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1 | AN ACT relating to schools.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 2-3.25g as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g)
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7 | Sec. 2-3.25g. Waiver or modification of mandates within the | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this School Code or any | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | other law of this State to the
contrary, school districts may | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | petition the State Board of Education for the
waiver or | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | modification of the mandates of this School Code or of the
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13 | administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the State | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | Board of
Education. Waivers or modifications of administrative | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | rules and regulations
and modifications of mandates of this | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | School Code may be requested when a
school district | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | demonstrates that it can address the intent of the rule or
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18 | mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical manner or | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | when necessary
to stimulate innovation or improve student | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | performance. Waivers of
mandates of
the School Code may be | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
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22 | innovation or improve student performance. Waivers may not be | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | requested
from laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to | |||||||||||||||||||
24 | special education, teacher
certification, or teacher tenure | |||||||||||||||||||
25 | and seniority or from compliance with the No
Child Left Behind | |||||||||||||||||||
26 | Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110).
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27 | School districts, as a matter of inherent managerial | |||||||||||||||||||
28 | policy, and any
Independent Authority established under | |||||||||||||||||||
29 | Section 2-3.25f may submit an
application for a waiver or | |||||||||||||||||||
30 | modification authorized under this Section. Each
application | |||||||||||||||||||
31 | must include a written request by the school district or
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32 | Independent Authority and must demonstrate that the intent of |
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1 | the mandate can
be addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | ||||||
2 | economical manner
or be based
upon a specific plan for improved | ||||||
3 | student performance and school improvement.
Any district | ||||||
4 | requesting a waiver or modification for the reason that intent
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5 | of the mandate can be addressed in a more economical manner | ||||||
6 | shall include in
the application a fiscal analysis showing | ||||||
7 | current expenditures on the mandate
and projected savings | ||||||
8 | resulting from the waiver
or modification. Applications
and | ||||||
9 | plans developed by school districts must be approved by each | ||||||
10 | board of
education following a public hearing on the | ||||||
11 | application and plan and the
opportunity for the board to hear | ||||||
12 | testimony from educators directly involved in
its | ||||||
13 | implementation, parents, and students.
Such public hearing | ||||||
14 | shall be held on a day other than the day on which a
regular | ||||||
15 | meeting of the board is held. The
public hearing must be | ||||||
16 | preceded
by at least one published notice occurring at least 7 | ||||||
17 | days prior to the hearing
in a newspaper of general circulation | ||||||
18 | within the school district that sets
forth the time, date, | ||||||
19 | place, and general subject matter of the hearing. The
school | ||||||
20 | district must notify in writing the affected exclusive | ||||||
21 | collective
bargaining agent and those State legislators | ||||||
22 | representing the district
holding the public hearing of the | ||||||
23 | district's intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification | ||||||
24 | and of the hearing to be held to take testimony from educators.
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25 | The affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | ||||||
26 | notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | ||||||
27 | date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | ||||||
28 | hearing. The district shall attest to compliance with all of
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29 | the notification and procedural requirements set forth in this | ||||||
30 | Section.
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31 | A request for a waiver or modification of administrative | ||||||
32 | rules and
regulations or for a modification of mandates | ||||||
33 | contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to the State | ||||||
34 | Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by the board | ||||||
35 | of education. The application as submitted to the
State Board | ||||||
36 | of Education shall include a description of the public hearing.
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1 | Following receipt of the request, the
State Board shall have 45 | ||||||
2 | days to review the application and request. If the
State Board | ||||||
3 | fails to disapprove the application within that 45 day period, | ||||||
4 | the
waiver or modification shall be deemed granted. The State | ||||||
5 | Board
may disapprove
any request if it is not based upon sound | ||||||
6 | educational practices, endangers the
health or safety of | ||||||
7 | students or staff, compromises equal opportunities for
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8 | learning, or fails to demonstrate that the intent of the rule | ||||||
9 | or mandate can be
addressed in a more effective, efficient, or | ||||||
10 | economical manner or have improved
student performance as a | ||||||
11 | primary goal. Any request disapproved by the State
Board may be | ||||||
12 | appealed to the General Assembly by the requesting school | ||||||
13 | district
as outlined in this Section.
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14 | A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | ||||||
15 | School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | ||||||
16 | days after approval by the board of
education.
The application | ||||||
17 | as submitted to the State Board of Education
shall include a | ||||||
18 | description of the public hearing. The description shall
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19 | include, but need not be limited to, the means of notice, the | ||||||
20 | number of people
in attendance, the number of people who spoke | ||||||
21 | as proponents or opponents of the
waiver, a brief description | ||||||
22 | of their comments, and whether there were any
written | ||||||
23 | statements submitted.
The State Board shall review the | ||||||
24 | applications and requests for
completeness and shall compile | ||||||
25 | the requests in reports to be filed with the
General Assembly.
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26 | The State Board shall file
reports outlining the waivers
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27 | requested by school districts and appeals by school districts | ||||||
28 | of requests
disapproved by the State Board with the Senate and | ||||||
29 | the House of
Representatives before each May 1 and
October
1. | ||||||
30 | The General Assembly may disapprove the report of the State | ||||||
31 | Board in whole
or in part within 30 calendar days after each | ||||||
32 | house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after the report is | ||||||
33 | filed by adoption of a resolution by a record vote
of the | ||||||
34 | majority of members elected in each house. If the General | ||||||
35 | Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or appealed | ||||||
36 | request within such 30
day period, the waiver or modification |
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1 | shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted by the General | ||||||
2 | Assembly disapproving a report of the State Board in
whole or | ||||||
3 | in part shall be binding on the State Board.
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4 | An approved waiver or modification may remain in effect for | ||||||
5 | a period not to
exceed 5 school years and may be renewed upon | ||||||
6 | application by the
school
district. However, such waiver or | ||||||
7 | modification may be changed within that
5-year period by a | ||||||
8 | local school district board following the procedure as set
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9 | forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification | ||||||
10 | request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the | ||||||
11 | General Assembly disapproves, the
change is deemed granted.
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12 | On or before February 1, 1998, and each year thereafter, | ||||||
13 | the State Board of
Education shall submit a cumulative report | ||||||
14 | summarizing all types of waiver
mandates and modifications of | ||||||
15 | mandates granted by the State Board or the
General Assembly. | ||||||
16 | The report shall identify the topic of the waiver along with
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17 | the number and percentage of school districts for which the | ||||||
18 | waiver has been
granted. The report shall also include any | ||||||
19 | recommendations from the State
Board regarding the repeal or | ||||||
20 | modification of waived mandates.
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21 | (Source: P.A. 93-470, eff. 8-8-03; 93-557, eff. 8-20-03; | ||||||
22 | revised 9-11-03.)
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