093_HB2297
LRB093 08203 NHT 08410 b
1 AN ACT regarding schools.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
5 Sections 2-3.12 and 10-17a as follows:
6 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.12) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.12)
7 Sec. 2-3.12. School building code. To prepare for school
8 boards with the advice of the Department of Public Health,
9 the Capital Development Board, and the State Fire Marshal a
10 school building code that will conserve the health and safety
11 and general welfare of the pupils and school personnel and
12 others who use public school facilities.
13 The document known as "Efficient and Adequate Standards
14 for the Construction of Schools" applies only to temporary
15 school facilities, new school buildings, and additions to
16 existing schools whose construction contracts are awarded
17 after July 1, 1965. On or before July 1, 1967, each school
18 board shall have its school district buildings that were
19 constructed prior to January 1, 1955, surveyed by an
20 architect or engineer licensed in the State of Illinois as to
21 minimum standards necessary to conserve the health and safety
22 of the pupils enrolled in the school buildings of the
23 district. Buildings constructed between January 1, 1955 and
24 July 1, 1965, not owned by the State of Illinois, shall be
25 surveyed by an architect or engineer licensed in the State of
26 Illinois beginning 10 years after acceptance of the completed
27 building by the school board. Buildings constructed between
28 January 1, 1955 and July 1, 1955 and previously exempt under
29 the provisions of Section 35-27 shall be surveyed prior to
30 July 1, 1977 by an architect or engineer licensed in the
31 State of Illinois. The architect or engineer, using the
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1 document known as "Building Specifications for Health and
2 Safety in Public Schools" as a guide, shall make a report of
3 the findings of the survey to the school board, giving
4 priority in that report to fire safety problems and
5 recommendations thereon if any such problems exist. The
6 school board of each district so surveyed and receiving a
7 report of needed recommendations to be made to improve
8 standards of safety and health of the pupils enrolled has
9 until July 1, 1970, or in case of buildings not owned by the
10 State of Illinois and completed between January 1, 1955 and
11 July 1, 1965 or in the case of buildings previously exempt
12 under the provisions of Section 35-27 has a period of 3 years
13 after the survey is commenced, to effectuate those
14 recommendations, giving first attention to the
15 recommendations in the survey report having priority status,
16 and is authorized to levy the tax provided for in Section
17 17-2.11, according to the provisions of that Section, to make
18 such improvements. School boards unable to effectuate those
19 recommendations prior to July 1, 1970, on July 1, 1980 in the
20 case of buildings previously exempt under the provisions of
21 Section 35-27, may petition the State Superintendent of
22 Education upon the recommendation of the Regional
23 Superintendent for an extension of time. The extension of
24 time may be granted by the State Superintendent of Education
25 for a period of one year, but may be extended from year to
26 year provided substantial progress, in the opinion of the
27 State Superintendent of Education, is being made toward
28 compliance. However, for fire protection issues, only one
29 one-year extension may be made, and no other provision of
30 this Code or an applicable code may supersede this
31 requirement. For routine inspections, fire officials shall
32 provide written notice to the principal of the school to
33 schedule a mutually agreed upon time for the fire safety
34 check. However, no more than 2 routine inspections may be
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1 made in a calendar year.
2 Within 2 years after the effective date of this
3 amendatory Act of 1983, and every 10 years thereafter, or at
4 such other times as the State Board of Education deems
5 necessary or the regional superintendent so orders, each
6 school board subject to the provisions of this Section shall
7 again survey its school buildings and effectuate any
8 recommendations in accordance with the procedures set forth
9 herein. An architect or engineer licensed in the State of
10 Illinois is required to conduct the surveys under the
11 provisions of this Section and shall make a report of the
12 findings of the survey titled "safety survey report" to the
13 school board. The school board shall approve the safety
14 survey report, including any recommendations to effectuate
15 compliance with the code, and submit it to the Regional
16 Superintendent. The Regional Superintendent shall render a
17 decision regarding approval or denial and submit the safety
18 survey report to the State Superintendent of Education. The
19 State Superintendent of Education shall approve or deny the
20 report including recommendations to effectuate compliance
21 with the code and, if approved, issue a certificate of
22 approval. Upon receipt of the certificate of approval, the
23 Regional Superintendent shall issue an order to effect any
24 approved recommendations included in the report. Items in
25 the report shall be prioritized. Urgent items shall be
26 considered as those items related to life safety problems
27 that present an immediate hazard to the safety of students.
28 Required items shall be considered as those items that are
29 necessary for a safe environment but present less of an
30 immediate hazard to the safety of students. Urgent and
31 required items shall reference a specific rule in the code
32 authorized by this Section that is currently being violated
33 or will be violated within the next 12 months if the
34 violation is not remedied. The school board of each district
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1 so surveyed and receiving a report of needed recommendations
2 to be made to maintain standards of safety and health of the
3 pupils enrolled shall effectuate the correction of urgent
4 items as soon as achievable to ensure the safety of the
5 students, but in no case more than one year after the date of
6 the State Superintendent of Education's approval of the
7 recommendation. Required items shall be corrected in a
8 timely manner, but in no case more than 5 years from the date
9 of the State Superintendent of Education's approval of the
10 recommendation. Once each year the school board shall submit
11 a report of progress on completion of any recommendations to
12 effectuate compliance with the code. For each year that the
13 school board does not effectuate any or all approved
14 recommendations, it shall petition the Regional
15 Superintendent and the State Superintendent of Education
16 detailing what work was completed in the previous year and a
17 work plan for completion of the remaining work. If in the
18 judgement of the Regional Superintendent and the State
19 Superintendent of Education substantial progress has been
20 made and just cause has been shown by the school board, the
21 petition for a one year extension of time may be approved.
22 The State Board of Education shall require each school
23 district to prepare an indoor air quality (IAQ) management
24 plan. At a minimum, the plan must include all of the
25 following components:
26 (1) A district IAQ coordinator.
27 (2) An annual IAQ walk-through inspection.
28 (3) A building systems evaluation.
29 (4) A process for documenting, evaluating, and
30 resolving IAQ issues.
31 (5) A plan to inform staff and teachers about the
32 IAQ management plan and how to contact the district IAQ
33 coordinator.
34 (6) An emergency response plan for both individual
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1 schools and the district.
2 (7) A preventive maintenance and operations policy.
3 (8) A microbial management policy.
4 (9) Documentation of school board approval.
5 (10) An annual review of the IAQ management plan by
6 the regional office of education as part of a regular
7 annual review.
8 The State Board of Education, in cooperation with
9 regional offices of education and the Department of Public
10 Health, shall develop materials for and provide training to
11 school districts to assist them in developing IAQ management
12 plans.
13 As soon as practicable, but not later than 2 years after
14 the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1992, the State
15 Board of Education shall combine the document known as
16 "Efficient and Adequate Standards for the Construction of
17 Schools" with the document known as "Building Specifications
18 for Health and Safety in Public Schools" together with any
19 modifications or additions that may be deemed necessary. The
20 combined document shall be known as the "Health/Life Safety
21 Code for Public Schools" and shall be the governing code for
22 all facilities that house public school students or are
23 otherwise used for public school purposes, whether such
24 facilities are permanent or temporary and whether they are
25 owned, leased, rented, or otherwise used by the district.
26 Facilities owned by a school district but that are not used
27 to house public school students or are not used for public
28 school purposes shall be governed by separate provisions
29 within the code authorized by this Section.
30 The 10 year survey cycle specified in this Section shall
31 continue to apply based upon the standards contained in the
32 "Health/Life Safety Code for Public Schools", which shall
33 specify building standards for buildings that are constructed
34 prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1992
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1 and for buildings that are constructed after that date.
2 The "Health/Life Safety Code for Public Schools" shall be
3 the governing code for public schools; however, the
4 provisions of this Section shall not preclude inspection of
5 school premises and buildings pursuant to Section 9 of the
6 Fire Investigation Act, provided that the provisions of the
7 "Health/Life Safety Code for Public Schools", or such
8 predecessor document authorized by this Section as may be
9 applicable are used, and provided that those inspections are
10 coordinated with the Regional Superintendent having
11 jurisdiction over the public school facility. Nothing in
12 this Section shall be construed to prohibit a local fire
13 department, fire protection district, or the Office of the
14 State Fire Marshal from conducting a fire safety check in a
15 public school. Upon being notified by a fire official that
16 corrective action must be taken to resolve a violation, the
17 school board shall take corrective action within one year.
18 However, violations that present imminent danger must be
19 addressed immediately.
20 Any agency having jurisdiction beyond the scope of the
21 applicable document authorized by this Section may issue a
22 lawful order to a school board to effectuate recommendations,
23 and the school board receiving the order shall certify to the
24 Regional Superintendent and the State Superintendent of
25 Education when it has complied with the order.
26 The State Board of Education is authorized to adopt any
27 rules that are necessary relating to the administration and
28 enforcement of the provisions of this Section. The code
29 authorized by this Section shall apply only to those school
30 districts having a population of less than 500,000
31 inhabitants.
32 (Source: P.A. 92-593, eff. 1-1-03.)
33 (105 ILCS 5/10-17a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a)
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1 Sec. 10-17a. Better schools accountability.
2 (1) Policy and Purpose. It shall be the policy of the
3 State of Illinois that each school district in this State,
4 including special charter districts and districts subject to
5 the provisions of Article 34, shall submit to parents,
6 taxpayers of such district, the Governor, the General
7 Assembly, and the State Board of Education a school report
8 card assessing the performance of its schools and students.
9 The report card shall be an index of school performance
10 measured against statewide and local standards and will
11 provide information to make prior year comparisons and to set
12 future year targets through the school improvement plan.
13 (2) Reporting Requirements. Each school district shall
14 prepare a report card in accordance with the guidelines set
15 forth in this Section which describes the performance of its
16 students by school attendance centers and by district and the
17 district's financial resources and use of financial
18 resources. The report card shall also include information on
19 the quality of school facilities in the district. Such
20 report card shall be presented at a regular school board
21 meeting subject to applicable notice requirements, posted on
22 the school district's Internet web site, if the district
23 maintains an Internet web site, made available to a newspaper
24 of general circulation serving the district, and, upon
25 request, sent home to a parent (unless the district does not
26 maintain an Internet web site, in which case the report card
27 shall be sent home to parents without request). If the
28 district posts the report card on its Internet web site, the
29 district shall send a written notice home to parents stating
30 (i) that the report card is available on the web site, (ii)
31 the address of the web site, (iii) that a printed copy of the
32 report card will be sent to parents upon request, and (iv)
33 the telephone number that parents may call to request a
34 printed copy of the report card. In addition, each school
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1 district shall submit the completed report card to the office
2 of the district's Regional Superintendent which shall make
3 copies available to any individuals requesting them.
4 The report card shall be completed and disseminated prior
5 to October 31 in each school year. The report card shall
6 contain, but not be limited to, actual local school
7 attendance center, school district and statewide data
8 indicating the present performance of the school, the State
9 norms and the areas for planned improvement for the school
10 and school district.
11 (3) (a) The report card shall include the following
12 applicable indicators of attendance center, district, and
13 statewide student performance: percent of students who
14 exceed, meet, or do not meet standards established by the
15 State Board of Education pursuant to Section 2-3.25a;
16 composite and subtest means on nationally normed achievement
17 tests for college bound students; student attendance rates;
18 chronic truancy rate; dropout rate; graduation rate; and
19 student mobility, turnover shown as a percent of transfers
20 out and a percent of transfers in.
21 (b) The report card shall include the following
22 descriptions for the school, district, and State: average
23 class size; amount of time per day devoted to mathematics,
24 science, English and social science at primary, middle and
25 junior high school grade levels; number of students taking
26 the Prairie State Achievement Examination under subsection
27 (c) of Section 2-3.64, the number of those students who
28 received a score of excellent, and the average score by
29 school of students taking the examination; pupil-teacher
30 ratio; pupil-administrator ratio; operating expenditure per
31 pupil; district expenditure by fund; average administrator
32 salary; and average teacher salary. The report card shall
33 also specify the amount of money that the district receives
34 from all sources, including without limitation subcategories
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1 specifying the amount from local property taxes, the amount
2 from general State aid, the amount from other State funding,
3 and the amount from other income.
4 (c) The report card shall include applicable indicators
5 of parental involvement in each attendance center. The
6 parental involvement component of the report card shall
7 include the percentage of students whose parents or guardians
8 have had one or more personal contacts with the students'
9 teachers during the school year concerning the students'
10 education, and such other information, commentary, and
11 suggestions as the school district desires. For the purposes
12 of this paragraph, "personal contact" includes, but is not
13 limited to, parent-teacher conferences, parental visits to
14 school, school visits to home, telephone conversations, and
15 written correspondence. The parental involvement component
16 shall not single out or identify individual students,
17 parents, or guardians by name.
18 (d) The report card form shall be prepared by the State
19 Board of Education and provided to school districts by the
20 most efficient, economic, and appropriate means.
21 (Source: P.A. 92-604, eff. 7-1-02; 92-631, eff. 7-11-02;
22 revised 7-26-02.)
23 Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
24 Section 8.27 as follows:
25 (30 ILCS 805/8.27 new)
26 Sec. 8.27. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6
27 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required
28 for the implementation of any mandate created by this
29 amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.
30 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
31 becoming law.