Elementary & Secondary Education Committee
Filed: 3/14/2007
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1964
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1964 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Childhood Hunger
Relief Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 20 as follows: | ||||||
6 | (105 ILCS 126/20)
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7 | Sec. 20. Summer food service program.
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8 | (a) The State Board of Education shall promulgate a State | ||||||
9 | plan for
summer food service programs, in accordance with 42 | ||||||
10 | U.S.C. Sec. 1761 and any
other
applicable federal laws and | ||||||
11 | regulations,
by June 1, 2007
January 15, 2006 .
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12 | (b) On or before April 15, 2008, a school district must | ||||||
13 | promulgate a plan to have a summer food service program for | ||||||
14 | each school in which at least 50% of the students are eligible | ||||||
15 | for free or reduced-price school meals. The plan must be | ||||||
16 | implemented during the summer of 2008. Each summer food service |
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1 | program must operate for a minimum of 35 consecutive days. If | ||||||
2 | the school district has one or more elementary schools that | ||||||
3 | qualify, the summer food service program must be operated | ||||||
4 | within 5 miles of at least one of the elementary schools and | ||||||
5 | within 10 miles of the other elementary schools, if any. If a | ||||||
6 | school is not open during the summer months, the school | ||||||
7 | district shall identify a not-for-profit entity that is willing | ||||||
8 | to sponsor a summer food service program serving school-aged | ||||||
9 | children in the surrounding school area and shall provide | ||||||
10 | assistance to the entity in documenting the number of children | ||||||
11 | in the area who are eligible for free or reduced-price school | ||||||
12 | meals. By February 15 of each year, the State Board of | ||||||
13 | Education shall provide to each school district a list of local | ||||||
14 | organizations that have filed letters of intent to participate | ||||||
15 | in the summer food service program so that the school board is | ||||||
16 | able to determine how many sites are needed to serve the | ||||||
17 | children and where to place each site.
By the summer of 2006 | ||||||
18 | and then each summer thereafter, it is strongly encouraged that | ||||||
19 | the board of
education of each school
district in this State in | ||||||
20 | which at least 50% of the students are eligible for
free or
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21 | reduced-price school meals operate a summer food service | ||||||
22 | program
or identify a non-profit or private agency to sponsor a | ||||||
23 | summer food service
program within the school district's | ||||||
24 | boundaries.
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25 | (c) Summer food service programs established under this | ||||||
26 | Section shall
may
be
supported by federal funds and commodities
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1 | and other available State and local resources.
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2 | (d) A school district shall be allowed to opt out of the
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3 | summer food service program requirement of this Section if it | ||||||
4 | is
determined that, due to circumstances specific to that | ||||||
5 | school
district, the expense reimbursement would not fully | ||||||
6 | cover the
costs of implementing and operating a summer food | ||||||
7 | service program.
The school district shall petition its | ||||||
8 | regional superintendent
of schools by November 15 to request to | ||||||
9 | be exempt from the
summer food service program requirement. The | ||||||
10 | petition shall
include all legitimate costs associated with | ||||||
11 | implementing and
operating a summer food service program, the | ||||||
12 | estimated
reimbursement from State and federal sources, and any | ||||||
13 | unique
circumstances the school district can verify that exist | ||||||
14 | that
would cause the implementation and operation of such a | ||||||
15 | program
to be cost prohibitive. | ||||||
16 | The regional superintendent of schools shall review the
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17 | petition. He or she shall convene a public hearing to hear
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18 | testimony from the school district and interested community
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19 | members. The regional superintendent shall, by December 15,
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20 | inform the school district of his or her decision, along with
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21 | the reasons why the exemption was granted or denied, in
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22 | writing. If the regional superintendent grants an exemption to
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23 | the school district, then the school district is relieved from
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24 | the requirement to establish and implement a summer food | ||||||
25 | service
program. | ||||||
26 | If the regional superintendent of schools does not grant an
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1 | exemption to the school district, then the school district
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2 | shall implement and operate a summer food service program in
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3 | accordance with this Section the summer following the current | ||||||
4 | school year. However, the school district or a resident of the
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5 | school district may appeal the decision of the regional
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6 | superintendent to the State Superintendent of Education. No
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7 | later than February 15 of each year, the State Superintendent
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8 | shall hear appeals on the decisions of regional superintendents
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9 | of schools. The State Superintendent shall make a final
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10 | decision at the conclusion of the hearing on the school
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11 | district's request for an exemption from the summer food | ||||||
12 | service
program requirement. If the State Superintendent | ||||||
13 | grants an
exemption to the school district, then the school | ||||||
14 | district is
relieved from the requirement to implement and | ||||||
15 | operate a summer food service program. If the State | ||||||
16 | Superintendent does not grant
an exemption to the school | ||||||
17 | district, then the school district
shall implement and operate | ||||||
18 | a summer food service program in
accordance with this Section | ||||||
19 | the summer following the current school year. | ||||||
20 | A school district may not attempt to opt out of the summer | ||||||
21 | food service program requirement of this Section by requesting | ||||||
22 | a
waiver under Section 2-3.25g of the School Code.
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23 | (Source: P.A. 93-1086, eff. 2-15-05.) | ||||||
24 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
25 | becoming law.".
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