |
Education. Petitions for withdrawal
shall be made to the |
regional board or boards of school trustees exercising |
oversight or governance over any of the districts in the joint
|
agreement. Upon receipt of a petition for withdrawal, the |
|
regional board
of school trustees shall
publish notice of and |
conduct a hearing or, in instances in which more than one |
regional board of school trustees exercises oversight or |
governance over any of the districts in the joint agreement, a |
joint hearing, in accordance with rules adopted by the State |
Board of Education. In instances in which a single regional |
board of school trustees holds the hearing, approval of the |
petition must be by a two-thirds majority vote of the school |
trustees. In instances in which a joint hearing of 2 or more |
regional boards of school trustees is required, approval of the |
petition must be by a two-thirds majority of all those school |
trustees present and voting. Notwithstanding the provisions of |
Article 6 of this Code, in instances in which the competent |
regional board or boards of school trustees has been abolished, |
petitions for withdrawal shall be made to the school boards of |
those districts that fall under the oversight or governance of |
the abolished regional board of school trustees in accordance |
with rules adopted by the State Board of Education. If any |
petition is approved pursuant to this subsection (a), the |
withdrawal takes effect
as provided in Section 7-9 of this Act. |
The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-769 apply to |
all changes to special education joint agreement membership |
initiated after July 1, 2009.
|
(b) To either (1) designate an administrative district to |
act as fiscal
and legal agent for the districts that are |
parties to the joint
agreement, or (2) designate a governing |
|
board composed of one member of
the school board of each |
cooperating district and designated by such
boards to act in |
accordance with the joint agreement. No such governing
board |
may levy taxes and no such governing board may incur any
|
indebtedness except within an annual budget for the joint |
agreement
approved by the governing board and by the boards of |
at least a majority
of the cooperating school districts or a |
number of districts greater
than a majority if required by
the |
joint agreement. The governing board may appoint an executive |
board of at
least 7 members to administer the joint agreement |
in accordance with
its terms. However, if 7 or more school |
districts are parties to a joint agreement that does not have |
an
administrative district: (i) at least a majority of the |
members appointed by
the governing board to the executive
board |
shall
be members of the school boards of the cooperating |
districts; or
(ii) if the
governing
board wishes to appoint |
members who are not school board members, they shall be
|
superintendents from the
cooperating districts.
|
(c) To employ a full-time director of special education of |
the joint agreement program under a one-year or multi-year
|
contract. No such contract can be offered or accepted for less |
than one year. Such contract
may be discontinued at any time by |
mutual agreement of the contracting
parties, or may be extended |
for an additional one-year or multi-year period at the end of |
any year.
|
The contract year is July 1 through the following June |
|
30th, unless the
contract specifically provides otherwise. |
Notice of intent not to renew a
contract when given by a |
controlling board or administrative district must
be in writing |
stating the specific reason therefor. Notice of intent not
to |
renew the contract must be given by the controlling board or |
the
administrative district at least 90 days before the |
contract expires.
Failure to do so will automatically extend |
the contract for one
additional year.
|
By accepting the terms of the contract, the director of a
|
special education joint agreement waives all rights granted |
under Sections
24-11 through 24-16 for the duration of his or |
her employment as a director
of a special education joint |
agreement.
|
(d) To designate a district that is a party to the joint |
agreement as the
issuer of bonds or notes for the purposes and |
in the manner provided in
this Section. It is not necessary for |
such district to also be the
administrative district for the |
joint agreement, nor is it necessary for
the same district to |
be designated as the issuer of all series of bonds or
notes |
issued hereunder. Any district so designated may, from time to |
time,
borrow money and, in evidence of its obligation to repay |
the borrowing,
issue its negotiable bonds or notes for the |
purpose of acquiring,
constructing, altering, repairing, |
enlarging and equipping any building or
portion thereof, |
together with any land or interest therein, necessary to
|
provide special educational facilities and services as defined |
|
in Section
14-1.08. Title in and to any such facilities shall |
be held in accordance
with the joint agreement.
|
Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution |
of the board
of education of the issuing district. The |
resolution may contain such
covenants as may be deemed |
necessary or advisable by the district to
assure the payment of |
the bonds or notes. The resolution shall be
effective |
immediately upon its adoption.
|
Prior to the issuance of such bonds or notes, each school |
district that
is a party to the joint agreement shall agree, |
whether by amendment to the
joint agreement or by resolution of |
the board of education, to be jointly
and severally liable for |
the payment of the bonds and notes. The bonds or
notes shall be |
payable solely and only from the payments made pursuant to
such |
agreement.
|
Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the |
bonds or notes under
any joint agreement shall constitute an |
indebtedness of any district,
including the issuing district, |
within the meaning of any constitutional or
statutory |
limitation.
|
As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, |
the agreement
by a district to pay the bonds and notes shall be |
irrevocable
notwithstanding the district's withdrawal from |
membership in the joint
special education program.
|
(e) If a district whose employees are on strike was, prior |
to the strike,
sending students with disabilities to special |
|
educational
facilities and services
in another district or |
cooperative, the district affected by the strike
shall continue |
to send such students during the strike and shall be
eligible |
to receive appropriate State reimbursement.
|
(f) With respect to those joint agreements that have a |
governing board
composed of one member of the school board of |
each cooperating district and
designated by those boards to act |
in accordance with the joint agreement, the
governing board |
shall have, in addition to its other powers under this Section,
|
the authority to issue bonds or notes for the purposes and in |
the manner
provided in this subsection. The governing board of |
the joint agreement
may from time to time borrow money and, in |
evidence of its
obligation to repay the borrowing,
issue its |
negotiable bonds or notes for the purpose of acquiring,
|
constructing, altering, repairing, enlarging and equipping any |
building or
portion thereof, together with any land or interest |
therein, necessary to
provide special educational facilities |
and services as defined in Section
14-1.08 and including also |
facilities for activities of administration and
educational |
support personnel employees. Title in and to any such |
facilities
shall be held in accordance with the joint |
agreement.
|
Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution |
of the
governing board. The resolution may contain such
|
covenants as may be deemed necessary or advisable by the |
governing board
to assure the payment of the bonds or notes and |
|
interest accruing thereon.
The resolution shall be effective |
immediately upon its adoption.
|
Each school district that
is a party to the joint agreement |
shall be automatically liable, by virtue of
its membership in |
the joint agreement, for its proportionate share of the
|
principal amount of the bonds and notes plus interest accruing |
thereon, as
provided in the resolution. Subject to the joint |
and several liability
hereinafter provided for, the resolution |
may provide for different payment
schedules for different |
districts except that the aggregate amount of scheduled
|
payments for each district shall be equal to its proportionate |
share of the
debt service in the bonds or notes based upon the |
fraction that its
equalized assessed valuation bears to the |
total equalized assessed valuation of
all the district members |
of the joint agreement as adjusted in the manner
hereinafter |
provided. In computing that fraction the most recent available
|
equalized assessed valuation at the time of the issuance of the |
bonds and notes
shall be used, and the equalized assessed |
valuation of any district maintaining
grades K to 12 shall be |
doubled in both the numerator and denominator of the
fraction |
used for all of the districts that are members of the joint
|
agreement. In case of default in payment by any
member, each |
school district that is a party to the joint agreement shall
|
automatically be jointly and severally liable for the amount of |
any
deficiency. The bonds or
notes and interest thereon shall |
be payable solely and only from the
funds made available |
|
pursuant to the procedures set forth in this
subsection. No |
project authorized under this subsection may require an
annual |
contribution for bond payments from any member district in |
excess of
0.15% of the value of taxable property as equalized |
or assessed by the
Department of Revenue in the case of |
districts maintaining grades K-8 or 9-12
and 0.30% of the value |
of taxable property as equalized or assessed by the
Department |
of
Revenue in the case of districts maintaining grades K-12. |
This limitation on
taxing authority is expressly applicable to |
taxing authority provided under
Section 17-9 and other |
applicable Sections of this Act. Nothing contained in
this |
subsection shall be construed as an exception to the property |
tax
limitations contained in Section 17-2, 17-2.2a, 17-5, or
|
any other applicable Section of this Act.
|
Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the |
bonds or notes
under any joint agreement shall constitute an |
indebtedness of any district
within the meaning of any |
constitutional or statutory limitation.
|
As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, |
the obligation
of a district to pay its proportionate share of |
the principal of and
interest on the bonds and notes as |
required in this Section shall be a
general obligation of the |
district payable from any and all sources of revenue
designated |
for that purpose by the board of education of the district and |
shall
be irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal |
from membership in the
joint special education program.
|
|
(g) A member district wishing to withdraw from a joint |
agreement may obtain from its school board a written resolution |
approving the withdrawal. The withdrawing district must then |
present a written petition for withdrawal from the joint |
agreement to the other member districts within such timelines |
designated by the joint agreement. Upon approval by school |
board written resolution of all of the remaining member |
districts, the petitioning member district shall be withdrawn |
from the joint agreement effective the following July 1 and |
shall notify the State Board of Education of the approved |
withdrawal in writing. If the petition for withdrawal is not |
approved and the petitioning member district is a part of a |
Class II county school unit outside of a city of 500,000 or |
more inhabitants, the petitioning member district may appeal |
the disapproval decision to the trustees of schools of the |
township that has jurisdiction and authority over the |
withdrawing district. If a withdrawing district is not under |
the jurisdiction and authority of the trustees of schools of a |
township, a hearing panel shall be established by the chief |
administrative officer of the intermediate service center |
having jurisdiction over the withdrawing district. The hearing |
panel shall be made up of 3 persons who have a demonstrated |
interest and background in education. Each hearing panel member |
must reside within an educational service region of 2,000,000 |
or more inhabitants but not within the withdrawing district and |
may not be a current school board member or employee of the |
|
withdrawing district or hold any county office. None of the |
hearing panel members may reside within the same school |
district. The hearing panel shall serve without remuneration; |
however, the necessary expenses, including travel, attendant |
upon any meeting or hearing in relation to these proceedings |
must be paid. If the trustees of schools of the township having |
jurisdiction and authority over the withdrawing district or the |
hearing panel established by the chief administrative officer |
of the intermediate service center having jurisdiction over the |
withdrawing district approves the petition for withdrawal, |
then the petitioning member district shall be withdrawn from |
the joint agreement effective the following July 1 and shall |
notify the State Board of Education of the approved withdrawal |
in writing. |
(h) The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-783 |
apply to withdrawals from or dissolutions of special education |
joint agreements initiated after August 28, 2009 (the effective |
date of Public Act 96-783). |
(i) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (g), and (h) of this |
Section or any other provision of this Code to the contrary, an |
elementary school district that maintains grades up to and |
including grade 8, that had a 2014-2015 best 3 months' average |
daily attendance of 5,209.57, and that had a 2014 equalized |
assessed valuation of at least $451,500,000, but not more than |
$452,000,000, may withdraw from its special education joint |
agreement program consisting of 6 school districts upon |
|
submission and approval of the comprehensive plan, in |
compliance with the applicable requirements of Section 14-4.01 |
of this Code, in addition to the approval by the school board |
of the elementary school district and notification to and the |
filing of an intent to withdraw statement with the governing |
board of the joint agreement program. Such notification and |
statement shall specify the effective date of the withdrawal, |
which in no case shall be less than 60 days after the date of |
the filing of the notification and statement. Upon receipt of |
the notification and statement, the governing board of the |
joint agreement program shall distribute a copy to each member |
district of the joint agreement and shall initiate any |
appropriate allocation of assets and liabilities among the |
remaining member districts to take effect upon the date of the |
withdrawal. The withdrawal shall take effect upon the date |
specified in the notification and statement. |
(Source: P.A. 99-729, eff. 8-5-16.)
|
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
|