Public Act 097-0232
 
SB2143 EnrolledLRB097 10331 NHT 50539 b


  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The School Construction Law is amended  by 
changing Section 5-25 as follows:
 


    (105 ILCS 230/5-25)


    Sec. 5-25. Eligibility and project standards. 

    (a) The State Board of Education shall establish 
eligibility standards for
school construction project grants 
and debt service grants.  These standards
shall include minimum 
enrollment requirements for eligibility for school

construction project grants of 200 students for elementary 
districts, 200
students for high school districts, and 400 
students for unit districts.  The total enrollment of member 
districts forming a cooperative high school in accordance with 
subsection (c) of Section 10-22.22 of the School Code shall 
meet the minimum enrollment requirements specified in this 
subsection (a). The
State Board of Education shall approve a 
district's eligibility for a school
construction project grant 
or a debt service grant pursuant to the established
standards.

    For purposes only  of determining a Type 40 area vocational 
center's eligibility  for an entity included in  a  school  
construction project grant or a school maintenance project 
grant,  an area vocational center shall  be  deemed  eligible  if  
one  or  more  of its member school districts satisfy the grant 
index  criteria  set  forth  in this Law. A Type 40 area vocational 
center that makes application for school construction funds 
after August 25, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act 96-731) 
shall be placed on the respective application cycle list. Type 
40 area vocational centers must be placed last on the priority 
listing of eligible entities for the applicable fiscal year.

    (b) The Capital Development Board shall establish
project 
standards for all school construction project grants provided 
pursuant
to this Article.  These standards shall include space 
and capacity standards as
well as the determination of 
recognized project costs that shall be eligible
for State 
financial assistance and enrichment costs that shall not be 
eligible
for State financial assistance.

    (c) The State Board of Education and the Capital 
Development Board shall
not establish standards that 
disapprove or otherwise establish limitations
that restrict 
the eligibility of (i) a school district with a population 
exceeding
500,000 for a school construction project grant based 
on the fact that any or
all of the school construction project 
grant will be used to pay debt service
or to make lease 
payments, as authorized by subsection (b) of Section 5-35 of

this Law, (ii) a school district located in whole or in part in 
a county that imposes a tax for school facility purposes 
pursuant to Section 5-1006.7 of the Counties Code, or (iii) a 
school district that (1) was organized prior to 1860 and (2) is 
located in part in a city originally incorporated prior to 
1840, based on the fact that all or a part of the school 
construction project is owned by a public building commission 
and leased to the school district or the fact that any or all 
of the school construction project grant will be used to pay 
debt service or to make lease payments.


    (d) A   reorganized school district or cooperative high 
school may use a school construction application that was 
submitted by a school district that formed the reorganized 
school district or cooperative high school if that application 
has not been entitled for a project by the State Board of 
Education and any one or more of  the following happen within 
the current or prior 4 2 fiscal years:
        (1) a new school district is created in accordance with 
    Article 11E of the School Code;
        (2) an existing school district annexes all of the 
    territory of one or more other school districts in 
    accordance with Article 7 of the School Code; or
        (3) a cooperative high school is formed in accordance 
    with subsection (c) of Section 10-22.22 of the School Code.
  
A new elementary district formed from a school district 
conversion, as defined in Section 11E-15 of the School Code, 
may use only the application of the dissolved district whose 
territory is now included in the new elementary district and 
must obtain the written approval of the local school board of 
any other school district that includes territory from that 
dissolved district.  A new high school district formed from a 
school district conversion, as defined in Section 11E-15 of the 
School Code, may use only the application of any dissolved 
district whose territory is now included in the new high school 
district, but only after obtaining the written approval of the 
local school board of any other school district that includes 
territory from that dissolved district.  A cooperative high 
school using this Section must obtain the written approval of 
the local school board of the member school district whose 
application it is using.  All other eligibility and project 
standards apply to this Section. 
(Source: P.A. 96-37, eff. 7-13-09; 96-731, eff. 8-25-09; 
96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 96-1381, eff. 1-1-11; 96-1467, eff. 
8-20-10; revised 9-16-10.)

 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.