HB4309eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4309 Engrossed LRB095 15452 NHT 41444 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 Code is amended by changing Section 18-12 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/18-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 18-12)

Sec. 18-12. Dates for filing State aid claims. The school board of each school district shall require teachers, principals, or superintendents to furnish from records kept by them such data as it needs in preparing and certifying to the regional superintendent its school district report of claims provided in Sections 18-8.05 through 18-9 as required by the State Superintendent of Education. The district claim shall be based on the latest available equalized assessed valuation and tax rates, as provided in Section 18-8.05 and shall use the average daily attendance as determined by the method outlined in Section 18-8.05 and shall be certified and filed with the regional superintendent by June 21 for districts with an official school calendar end date before June 15 or within 2 weeks following the official school calendar end date for districts with a school year end date of June 15 or later. The regional superintendent shall certify and file with the State Superintendent of Education district State aid claims by July 1 for districts with an official school calendar end date before June 15 or no later than July 15 for districts with an official school calendar end date of June 15 or later. Failure to so file by these deadlines constitutes a forfeiture of the right to receive payment by the State until such claim is filed and vouchered for payment. The regional superintendent of schools shall certify the county report of claims by July 15; and the State Superintendent of Education shall voucher for payment those claims to the State Comptroller as provided in Section 18-11.

Except as otherwise provided in this Section, if any school district fails to provide the minimum school term specified in Section 10-19, the State aid claim for that year shall be reduced by the State Superintendent of Education in an amount equivalent to .56818% for each day less than the number of days required by this Code.

If the State Superintendent of Education determines that the failure to provide the minimum school term was occasioned by an act or acts of God, or was occasioned by conditions beyond the control of the school district which posed a hazardous threat to the health and safety of pupils, the State aid claim need not be reduced.

If the State Superintendent of Education determines that the failure to provide the minimum school term was due to a school being closed on or after September 11, 2001 for more than one-half day of attendance due to a bioterrorism or terrorism threat that was investigated by a law enforcement agency, the State aid claim shall not be reduced.

If, during any school day, (i) a school district has provided at least one clock hour of instruction but must close the schools due to adverse weather conditions or due to a condition beyond the control of the school district that poses a hazardous threat to the health and safety of pupils prior to providing the minimum hours of instruction required for a full day of attendance, (ii) the school district must delay the start of the school day due to adverse weather conditions and this delay prevents the district from providing the minimum hours of instruction required for a full day of attendance, or (iii) a school district has provided at least one clock hour of instruction but must dismiss students from one or more recognized school buildings due to a condition beyond the control of the school district, the partial day of attendance may be counted as a full day of attendance. If a school district closes one or more recognized school buildings due to a condition beyond the control of the district prior to providing any instruction, then the district may claim a full day of attendance for a maximum of 2 school days based on the average of the 3 prior school days of attendance immediately preceding the closure of the school building. The partial or no day of attendance and the reasons therefor shall be certified in writing within a month of the closing or delayed start by the local school district superintendent to the Regional Superintendent of Schools for forwarding to the State Superintendent of Education for approval.

If a school building is ordered to be closed by the school board, in consultation with a local emergency response agency, due to a condition that poses a hazardous threat to the health and safety of pupils, then the school district shall have a grace period of 4 days in which the general State aid claim shall not be reduced so that alternative housing of the pupils may be located.

No exception to the requirement of providing a minimum school term may be approved by the State Superintendent of Education pursuant to this Section unless a school district has first used all emergency days provided for in its regular calendar.

If the State Superintendent of Education declares that an energy shortage exists during any part of the school year for the State or a designated portion of the State, a district may operate the school attendance centers within the district 4 days of the week during the time of the shortage by extending each existing school day by one clock hour of school work, and the State aid claim shall not be reduced, nor shall the employees of that district suffer any reduction in salary or benefits as a result thereof. A district may operate all attendance centers on this revised schedule, or may apply the schedule to selected attendance centers, taking into consideration such factors as pupil transportation schedules and patterns and sources of energy for individual attendance centers.

No State aid claim may be filed for any district unless the district superintendent executes and files with the State Superintendent of Education, in the method prescribed by the Superintendent, certification that the district has complied with the requirements of Section 10-22.5 in regard to the nonsegregation of pupils on account of color, creed, race, sex or nationality.

No State aid claim may be filed for any district unless the district superintendent executes and files with the State Superintendent of Education, in the method prescribed by the Superintendent, a sworn statement that to the best of his or her knowledge or belief the employing or assigning personnel have complied with Section 24-4 in all respects.

Electronically submitted State aid claims shall be submitted by duly authorized district or regional individuals over a secure network that is password protected. The electronic submission of a State aid claim must be accompanied with an affirmation that all of the provisions of Sections 18-8.05 through 18-9, 10-22.5, and 24-4 of this Code are met in all respects.

(Source: P.A. 94-1105, eff. 6-1-07; 95-152, eff. 8-14-07; revised 11-15-07.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2008.