SB2143eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2143 Engrossed LRB097 10331 NHT 50539 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 Construction Law is amended by changing Section 5-25 as follows:

(105 ILCS 230/5-25)

Sec. 5-25. Eligibility and project standards.

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish eligibility standards for school construction project grants and debt service grants. These standards shall include minimum enrollment requirements for eligibility for school construction project grants of 200 students for elementary districts, 200 students for high school districts, and 400 students for unit districts. The total enrollment of member districts forming a cooperative high school in accordance with subsection (c) of Section 10-22.22 of the School Code shall meet the minimum enrollment requirements specified in this subsection (a). The State Board of Education shall approve a district's eligibility for a school construction project grant or a debt service grant pursuant to the established standards.

For purposes only of determining a Type 40 area vocational center's eligibility for an entity included in a school construction project grant or a school maintenance project grant, an area vocational center shall be deemed eligible if one or more of its member school districts satisfy the grant index criteria set forth in this Law. A Type 40 area vocational center that makes application for school construction funds after August 25, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act 96-731) shall be placed on the respective application cycle list. Type 40 area vocational centers must be placed last on the priority listing of eligible entities for the applicable fiscal year.

(b) The Capital Development Board shall establish project standards for all school construction project grants provided pursuant to this Article. These standards shall include space and capacity standards as well as the determination of recognized project costs that shall be eligible for State financial assistance and enrichment costs that shall not be eligible for State financial assistance.

(c) The State Board of Education and the Capital Development Board shall not establish standards that disapprove or otherwise establish limitations that restrict the eligibility of (i) a school district with a population exceeding 500,000 for a school construction project grant based on the fact that any or all of the school construction project grant will be used to pay debt service or to make lease payments, as authorized by subsection (b) of Section 5-35 of this Law, (ii) a school district located in whole or in part in a county that imposes a tax for school facility purposes pursuant to Section 5-1006.7 of the Counties Code, or (iii) a school district that (1) was organized prior to 1860 and (2) is located in part in a city originally incorporated prior to 1840, based on the fact that all or a part of the school construction project is owned by a public building commission and leased to the school district or the fact that any or all of the school construction project grant will be used to pay debt service or to make lease payments.

(d) A reorganized school district or cooperative high school may use a school construction application that was submitted by a school district that formed the reorganized school district or cooperative high school if that application has not been entitled for a project by the State Board of Education and any one or more of the following happen within the current or prior 4 2 fiscal years:

(1) a new school district is created in accordance with Article 11E of the School Code;

(2) an existing school district annexes all of the territory of one or more other school districts in accordance with Article 7 of the School Code; or

(3) a cooperative high school is formed in accordance with subsection (c) of Section 10-22.22 of the School Code.

A new elementary district formed from a school district conversion, as defined in Section 11E-15 of the School Code, may use only the application of the dissolved district whose territory is now included in the new elementary district and must obtain the written approval of the local school board of any other school district that includes territory from that dissolved district. A new high school district formed from a school district conversion, as defined in Section 11E-15 of the School Code, may use only the application of any dissolved district whose territory is now included in the new high school district, but only after obtaining the written approval of the local school board of any other school district that includes territory from that dissolved district. A cooperative high school using this Section must obtain the written approval of the local school board of the member school district whose application it is using. All other eligibility and project standards apply to this Section.

(Source: P.A. 96-37, eff. 7-13-09; 96-731, eff. 8-25-09; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 96-1381, eff. 1-1-11; 96-1467, eff. 8-20-10; revised 9-16-10.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.