Full Text of HB0684 96th General Assembly
HB0684eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Article 27B | 5 |
| as follows: | 6 |
| (105 ILCS 5/Art. 27B heading new) | 7 |
| ARTICLE 27B. COMMUNITY SCHOOLS | 8 |
| (105 ILCS 5/27B-5 new) | 9 |
| Sec. 27B-5. Applicability. This Article applies beginning | 10 |
| with the 2009-2010 school year. | 11 |
| (105 ILCS 5/27B-10 new) | 12 |
| Sec. 27B-10. Legislative findings. The General Assembly | 13 |
| finds all of the following: | 14 |
| (1) All children are capable of success. | 15 |
| (2) Schools are the centers of vibrant communities. | 16 |
| (3) Strong families build strong educational | 17 |
| communities. | 18 |
| (4) Children succeed when adults work together to | 19 |
| foster positive educational outcomes. | 20 |
| (5) Schools work best when families take active roles | 21 |
| in the education of children. |
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| (6) Schools today are limited in their ability to | 2 |
| dedicate time and resources to provide a wide range of | 3 |
| educational opportunities to students because of the focus | 4 |
| on standardized test outcomes. | 5 |
| (7) By providing learning opportunities outside of | 6 |
| normal school hours, including programs on life skills and | 7 |
| health, students are more successful academically, more | 8 |
| engaged in their communities, safer, and better prepared to | 9 |
| make a successful transition from school to adulthood. | 10 |
| (8) A community school is a traditional school that | 11 |
| actively partners with its community to leverage existing | 12 |
| resources and identify new resources to support the | 13 |
| transformation of the school to provide enrichment and | 14 |
| additional life skill opportunities for students, parents, | 15 |
| and community members at-large. Each community school is | 16 |
| unique because its programming is designed by and for the | 17 |
| school staff, in partnership with parents, community | 18 |
| stakeholders, and students. | 19 |
| (9) Community schools currently exist in this State in | 20 |
| urban, rural, and suburban communities. | 21 |
| (10) Research shows that community schools have a | 22 |
| powerful positive impact on students, as demonstrated by | 23 |
| increased academic success, a positive change in attitudes | 24 |
| toward school and learning, and decreased behavioral | 25 |
| problems. | 26 |
| (11) After-school and evening programs offered by |
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| community schools provide academic enrichment consistent | 2 |
| with the Illinois Learning Standards and general school | 3 |
| curriculum; an opportunity for physical fitness activities | 4 |
| for students, fine arts programs, structured learning | 5 |
| "play" time, and other recreational opportunities; a safe | 6 |
| haven for students; and work supports for working families. | 7 |
| (12) Community schools are cost-effective because they | 8 |
| leverage existing resources provided by local, State, | 9 |
| federal, and private sources and bring programs to the | 10 |
| schools, where the students are already congregated. | 11 |
| Community schools have been shown to leverage between $5 to | 12 |
| $8 in existing programming for every $1 spent on a | 13 |
| community school. | 14 |
| (105 ILCS 5/27B-15 new) | 15 |
| Sec. 27B-15. Grants for Community Schools. Subject to an | 16 |
| appropriation or the availability of funding for such purposes, | 17 |
| the State Board of Education shall make grants available to | 18 |
| fund community schools and to enhance programs at community | 19 |
| schools. A request-for-proposal process must be used in | 20 |
| awarding grants under this Section. Proposals may be submitted | 21 |
| on behalf of a school, a school district, or a consortium of 2 | 22 |
| or more schools or school districts. Proposals must be | 23 |
| evaluated and scored on the basis of criteria consistent with | 24 |
| this Article and other factors developed and adopted by the | 25 |
| Advisory Council on Community Schools established under this |
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| Article. Technical assistance in grant writing must be made | 2 |
| available to schools, school districts, or consortia of school | 3 |
| districts through the State Board of Education directly or | 4 |
| through a resource and referral directory established and | 5 |
| maintained by the State Board of Education. | 6 |
| (105 ILCS 5/27B-20 new) | 7 |
| Sec. 27B-20. Criteria for grants to community schools. In | 8 |
| order to qualify for a community school grant under this | 9 |
| Article, a school must, at a minimum, have the following | 10 |
| components: | 11 |
| (1) Before and after-school programming each school | 12 |
| day to meet the identified needs of students. | 13 |
| (2) Weekend programming. | 14 |
| (3) At least 4 weeks of summer programming. | 15 |
| (4) A local advisory group comprised of school | 16 |
| leadership, parents, and community stakeholders that | 17 |
| establishes school-specific programming goals, assesses | 18 |
| program needs, and oversees the process of implementing | 19 |
| expanded programming. | 20 |
| (5) A program director or resource coordinator who is | 21 |
| responsible for establishing a local advisory group, | 22 |
| assessing the needs of students and community members, | 23 |
| identifying programs to meet those needs, developing the | 24 |
| before and after-school, weekend, and summer programming | 25 |
| and overseeing the implementation of programming to ensure |
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| high quality, efficiency, and robust participation. | 2 |
| (6) Programming that includes academic excellence | 3 |
| aligned with the Illinois Learning Standards, life skills, | 4 |
| healthy minds and bodies, parental support, and community | 5 |
| engagement and that promotes staying in school and | 6 |
| non-violent behavior and non-violent conflict resolution. | 7 |
| (7) Maintenance of attendance records in all | 8 |
| programming components. | 9 |
| (8) Maintenance of measurable data showing annual | 10 |
| participation and the impact of programming on the | 11 |
| participating children and adults. | 12 |
| (9) Documentation of true collaboration between the | 13 |
| school and community stakeholders, including local | 14 |
| governmental units, civic organizations, families, | 15 |
| businesses, and social service providers. | 16 |
| (10) A non-discrimination policy ensuring that the | 17 |
| community school does not condition participation upon | 18 |
| race, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or disability. | 19 |
| (105 ILCS 5/27B-25 new) | 20 |
| Sec. 27B-25. Advisory council. Within 90 days after the | 21 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General | 22 |
| Assembly, the State Superintendent of Education shall appoint a | 23 |
| 9-member Advisory Council on Community Schools. The Advisory | 24 |
| Council shall advise the State Superintendent and the State | 25 |
| Board of Education regarding policies and best practices for |
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| community schools, criteria for funding community schools, and | 2 |
| strategies to bring federal funding to this State for community | 3 |
| schools. The membership of the Advisory Council shall include | 4 |
| persons involved in community school leadership, at least one | 5 |
| representative of a statewide association that advocates for | 6 |
| community schools, parents involved in community schools, and | 7 |
| other community stakeholders.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 9 |
| becoming law.
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