93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB5038

 

Introduced 2/5/2004, by Calvin L. Giles

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 2605/2605-325   was 20 ILCS 2605/55a in part
105 ILCS 5/10-21.9   from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9
105 ILCS 5/27A-5
105 ILCS 5/27A-8
105 ILCS 5/34-18.5   from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5

    Amends the School Code. Requires a criminal background investigation of charter school governing body members. Provides that a charter school is not exempt from a Section of the Code regarding the interest of board members in school contracts. Makes a change concerning when a school board must file the report granting or denying a charter school proposal with the State Board of Education. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.


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CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning schools.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Department of State Police Law of the Civil
5 Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by changing Section
6 2605-325 as follows:
 
7     (20 ILCS 2605/2605-325)  (was 20 ILCS 2605/55a in part)
8     Sec. 2605-325. Conviction information for school board or
9 regional superintendent. On request of a school board or
10 regional superintendent of schools, to conduct an
11 investigation inquiry pursuant to Section 10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of
12 the School Code to ascertain whether an applicant for
13 employment in a school district or a charter school governing
14 body member has been convicted of committing or attempting to
15 commit a any criminal or drug offense specified offenses
16 enumerated in Section 10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of the School Code.
17 The Department shall furnish the conviction information to the
18 president of the school board of the school district that has
19 requested the information or, if the information was requested
20 by the regional superintendent, to that regional
21 superintendent.
22 (Source: P.A. 90-18, eff. 7-1-97; 90-130, eff. 1-1-98; 90-372,
23 eff. 7-1-98; 90-590, eff. 1-1-00; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 90-793,
24 eff. 8-14-98; 91-239, eff. 1-1-00.)
 
25     Section 10. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
26 10-21.9, 27A-5, 27A-8, and 34-18.5 as follows:
 
27     (105 ILCS 5/10-21.9)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)
28     Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal background investigations.
29     (a) Certified After August 1, 1985, certified and
30 noncertified applicants for employment with a school district

 

 

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1 and charter school governing body members, except school bus
2 driver applicants, are required, as a condition of employment
3 or membership on a charter school governing body, to authorize
4 an investigation to determine if such persons applicants have
5 been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug
6 offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or have been
7 convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment
8 with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of
9 this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any
10 other state or against the laws of the United States that, if
11 committed or attempted in this State, would have been
12 punishable as a felony under the laws of this State.
13 Authorization for the investigation shall be furnished by the
14 person applicant to the school district, except that if the
15 person applicant is a substitute teacher seeking employment in
16 more than one school district, a teacher seeking concurrent
17 part-time employment positions with more than one school
18 district (as a reading specialist, special education teacher or
19 otherwise), or an educational support personnel employee
20 seeking employment positions with more than one district, any
21 such district may require the applicant to furnish
22 authorization for the investigation to the regional
23 superintendent of the educational service region in which are
24 located the school districts in which the applicant is seeking
25 employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or
26 concurrent educational support personnel employee. Upon
27 receipt of this authorization, the school district or the
28 appropriate regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall
29 submit the person's applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth
30 and social security number to the Department of State Police on
31 forms prescribed by the Department. The regional
32 superintendent submitting the requisite information to the
33 Department of State Police shall promptly notify the school
34 districts in which the person applicant is seeking employment
35 as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent
36 educational support personnel employee that the investigation

 

 

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1 of the applicant has been requested. The Department of State
2 Police shall conduct a search of the Illinois criminal history
3 records database to ascertain if the person applicant being
4 considered for employment has been convicted of committing or
5 attempting to commit any of the enumerated criminal or drug
6 offenses in subsection (c) or has been convicted of committing
7 or attempting to commit, within 7 years of the application for
8 employment with the school district or within 7 years of
9 membership on the charter school governing body, any other
10 felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed
11 or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the
12 United States that, if committed or attempted in this State,
13 would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this
14 State. The Department shall charge the school district or the
15 appropriate regional superintendent a fee for conducting such
16 investigation, which fee shall be deposited in the State Police
17 Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the
18 investigation inquiry; and the person applicant shall not be
19 charged a fee for such investigation by the school district or
20 by the regional superintendent. The regional superintendent
21 may seek reimbursement from the State Board of Education or the
22 appropriate school district or districts for fees paid by the
23 regional superintendent to the Department for the criminal
24 background investigations required by this Section.
25     (b)   If the search of the Illinois criminal history
26 records database indicates that the person applicant has been
27 convicted of committing or attempting to commit any of the
28 enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has
29 been convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7
30 years before the application for employment with the school
31 district or within 7 years before membership on the charter
32 school governing body, any other felony under the laws of this
33 State, the Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
34 shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint based background
35 check, records of convictions, until expunged, to the president
36 of the school board for the school district which requested the

 

 

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1 investigation, or to the regional superintendent who requested
2 the investigation. Any information concerning the record of
3 convictions obtained by the president of the school board or
4 the regional superintendent shall be confidential and may only
5 be transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or
6 his designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if the
7 investigation was requested by the school district, the
8 presidents of the appropriate school boards if the
9 investigation was requested from the Department of State Police
10 by the regional superintendent, the State Superintendent of
11 Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any other
12 person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for
13 employment or allowing the member to be on the charter school
14 governing body. A copy of the record of convictions obtained
15 from the Department of State Police shall be provided to the
16 person applicant for employment. If an investigation of an
17 applicant for employment as a substitute or concurrent
18 part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel
19 employee in more than one school district was requested by the
20 regional superintendent, and the Department of State Police
21 upon investigation ascertains that the applicant has not been
22 convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in
23 subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
24 application for employment with the school district, of any
25 other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense
26 committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
27 of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
28 State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
29 this State and so notifies the regional superintendent, then
30 the regional superintendent shall issue to the applicant a
31 certificate evidencing that as of the date specified by the
32 Department of State Police the applicant has not been convicted
33 of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in
34 subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
35 application for employment with the school district, of any
36 other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense

 

 

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1 committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
2 of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
3 State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
4 this State. The school board of any school district located in
5 the educational service region served by the regional
6 superintendent who issues such a certificate to an applicant
7 for employment as a substitute teacher in more than one such
8 district may rely on the certificate issued by the regional
9 superintendent to that applicant, or may initiate its own
10 investigation of the applicant through the Department of State
11 Police as provided in subsection (a). Any person who releases
12 any confidential information concerning any criminal
13 convictions of an applicant for employment or charter school
14 governing body member shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor,
15 unless the release of such information is authorized by this
16 Section.
17     (c) No school board shall knowingly employ nor charter
18 school knowingly have as a governing body member a person who
19 has been convicted for committing attempted first degree murder
20 or for committing or attempting to commit first degree murder
21 or a Class X felony or any one or more of the following
22 offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9, 11-14,
23 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, 11-19.2,
24 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15 and 12-16
25 of the "Criminal Code of 1961"; (ii) those defined in the
26 "Cannabis Control Act" except those defined in Sections 4(a),
27 4(b) and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those defined in the "Illinois
28 Controlled Substances Act"; and (iv) any offense committed or
29 attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United
30 States, which if committed or attempted in this State, would
31 have been punishable as one or more of the foregoing offenses.
32 Further, no school board shall knowingly employ a person who
33 has been found to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical
34 abuse of any minor under 18 years of age pursuant to
35 proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
36     (d) No school board shall knowingly employ nor charter

 

 

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1 school knowingly have as a governing body member a person for
2 whom a criminal background investigation has not been
3 initiated.
4     (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a
5 finding of child abuse by a holder of any certificate issued
6 pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the School
7 Code, the appropriate regional superintendent of schools or the
8 State Superintendent of Education shall initiate the
9 certificate suspension and revocation proceedings authorized
10 by law.
11     (f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section
12 shall apply to all employees of persons or firms holding
13 contracts with any school district including, but not limited
14 to, food service workers, school bus drivers and other
15 transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with
16 the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of
17 criminal background investigations on employees of persons or
18 firms holding contracts with more than one school district and
19 assigned to more than one school district, the regional
20 superintendent of the educational service region in which the
21 contracting school districts are located may, at the request of
22 any such school district, be responsible for receiving the
23 authorization for investigation prepared by each such employee
24 and submitting the same to the Department of State Police. Any
25 information concerning the record of conviction of any such
26 employee obtained by the regional superintendent shall be
27 promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school
28 board or school boards.
29 (Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)
 
30     (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
31     Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
32     (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
33 nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
34 school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
35 corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity

 

 

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1 authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
2     (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
3 by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
4 school or attendance center to charter school status.
5     Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
6 93rd General Assembly, in all new applications submitted to the
7 State Board or a local school board to establish a charter
8 school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000,
9 operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus.
10 The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the
11 93rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing
12 or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory
13 Act.
14     (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
15 its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
16 provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
17 shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
18 Meetings Act.
19     (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable
20 health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
21 under the laws of the State of Illinois.
22     (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
23 charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
24 charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
25 instructional materials, and student activities.
26     (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
27 management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
28 not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
29 charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
30 outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
31 school.
32     (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
33 this Article and its charter. A charter school is exempt from
34 all other State laws and regulations in the School Code
35 governing public schools and local school board policies,
36 except the following:

 

 

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1         (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code
2     regarding criminal background investigations of applicants
3     for employment;
4         (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code
5     regarding discipline of students;
6         (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
7     Tort Immunity Act;
8         (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
9     Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
10     officers, directors, employees, and agents;
11         (5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
12         (6) The Illinois School Student Records Act; and
13         (7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school
14     report cards;and .
15         (8) Section 10-9 of the School Code regarding the
16     interest of board members in school contracts, which shall
17     apply to the interest of charter school governing body
18     members in charter school contracts.
19     (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
20 school district, the governing body of a State college or
21 university or public community college, or any other public or
22 for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
23 school building and grounds or any other real property or
24 facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
25 for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
26 maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
27 activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to
28 perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
29 However, a charter school that is established on or after the
30 effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
31 Assembly and that operates in a city having a population
32 exceeding 500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
33 manage or operate the school during the period that commences
34 on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
35 General Assembly and concludes at the end of the 2004-2005
36 school year. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this

 

 

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1 Section, a school district may charge a charter school
2 reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings,
3 grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter
4 school contracts with a school district shall be provided by
5 the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school
6 contracts with a local school board or with the governing body
7 of a State college or university or public community college
8 shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
9     (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
10 by converting an existing school or attendance center to
11 charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
12 deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
13 agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
14 costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
15 facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
16 to negotiation between the charter school and the local school
17 board and shall be set forth in the charter.
18     (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
19 grade level.
20 (Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03.)
 
21     (105 ILCS 5/27A-8)
22     Sec. 27A-8. Evaluation of charter proposals.
23     (a) This Section does not apply to a charter school
24 established by referendum under Section 27A-6.5. In evaluating
25 any charter school proposal submitted to it, the local school
26 board shall give preference to proposals that:
27         (1) demonstrate a high level of local pupil, parental,
28     community, business, and school personnel support;
29         (2) set rigorous levels of expected pupil achievement
30     and demonstrate feasible plans for attaining those levels
31     of achievement; and
32         (3) are designed to enroll and serve a substantial
33     proportion of at-risk children; provided that nothing in
34     the Charter Schools Law shall be construed as intended to
35     limit the establishment of charter schools to those that

 

 

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1     serve a substantial portion of at-risk children or to in
2     any manner restrict, limit, or discourage the
3     establishment of charter schools that enroll and serve
4     other pupil populations under a nonexclusive,
5     nondiscriminatory admissions policy.
6     (b) In the case of a proposal to establish a charter school
7 by converting an existing public school or attendance center to
8 charter school status, evidence that the proposed formation of
9 the charter school has received majority support from certified
10 teachers and from parents and guardians in the school or
11 attendance center affected by the proposed charter, and, if
12 applicable, from a local school council, shall be demonstrated
13 by a petition in support of the charter school signed by
14 certified teachers and a petition in support of the charter
15 school signed by parents and guardians and, if applicable, by a
16 vote of the local school council held at a public meeting. In
17 the case of all other proposals to establish a charter school,
18 evidence of sufficient support to fill the number of pupil
19 seats set forth in the proposal may be demonstrated by a
20 petition in support of the charter school signed by parents and
21 guardians of students eligible to attend the charter school. In
22 all cases, the individuals, organizations, or entities who
23 initiate the proposal to establish a charter school may elect,
24 in lieu of including any petition referred to in this
25 subsection as a part of the proposal submitted to the local
26 school board, to demonstrate that the charter school has
27 received the support referred to in this subsection by other
28 evidence and information presented at the public meeting that
29 the local school board is required to convene under this
30 Section.
31     (c) Within 45 days of receipt of a charter school proposal,
32 the local school board shall convene a public meeting to obtain
33 information to assist the board in its decision to grant or
34 deny the charter school proposal.
35     (d) Notice of the public meeting required by this Section
36 shall be published in a community newspaper published in the

 

 

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1 school district in which the proposed charter is located and,
2 if there is no such newspaper, then in a newspaper published in
3 the county and having circulation in the school district. The
4 notices shall be published not more than 10 days nor less than
5 5 days before the meeting and shall state that information
6 regarding a charter school proposal will be heard at the
7 meeting. Copies of the notice shall also be posted at
8 appropriate locations in the school or attendance center
9 proposed to be established as a charter school, the public
10 schools in the school district, and the local school board
11 office.
12     (e) Within 30 days of the public meeting, the local school
13 board shall vote, in a public meeting, to either grant or deny
14 the charter school proposal.
15     (f) Within 7 days of the public meeting required under
16 subsection (e), the local school board shall file a report with
17 the State Board granting or denying the proposal. A report that
18 at a minimum contains the charter school proposal and the
19 charter agreement must be filed by the local school board with
20 the State Board on or before March 1 in order for the charter
21 school to open for the upcoming school year. Within 30 14 days
22 of receipt of the local school board's report, the State Board
23 shall determine whether the approved charter proposal is
24 consistent with the provisions of this Article and, if the
25 approved proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to
26 Section 27A-6.
27 (Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 91-407, eff. 8-3-99.)
 
28     (105 ILCS 5/34-18.5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5)
29     Sec. 34-18.5. Criminal background investigations.
30     (a) Certified After August 1, 1985, certified and
31 noncertified applicants for employment with the school
32 district and charter school governing body members are
33 required, as a condition of employment or membership on a
34 charter school governing body, to authorize an investigation to
35 determine if such persons applicants have been convicted of any

 

 

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1 of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c)
2 of this Section or have been convicted, within 7 years of the
3 application for employment with the school district, of any
4 other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense
5 committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
6 of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
7 State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
8 this State. Authorization for the investigation shall be
9 furnished by the person applicant to the school district,
10 except that if the person applicant is a substitute teacher
11 seeking employment in more than one school district, or a
12 teacher seeking concurrent part-time employment positions with
13 more than one school district (as a reading specialist, special
14 education teacher or otherwise), or an educational support
15 personnel employee seeking employment positions with more than
16 one district, any such district may require the applicant to
17 furnish authorization for the investigation to the regional
18 superintendent of the educational service region in which are
19 located the school districts in which the applicant is seeking
20 employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or
21 concurrent educational support personnel employee. Upon
22 receipt of this authorization, the school district or the
23 appropriate regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall
24 submit the person's applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth
25 and social security number to the Department of State Police on
26 forms prescribed by the Department. The regional
27 superintendent submitting the requisite information to the
28 Department of State Police shall promptly notify the school
29 districts in which the person applicant is seeking employment
30 as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent
31 educational support personnel employee that the investigation
32 of the applicant has been requested. The Department of State
33 Police shall conduct a search of the Illinois Criminal history
34 record information database to ascertain if the person
35 applicant being considered for employment has been convicted of
36 committing or attempting to commit any of the enumerated

 

 

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1 criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has been
2 convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years
3 of the application for employment with the school district or
4 within 7 years of membership on the charter school governing
5 body, any other felony under the laws of this State or any
6 offense committed or attempted in any other state or against
7 the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted
8 in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the
9 laws of this State. The Department shall charge the school
10 district or the appropriate regional superintendent a fee for
11 conducting such investigation, which fee shall be deposited in
12 the State Police Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of
13 the investigation inquiry; and the person applicant shall not
14 be charged a fee for such investigation by the school district
15 or by the regional superintendent. The regional superintendent
16 may seek reimbursement from the State Board of Education or the
17 appropriate school district or districts for fees paid by the
18 regional superintendent to the Department for the criminal
19 background investigations required by this Section.
20     (b) If the search of the Illinois criminal history records
21 database indicates that the person applicant has been convicted
22 of committing or attempting to commit any of the enumerated
23 criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or has been
24 convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years
25 of the application for employment with the school district or
26 within 7 years before membership on the charter school
27 governing body, any other felony under the laws of this State,
28 the Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall
29 furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint based background check,
30 records of convictions, until expunged, to the president of the
31 board of education for the school district which requested the
32 investigation, or to the regional superintendent who requested
33 the investigation. Any information concerning the record of
34 convictions obtained by the president of the board of education
35 or the regional superintendent shall be confidential and may
36 only be transmitted to the general superintendent of the school

 

 

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1 district or his designee, the appropriate regional
2 superintendent if the investigation was requested by the board
3 of education for the school district, the presidents of the
4 appropriate board of education or school boards if the
5 investigation was requested from the Department of State Police
6 by the regional superintendent, the State Superintendent of
7 Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any other
8 person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for
9 employment or allowing a member to be on the charter school
10 governing body. A copy of the record of convictions obtained
11 from the Department of State Police shall be provided to the
12 person applicant for employment. If an investigation of an
13 applicant for employment as a substitute or concurrent
14 part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel
15 employee in more than one school district was requested by the
16 regional superintendent, and the Department of State Police
17 upon investigation ascertains that the applicant has not been
18 convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in
19 subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
20 application for employment with the school district, of any
21 other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense
22 committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
23 of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
24 State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
25 this State and so notifies the regional superintendent, then
26 the regional superintendent shall issue to the applicant a
27 certificate evidencing that as of the date specified by the
28 Department of State Police the applicant has not been convicted
29 of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in
30 subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
31 application for employment with the school district, of any
32 other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense
33 committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
34 of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this
35 State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of
36 this State. The school board of any school district located in

 

 

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1 the educational service region served by the regional
2 superintendent who issues such a certificate to an applicant
3 for employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher
4 or concurrent educational support personnel employee in more
5 than one such district may rely on the certificate issued by
6 the regional superintendent to that applicant, or may initiate
7 its own investigation of the applicant through the Department
8 of State Police as provided in subsection (a). Any person who
9 releases any confidential information concerning any criminal
10 convictions of an applicant for employment or charter school
11 governing body member shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor,
12 unless the release of such information is authorized by this
13 Section.
14     (c) The board of education shall not knowingly employ nor
15 charter school knowingly have as a governing body member a
16 person who has been convicted for committing attempted first
17 degree murder or for committing or attempting to commit first
18 degree murder or a Class X felony or any one or more of the
19 following offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9,
20 11-14, 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1,
21 11-19.2, 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15
22 and 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961; (ii) those defined in
23 the Cannabis Control Act, except those defined in Sections
24 4(a), 4(b) and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those defined in the
25 Illinois Controlled Substances Act; and (iv) any offense
26 committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws
27 of the United States, which if committed or attempted in this
28 State, would have been punishable as one or more of the
29 foregoing offenses. Further, the board of education shall not
30 knowingly employ a person who has been found to be the
31 perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under 18
32 years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the
33 Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
34     (d) The board of education shall not knowingly employ nor
35 charter school knowingly have as a governing body member a
36 person for whom a criminal background investigation has not

 

 

HB5038 - 16 - LRB093 19744 NHT 45485 b

1 been initiated.
2     (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a
3 finding of child abuse by a holder of any certificate issued
4 pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the School
5 Code, the board of education or the State Superintendent of
6 Education shall initiate the certificate suspension and
7 revocation proceedings authorized by law.
8     (f) After March 19, 1990, the provisions of this Section
9 shall apply to all employees of persons or firms holding
10 contracts with any school district including, but not limited
11 to, food service workers, school bus drivers and other
12 transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with
13 the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of
14 criminal background investigations on employees of persons or
15 firms holding contracts with more than one school district and
16 assigned to more than one school district, the regional
17 superintendent of the educational service region in which the
18 contracting school districts are located may, at the request of
19 any such school district, be responsible for receiving the
20 authorization for investigation prepared by each such employee
21 and submitting the same to the Department of State Police. Any
22 information concerning the record of conviction of any such
23 employee obtained by the regional superintendent shall be
24 promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school
25 board or school boards.
26 (Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)
 
27     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
28 becoming law.