Full Text of SB1591 99th General Assembly
SB1591enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 | | 27A-7 as follows:
| 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-7)
| 7 | | Sec. 27A-7. Charter submission.
| 8 | | (a) A proposal to establish a charter school shall be | 9 | | submitted to the local school board and the State Board for | 10 | | certification under Section 27A-6 of this Code in the form of a | 11 | | proposed contract
entered
into between the local school board | 12 | | and the governing body of a proposed
charter school. The
| 13 | | charter school proposal shall include:
| 14 | | (1) The name of the proposed charter school, which must | 15 | | include the words
"Charter School".
| 16 | | (2) The age or grade range, areas of focus, minimum and | 17 | | maximum numbers of
pupils to be enrolled in the charter | 18 | | school, and any other admission criteria
that would be | 19 | | legal if used by a school district.
| 20 | | (3) A description of and address for the physical plant | 21 | | in which the
charter school will be located; provided that | 22 | | nothing in the Article shall be
deemed to justify delaying | 23 | | or withholding favorable action on or approval of a
charter |
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| 1 | | school proposal because the building or buildings in which | 2 | | the charter
school is to be located have not been acquired | 3 | | or rented at the time a charter
school proposal is | 4 | | submitted or approved or a charter school contract is
| 5 | | entered
into or submitted for certification or certified, | 6 | | so long as the proposal or
submission identifies and names | 7 | | at least 2 sites that are potentially available
as a | 8 | | charter school facility by the time the charter school is | 9 | | to open.
| 10 | | (4) The mission statement of the charter school, which | 11 | | must be consistent
with the General Assembly's declared | 12 | | purposes; provided that nothing in this
Article shall be | 13 | | construed to require that, in order to receive favorable
| 14 | | consideration and approval, a charter school proposal | 15 | | demonstrate unequivocally
that the charter school will be | 16 | | able to meet each of those declared purposes,
it
being the | 17 | | intention of the Charter Schools Law that those purposes be
| 18 | | recognized as goals that
charter schools must aspire to | 19 | | attain.
| 20 | | (5) The goals, objectives, and pupil performance | 21 | | standards to be achieved
by the charter school.
| 22 | | (6) In the case of a proposal to establish a charter | 23 | | school by
converting an existing public school or | 24 | | attendance center to charter school
status, evidence that | 25 | | the proposed formation of the charter school has received
| 26 | | the approval of certified teachers, parents
and
guardians, |
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| 1 | | and, if applicable, a local school council as provided in
| 2 | | subsection
(b) of Section 27A-8.
| 3 | | (7) A description of the charter school's educational | 4 | | program, pupil
performance standards, curriculum, school | 5 | | year, school days, and hours of
operation.
| 6 | | (8) A description of the charter school's plan for | 7 | | evaluating pupil
performance, the types of assessments | 8 | | that will be used to measure pupil
progress towards | 9 | | achievement of the school's pupil performance standards, | 10 | | the
timeline for achievement of those standards, and the | 11 | | procedures for taking
corrective action in the event that | 12 | | pupil performance at the charter school
falls below those | 13 | | standards.
| 14 | | (9) Evidence that the terms of the charter as proposed | 15 | | are economically
sound
for both the charter school and the | 16 | | school district, a proposed budget for the
term of the | 17 | | charter, a description of the manner in which an annual
| 18 | | audit of the financial and administrative operations of the | 19 | | charter school,
including any services provided by the | 20 | | school district, are to be conducted,
and
a plan for the | 21 | | displacement of pupils, teachers, and other employees who | 22 | | will
not attend or be employed in the charter school.
| 23 | | (10) A description of the governance and operation of | 24 | | the charter school,
including the nature and extent of | 25 | | parental, professional educator, and
community involvement | 26 | | in the governance and operation of the charter school.
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| 1 | | (11) An explanation of the relationship that will exist | 2 | | between the
charter school and its employees, including | 3 | | evidence that the terms and
conditions of employment have | 4 | | been addressed with affected employees and their
| 5 | | recognized representative, if any. However, a bargaining | 6 | | unit of charter
school employees shall be separate and
| 7 | | distinct from any bargaining units formed from employees of | 8 | | a school district
in
which the charter school is located.
| 9 | | (12) An agreement between the parties regarding their | 10 | | respective
legal liability and applicable insurance | 11 | | coverage.
| 12 | | (13) A description of how the charter school plans to | 13 | | meet the
transportation needs of its pupils, and a plan for | 14 | | addressing the
transportation needs
of low-income and | 15 | | at-risk pupils.
| 16 | | (14) The proposed effective date and term of the | 17 | | charter; provided that
the
first day of the first academic | 18 | | year shall be no earlier than August 15 and no later than | 19 | | September 15 of a
calendar year, and the first day of the | 20 | | fiscal year shall be July 1.
| 21 | | (14.5) Disclosure of any known active civil or criminal | 22 | | investigation by a local, state, or federal law enforcement | 23 | | agency into an organization submitting the charter school | 24 | | proposal or a criminal investigation by a local, state, or | 25 | | federal law enforcement agency into any member of the | 26 | | governing body of that organization. For the purposes of |
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| 1 | | this subdivision (14.5), a known investigation means a | 2 | | request for an interview by a law enforcement agency, a | 3 | | subpoena, an arrest, or an indictment. Such disclosure is | 4 | | required for a period from the initial application | 5 | | submission through 10 business days prior to the | 6 | | authorizer's scheduled decision date. | 7 | | (15) Any other information reasonably required by the | 8 | | State Board of
Education.
| 9 | | (b) A proposal to establish a charter school may be | 10 | | initiated by individuals
or organizations that will have
| 11 | | majority representation on the board of directors or other | 12 | | governing body of
the corporation or other discrete legal | 13 | | entity that is to be established to
operate the proposed | 14 | | charter school, by a board of education or an
intergovernmental | 15 | | agreement between or among boards of education, or by the
board | 16 | | of directors or other
governing body of a discrete legal entity | 17 | | already existing or established to
operate the proposed
charter | 18 | | school. The individuals or organizations referred to in this
| 19 | | subsection may be school teachers, school administrators, | 20 | | local school
councils, colleges or
universities or their | 21 | | faculty
members, public community colleges or their | 22 | | instructors or other
representatives, corporations, or other | 23 | | entities or their
representatives. The proposal shall be
| 24 | | submitted to the local school board for consideration and, if
| 25 | | appropriate, for
development of a proposed contract to be | 26 | | submitted to the State Board for
certification under
Section |
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| 1 | | 27A-6.
| 2 | | (c) The local school board may not without the consent of | 3 | | the governing body
of the charter school condition its approval | 4 | | of a charter school proposal on
acceptance of an agreement to | 5 | | operate under State laws and regulations and
local school board | 6 | | policies from which the charter school is otherwise exempted
| 7 | | under this Article.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 98-739, eff. 7-16-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14; | 9 | | revised 10-1-14.)
| 10 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 | | becoming law.
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