Full Text of HB2795 102nd General Assembly
HB2795enr 102ND 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-5 as follows:
| 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
| 7 | | Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
| 8 | | (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, | 9 | | nonreligious, non-home
based, and non-profit school. A charter | 10 | | school shall be organized and operated
as a nonprofit | 11 | | corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
| 12 | | authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
| 13 | | (b) A charter school may be established under this Article | 14 | | by creating a new
school or by converting an existing public | 15 | | school or attendance center to
charter
school status.
| 16 | | Beginning on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act | 17 | | 93-3), in all new
applications to establish
a charter
school | 18 | | in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of | 19 | | the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. The changes | 20 | | made to this Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter | 21 | | schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the
| 22 | | effective date of Public Act 93-3). | 23 | | (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means |
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| 1 | | a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and | 2 | | instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with | 3 | | their teachers at remote locations and with students | 4 | | participating at different times. | 5 | | From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a | 6 | | moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with | 7 | | virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a | 8 | | school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This | 9 | | moratorium does not apply to a charter school with | 10 | | virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to | 11 | | April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter | 12 | | school with virtual-schooling components already approved | 13 | | prior to April 1, 2013.
| 14 | | (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by | 15 | | its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner | 16 | | provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter | 17 | | school
shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and | 18 | | the Open Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 ( one year | 19 | | after the effective date of Public Act 101-291) this | 20 | | amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly , a charter | 21 | | school's board of directors or other governing body must | 22 | | include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently | 23 | | enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the | 24 | | charter school or a charter network election, appointment by | 25 | | the charter school's board of directors or other governing | 26 | | body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization |
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| 1 | | or its equivalent. | 2 | | (c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 ( one year after the | 3 | | effective date of Public Act 101-291) this amendatory Act of | 4 | | the 101st General Assembly or within the first year of his or | 5 | | her first term, every voting member of a charter school's | 6 | | board of directors or other governing body shall complete a | 7 | | minimum of 4 hours of professional development leadership | 8 | | training to ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity | 9 | | with the board's or governing body's role and | 10 | | responsibilities, including financial oversight and | 11 | | accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and | 12 | | school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information | 13 | | Act and the Open Meetings Act Acts , and compliance with | 14 | | education and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her | 15 | | term, a voting member of a charter school's board of directors | 16 | | or other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of | 17 | | professional development training in these same areas. The | 18 | | training under this subsection may be provided or certified by | 19 | | a statewide charter school membership association or may be | 20 | | provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by | 21 | | the State Board of Education.
| 22 | | (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular | 23 | | health and safety requirement" means any health and safety | 24 | | requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain, | 25 | | preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for | 26 | | students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or |
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| 1 | | prevent threats to the health and safety of students and | 2 | | school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety | 3 | | requirement" does not include any course of study or | 4 | | specialized instructional requirement for which the State | 5 | | Board has established goals and learning standards or which is | 6 | | designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students | 7 | | to master and apply as an outcome of their education. | 8 | | A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular | 9 | | health and safety
requirements applicable to public schools | 10 | | under the laws of the State of
Illinois. On or before September | 11 | | 1, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its | 12 | | Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety | 13 | | requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall | 14 | | be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter | 15 | | contract between a charter school and its authorizer must | 16 | | contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow | 17 | | the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements | 18 | | promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health | 19 | | and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list | 20 | | during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d) | 21 | | precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health | 22 | | and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are | 23 | | not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board, | 24 | | including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the | 25 | | authorizing local school board.
| 26 | | (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a |
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| 1 | | charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a | 2 | | charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, | 3 | | instructional materials, and student activities.
| 4 | | (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the | 5 | | management and operation
of its fiscal affairs , including,
but | 6 | | not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each | 7 | | charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an | 8 | | outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter | 9 | | school. The contractor shall not be an employee of the charter | 10 | | school or affiliated with the charter school or its authorizer | 11 | | in any way, other than to audit the charter school's finances. | 12 | | To ensure financial accountability for the use of public | 13 | | funds, on or before December 1 of every year of operation, each | 14 | | charter school shall submit to its authorizer and the State | 15 | | Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form 990 the | 16 | | charter school filed that year with the federal Internal | 17 | | Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for proper | 18 | | financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer may | 19 | | require quarterly financial statements from each charter | 20 | | school.
| 21 | | (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of | 22 | | this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, | 23 | | all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public | 24 | | schools that pertain to special education and the instruction | 25 | | of English learners, and
its charter. A charter
school is | 26 | | exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
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| 1 | | governing public
schools and local school board policies; | 2 | | however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
| 3 | | (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code | 4 | | regarding criminal
history records checks and checks of | 5 | | the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer | 6 | | and Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants | 7 | | for employment;
| 8 | | (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and | 9 | | 34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of
students;
| 10 | | (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees | 11 | | Tort Immunity Act;
| 12 | | (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit | 13 | | Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of | 14 | | officers, directors, employees, and agents;
| 15 | | (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
| 16 | | (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and | 17 | | subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code; | 18 | | (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
| 19 | | (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school | 20 | | report cards;
| 21 | | (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act; | 22 | | (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying | 23 | | prevention; | 24 | | (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student | 25 | | discipline reporting; | 26 | | (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code; |
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| 1 | | (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code; | 2 | | (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code; | 3 | | (14) Section 26-18 of this Code; | 4 | | (15) Section 22-30 of this Code; and | 5 | | (16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code ; and . | 6 | | (17) the (16) The Seizure Smart School Act. | 7 | | The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection | 8 | | (g) is declaratory of existing law. | 9 | | (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a | 10 | | school district, the
governing body of a State college or | 11 | | university or public community college, or
any other public or | 12 | | for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a | 13 | | school building and grounds or any other real property or | 14 | | facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert | 15 | | for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and | 16 | | maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, | 17 | | activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required | 18 | | to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
| 19 | | However, a charter school
that is established on
or
after | 20 | | April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that | 21 | | operates
in a city having a population exceeding
500,000 may | 22 | | not contract with a for-profit entity to
manage or operate the | 23 | | school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
| 24 | | effective date of Public Act 93-3) and
concludes at the end of | 25 | | the 2004-2005 school year.
Except as provided in subsection | 26 | | (i) of this Section, a school district may
charge a charter |
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| 1 | | school reasonable rent for the use of the district's
| 2 | | buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a | 3 | | charter school
contracts
with a school district shall be | 4 | | provided by the district at cost. Any services
for which a | 5 | | charter school contracts with a local school board or with the
| 6 | | governing body of a State college or university or public | 7 | | community college
shall be provided by the public entity at | 8 | | cost.
| 9 | | (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established | 10 | | by converting an
existing school or attendance center to | 11 | | charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is | 12 | | deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter | 13 | | agreement,
in school district
facilities. However, all other | 14 | | costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district | 15 | | facilities that are used by the charter school shall be | 16 | | subject
to negotiation between
the charter school and the | 17 | | local school board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
| 18 | | (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age | 19 | | or grade level.
| 20 | | (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or | 21 | | Commission, then the charter school is its own local education | 22 | | agency. | 23 | | (Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18; | 24 | | 100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff. | 25 | | 6-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50, | 26 | | eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20; |
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| 1 | | 101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; revised 8-4-20.)
| 2 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 3 | | 2021.
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