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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 10-22.31 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/10-22.31) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.31)
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7 | Sec. 10-22.31. Special education.
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8 | (a) To enter into joint agreements with other school boards | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | to provide
the needed special educational facilities and to | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | employ a director and
other professional workers as defined in | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | Section 14-1.10 and to establish
facilities as defined in | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | Section 14-1.08 for the types of children described
in Sections | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | 14-1.02 and 14-1.03a. The director (who may be employed under
a | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | contract as provided in subsection (c) of this Section)
and | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | other professional workers may be employed by one district, | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | which
shall be reimbursed on a mutually agreed basis by other | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | districts
that are parties to the joint agreement. Such | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | agreements may provide that
one district may supply | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | professional workers for a joint program conducted
in another | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | district. Such agreement shall provide that any full-time | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | professional worker who is employed by a joint agreement | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | program and spends over
50% of his or her time in one school | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | district shall not be required to work
a different teaching |
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1 | schedule than the other professional worker in that
district. | ||||||
2 | Such agreement shall include, but not be limited to, provisions
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3 | for administration, staff, programs, financing, housing, | ||||||
4 | transportation, an
advisory body, and the method or methods to | ||||||
5 | be employed for disposing of property upon the withdrawal of a | ||||||
6 | school district or dissolution of the joint agreement and shall | ||||||
7 | specify procedures for the withdrawal of
districts from
the | ||||||
8 | joint agreement as long as these procedures are consistent with | ||||||
9 | subsection (g) of this Section. Such
agreement may be amended | ||||||
10 | at any time as provided in the joint agreement or,
if the joint | ||||||
11 | agreement does not so provide, then such agreement may be
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12 | amended at any time upon the adoption of concurring resolutions | ||||||
13 | by the
school boards of all member districts, provided that no | ||||||
14 | later than 6 months after August 28, 2009 (the effective date | ||||||
15 | of Public Act 96-783), all existing agreements shall be amended | ||||||
16 | to be consistent with Public Act 96-783. Such an amendment may | ||||||
17 | include the removal of a school district from or the addition | ||||||
18 | of a school district to the joint agreement without a petition | ||||||
19 | as otherwise required in this Section if all member districts | ||||||
20 | adopt concurring resolutions to that effect. A fully executed | ||||||
21 | copy of any such
agreement or amendment entered into on or | ||||||
22 | after January 1, 1989 shall be
filed with the State Board of | ||||||
23 | Education. Petitions for withdrawal
shall be made to the | ||||||
24 | regional board or boards of school trustees exercising | ||||||
25 | oversight or governance over any of the districts in the joint
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26 | agreement. Upon receipt of a petition for withdrawal, the |
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1 | regional board
of school trustees shall
publish notice of and | ||||||
2 | conduct a hearing or, in instances in which more than one | ||||||
3 | regional board of school trustees exercises oversight or | ||||||
4 | governance over any of the districts in the joint agreement, a | ||||||
5 | joint hearing, in accordance with rules adopted by the State | ||||||
6 | Board of Education. In instances in which a single regional | ||||||
7 | board of school trustees holds the hearing, approval of the | ||||||
8 | petition must be by a two-thirds majority vote of the school | ||||||
9 | trustees. In instances in which a joint hearing of 2 or more | ||||||
10 | regional boards of school trustees is required, approval of the | ||||||
11 | petition must be by a two-thirds majority of all those school | ||||||
12 | trustees present and voting. Notwithstanding the provisions of | ||||||
13 | Article 6 of this Code, in instances in which the competent | ||||||
14 | regional board or boards of school trustees has been abolished, | ||||||
15 | petitions for withdrawal shall be made to the school boards of | ||||||
16 | those districts that fall under the oversight or governance of | ||||||
17 | the abolished regional board of school trustees in accordance | ||||||
18 | with rules adopted by the State Board of Education. If any | ||||||
19 | petition is approved pursuant to this subsection (a), the | ||||||
20 | withdrawal takes effect
as provided in Section 7-9 of this Act. | ||||||
21 | The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-769 apply to | ||||||
22 | all changes to special education joint agreement membership | ||||||
23 | initiated after July 1, 2009.
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24 | (b) To either (1) designate an administrative district to | ||||||
25 | act as fiscal
and legal agent for the districts that are | ||||||
26 | parties to the joint
agreement, or (2) designate a governing |
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1 | board composed of one member of
the school board of each | ||||||
2 | cooperating district and designated by such
boards to act in | ||||||
3 | accordance with the joint agreement. No such governing
board | ||||||
4 | may levy taxes and no such governing board may incur any
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5 | indebtedness except within an annual budget for the joint | ||||||
6 | agreement
approved by the governing board and by the boards of | ||||||
7 | at least a majority
of the cooperating school districts or a | ||||||
8 | number of districts greater
than a majority if required by
the | ||||||
9 | joint agreement. The governing board may appoint an executive | ||||||
10 | board of at
least 7 members to administer the joint agreement | ||||||
11 | in accordance with
its terms. However, if 7 or more school | ||||||
12 | districts are parties to a joint agreement that does not have | ||||||
13 | an
administrative district: (i) at least a majority of the | ||||||
14 | members appointed by
the governing board to the executive
board | ||||||
15 | shall
be members of the school boards of the cooperating | ||||||
16 | districts; or
(ii) if the
governing
board wishes to appoint | ||||||
17 | members who are not school board members, they shall be
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18 | superintendents from the
cooperating districts.
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19 | (c) To employ a full-time director of special education of | ||||||
20 | the joint agreement program under a one-year or multi-year
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21 | contract. No such contract can be offered or accepted for less | ||||||
22 | than one year. Such contract
may be discontinued at any time by | ||||||
23 | mutual agreement of the contracting
parties, or may be extended | ||||||
24 | for an additional one-year or multi-year period at the end of | ||||||
25 | any year.
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26 | The contract year is July 1 through the following June |
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1 | 30th, unless the
contract specifically provides otherwise. | ||||||
2 | Notice of intent not to renew a
contract when given by a | ||||||
3 | controlling board or administrative district must
be in writing | ||||||
4 | stating the specific reason therefor. Notice of intent not
to | ||||||
5 | renew the contract must be given by the controlling board or | ||||||
6 | the
administrative district at least 90 days before the | ||||||
7 | contract expires.
Failure to do so will automatically extend | ||||||
8 | the contract for one
additional year.
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9 | By accepting the terms of the contract, the director of a
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10 | special education joint agreement waives all rights granted | ||||||
11 | under Sections
24-11 through 24-16 for the duration of his or | ||||||
12 | her employment as a director
of a special education joint | ||||||
13 | agreement.
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14 | (d) To designate a district that is a party to the joint | ||||||
15 | agreement as the
issuer of bonds or notes for the purposes and | ||||||
16 | in the manner provided in
this Section. It is not necessary for | ||||||
17 | such district to also be the
administrative district for the | ||||||
18 | joint agreement, nor is it necessary for
the same district to | ||||||
19 | be designated as the issuer of all series of bonds or
notes | ||||||
20 | issued hereunder. Any district so designated may, from time to | ||||||
21 | time,
borrow money and, in evidence of its obligation to repay | ||||||
22 | the borrowing,
issue its negotiable bonds or notes for the | ||||||
23 | purpose of acquiring,
constructing, altering, repairing, | ||||||
24 | enlarging and equipping any building or
portion thereof, | ||||||
25 | together with any land or interest therein, necessary to
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26 | provide special educational facilities and services as defined |
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1 | in Section
14-1.08. Title in and to any such facilities shall | ||||||
2 | be held in accordance
with the joint agreement.
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3 | Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution | ||||||
4 | of the board
of education of the issuing district. The | ||||||
5 | resolution may contain such
covenants as may be deemed | ||||||
6 | necessary or advisable by the district to
assure the payment of | ||||||
7 | the bonds or notes. The resolution shall be
effective | ||||||
8 | immediately upon its adoption.
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9 | Prior to the issuance of such bonds or notes, each school | ||||||
10 | district that
is a party to the joint agreement shall agree, | ||||||
11 | whether by amendment to the
joint agreement or by resolution of | ||||||
12 | the board of education, to be jointly
and severally liable for | ||||||
13 | the payment of the bonds and notes. The bonds or
notes shall be | ||||||
14 | payable solely and only from the payments made pursuant to
such | ||||||
15 | agreement.
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16 | Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the | ||||||
17 | bonds or notes under
any joint agreement shall constitute an | ||||||
18 | indebtedness of any district,
including the issuing district, | ||||||
19 | within the meaning of any constitutional or
statutory | ||||||
20 | limitation.
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21 | As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, | ||||||
22 | the agreement
by a district to pay the bonds and notes shall be | ||||||
23 | irrevocable
notwithstanding the district's withdrawal from | ||||||
24 | membership in the joint
special education program.
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25 | (e) If a district whose employees are on strike was, prior | ||||||
26 | to the strike,
sending students with disabilities to special |
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1 | educational
facilities and services
in another district or | ||||||
2 | cooperative, the district affected by the strike
shall continue | ||||||
3 | to send such students during the strike and shall be
eligible | ||||||
4 | to receive appropriate State reimbursement.
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5 | (f) With respect to those joint agreements that have a | ||||||
6 | governing board
composed of one member of the school board of | ||||||
7 | each cooperating district and
designated by those boards to act | ||||||
8 | in accordance with the joint agreement, the
governing board | ||||||
9 | shall have, in addition to its other powers under this Section,
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10 | the authority to issue bonds or notes for the purposes and in | ||||||
11 | the manner
provided in this subsection. The governing board of | ||||||
12 | the joint agreement
may from time to time borrow money and, in | ||||||
13 | evidence of its
obligation to repay the borrowing,
issue its | ||||||
14 | negotiable bonds or notes for the purpose of acquiring,
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15 | constructing, altering, repairing, enlarging and equipping any | ||||||
16 | building or
portion thereof, together with any land or interest | ||||||
17 | therein, necessary to
provide special educational facilities | ||||||
18 | and services as defined in Section
14-1.08 and including also | ||||||
19 | facilities for activities of administration and
educational | ||||||
20 | support personnel employees. Title in and to any such | ||||||
21 | facilities
shall be held in accordance with the joint | ||||||
22 | agreement.
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23 | Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution | ||||||
24 | of the
governing board. The resolution may contain such
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25 | covenants as may be deemed necessary or advisable by the | ||||||
26 | governing board
to assure the payment of the bonds or notes and |
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1 | interest accruing thereon.
The resolution shall be effective | ||||||
2 | immediately upon its adoption.
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3 | Each school district that
is a party to the joint agreement | ||||||
4 | shall be automatically liable, by virtue of
its membership in | ||||||
5 | the joint agreement, for its proportionate share of the
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6 | principal amount of the bonds and notes plus interest accruing | ||||||
7 | thereon, as
provided in the resolution. Subject to the joint | ||||||
8 | and several liability
hereinafter provided for, the resolution | ||||||
9 | may provide for different payment
schedules for different | ||||||
10 | districts except that the aggregate amount of scheduled
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11 | payments for each district shall be equal to its proportionate | ||||||
12 | share of the
debt service in the bonds or notes based upon the | ||||||
13 | fraction that its
equalized assessed valuation bears to the | ||||||
14 | total equalized assessed valuation of
all the district members | ||||||
15 | of the joint agreement as adjusted in the manner
hereinafter | ||||||
16 | provided. In computing that fraction the most recent available
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17 | equalized assessed valuation at the time of the issuance of the | ||||||
18 | bonds and notes
shall be used, and the equalized assessed | ||||||
19 | valuation of any district maintaining
grades K to 12 shall be | ||||||
20 | doubled in both the numerator and denominator of the
fraction | ||||||
21 | used for all of the districts that are members of the joint
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22 | agreement. In case of default in payment by any
member, each | ||||||
23 | school district that is a party to the joint agreement shall
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24 | automatically be jointly and severally liable for the amount of | ||||||
25 | any
deficiency. The bonds or
notes and interest thereon shall | ||||||
26 | be payable solely and only from the
funds made available |
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1 | pursuant to the procedures set forth in this
subsection. No | ||||||
2 | project authorized under this subsection may require an
annual | ||||||
3 | contribution for bond payments from any member district in | ||||||
4 | excess of
0.15% of the value of taxable property as equalized | ||||||
5 | or assessed by the
Department of Revenue in the case of | ||||||
6 | districts maintaining grades K-8 or 9-12
and 0.30% of the value | ||||||
7 | of taxable property as equalized or assessed by the
Department | ||||||
8 | of
Revenue in the case of districts maintaining grades K-12. | ||||||
9 | This limitation on
taxing authority is expressly applicable to | ||||||
10 | taxing authority provided under
Section 17-9 and other | ||||||
11 | applicable Sections of this Act. Nothing contained in
this | ||||||
12 | subsection shall be construed as an exception to the property | ||||||
13 | tax
limitations contained in Section 17-2, 17-2.2a, 17-5, or
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14 | any other applicable Section of this Act.
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15 | Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the | ||||||
16 | bonds or notes
under any joint agreement shall constitute an | ||||||
17 | indebtedness of any district
within the meaning of any | ||||||
18 | constitutional or statutory limitation.
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19 | As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, | ||||||
20 | the obligation
of a district to pay its proportionate share of | ||||||
21 | the principal of and
interest on the bonds and notes as | ||||||
22 | required in this Section shall be a
general obligation of the | ||||||
23 | district payable from any and all sources of revenue
designated | ||||||
24 | for that purpose by the board of education of the district and | ||||||
25 | shall
be irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal | ||||||
26 | from membership in the
joint special education program.
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1 | (g) A member district wishing to withdraw from a joint | ||||||
2 | agreement may obtain from its school board a written resolution | ||||||
3 | approving the withdrawal. The withdrawing district must then | ||||||
4 | present a written petition for withdrawal from the joint | ||||||
5 | agreement to the other member districts within such timelines | ||||||
6 | designated by the joint agreement. Upon approval by school | ||||||
7 | board written resolution of all of the remaining member | ||||||
8 | districts, the petitioning member district shall be withdrawn | ||||||
9 | from the joint agreement effective the following July 1 and | ||||||
10 | shall notify the State Board of Education of the approved | ||||||
11 | withdrawal in writing. | ||||||
12 | (h) The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-783 | ||||||
13 | apply to withdrawals from or dissolutions of special education | ||||||
14 | joint agreements initiated after August 28, 2009 (the effective | ||||||
15 | date of Public Act 96-783). | ||||||
16 | (i) Notwithstanding subsections (a) through (h) of this | ||||||
17 | Section, an elementary school district with a student | ||||||
18 | population of no more than 200 may enter into an | ||||||
19 | intergovernmental agreement with an elementary school district | ||||||
20 | with a student population of at least 5,200 for the delivery of | ||||||
21 | any or all special education services if the 2 elementary | ||||||
22 | districts have an adjacent boundary. The special education | ||||||
23 | director, teachers, and other professional workers may be | ||||||
24 | employed by one district, which district must be reimbursed, on | ||||||
25 | a mutually agreed-upon basis, by the other district that is a | ||||||
26 | party to the agreement. The agreement shall include without |
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1 | limitation provisions for administration, staff, programs, | ||||||
2 | financing, housing, transportation, and grounds for | ||||||
3 | termination of the agreement. No more than 2 school districts | ||||||
4 | may be a party to such an agreement at any one time, and no | ||||||
5 | school district may have in effect at any one time more than | ||||||
6 | one such agreement. | ||||||
7 | (Source: P.A. 96-769, eff. 8-28-09; 96-783, eff. 8-28-09; | ||||||
8 | 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
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9 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
10 | becoming law.
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