Full Text of HB3232 98th General Assembly
HB3232enr 98TH 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 Sections | 5 | | 27A-4 and 27A-5 and by adding Sections 27A-10.5 and 27A-10.10 | 6 | | as follows:
| 7 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
| 8 | | Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.
| 9 | | (a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend | 10 | | the provisions
of any court-ordered desegregation plan in | 11 | | effect for any school district. A
charter school shall be | 12 | | subject to all federal and State laws and
constitutional | 13 | | provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
| 14 | | disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, | 15 | | religion, ancestry,
marital status, or need for special | 16 | | education services.
| 17 | | (b) The total number of charter schools operating under | 18 | | this Article at any
one time shall not exceed 120. Not more | 19 | | than 70 charter
schools
shall operate at any one time in any | 20 | | city having a population exceeding
500,000, with at least 5 | 21 | | charter schools devoted exclusively to students from | 22 | | low-performing or overcrowded schools operating at any one time | 23 | | in that city; and not more than 45
charter schools shall |
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| 1 | | operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not
| 2 | | more than one charter school that
has been initiated by a board | 3 | | of education, or
by an intergovernmental agreement between or | 4 | | among boards of education,
operating at any one
time in the | 5 | | school district where the charter school is located. In | 6 | | addition to these charter schools, up to but no more than 5 | 7 | | charter schools devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school | 8 | | dropouts and/or students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping | 9 | | out may operate at any one time in any city having a population | 10 | | exceeding 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the | 11 | | contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each | 12 | | such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the | 13 | | city. Any of these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875 | 14 | | enrollment seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout | 15 | | charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each | 16 | | campus of the dropout charter must be operated, through a | 17 | | contract or payroll, by the same legal entity as that for which | 18 | | the charter is approved and certified.
| 19 | | For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board | 20 | | shall assign a
number to each charter submission it receives | 21 | | under Section 27A-6 for its
review and certification, based on | 22 | | the chronological order in which the
submission is received by | 23 | | it. The State Board shall promptly notify local
school boards | 24 | | when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools | 25 | | authorized
to operate have been reached.
| 26 | | (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that |
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| 1 | | would convert any
existing private, parochial, or non-public | 2 | | school to a charter school.
| 3 | | (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any | 4 | | pupil who resides
within the geographic boundaries of the area | 5 | | served by the local school board, provided that the board of | 6 | | education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may | 7 | | designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of | 8 | | the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of | 9 | | education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to | 10 | | relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk | 11 | | students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may | 12 | | be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to | 13 | | attend the charter school.
| 14 | | (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local | 15 | | school boards from
jointly
issuing a charter to a single shared | 16 | | charter school, provided that all of the
provisions of this | 17 | | Article are met as to those local school boards.
| 18 | | (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the | 19 | | school district
to be employed in a charter school.
| 20 | | (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing | 21 | | within the
geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a | 22 | | charter school.
| 23 | | (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in | 24 | | a charter school
than there are spaces available, successful | 25 | | applicants shall be selected by
lottery. However, priority | 26 | | shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in
the charter |
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| 1 | | school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school | 2 | | the
previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and | 3 | | priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter | 4 | | school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated | 5 | | by the board of education in a city having a population | 6 | | exceeding 500,000. | 7 | | Beginning with student enrollment for the 2015-2016 school | 8 | | year, any lottery required under this subsection (h) must be | 9 | | administered and videotaped by the charter school. The | 10 | | authorizer or its designee must be allowed to be present or | 11 | | view the lottery in real time. The charter school must maintain | 12 | | a videotaped record of the lottery, including a time/date | 13 | | stamp. The charter school shall transmit copies of the | 14 | | videotape and all records relating to the lottery to the | 15 | | authorizer on or before September 1 of each year. | 16 | | Subject to the requirements for priority applicant groups | 17 | | set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection (h), any lottery | 18 | | required under this subsection (h) must be administered in a | 19 | | way that provides each student an equal chance at admission. If | 20 | | an authorizer makes a determination that a charter school's | 21 | | lottery is in violation of this subsection (h), it may | 22 | | administer the lottery directly. After a lottery, each student | 23 | | randomly selected for admission to the charter school must be | 24 | | notified. Charter schools may not create an admissions process | 25 | | subsequent to a lottery that may operate as a barrier to | 26 | | registration or enrollment. |
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| 1 | | Charter schools may undertake additional intake | 2 | | activities, including without limitation student essays, | 3 | | school-parent compacts, or open houses, but in no event may a | 4 | | charter school require participation in these activities as a | 5 | | condition of enrollment. A charter school must submit an | 6 | | updated waitlist to the authorizer on a quarterly basis. A | 7 | | waitlist must be submitted to the authorizer at the same time | 8 | | as quarterly financial statements, if quarterly financial | 9 | | statements are required by the authorizer. | 10 | | Dual enrollment at both a
charter school and a public | 11 | | school or non-public school shall not be allowed.
A pupil who | 12 | | is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed | 13 | | to
be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the | 14 | | school district in
which the pupil resides. Notwithstanding | 15 | | anything to the contrary in this subsection (h): | 16 | | (1) any charter school with a mission exclusive to | 17 | | educating high school dropouts may grant priority | 18 | | admission to students who are high school dropouts and/or | 19 | | students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out and any | 20 | | charter school with a mission exclusive to educating | 21 | | students from low-performing or overcrowded schools may | 22 | | restrict admission to students who are from low-performing | 23 | | or overcrowded schools; "priority admission" for charter | 24 | | schools exclusively devoted to re-enrolled dropouts or | 25 | | students at risk of dropping out means a minimum of 90% of | 26 | | students enrolled shall be high school dropouts; and
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| 1 | | (2) any charter school located in a school district | 2 | | that contains all or part of a federal military base may | 3 | | set aside up to 33% of its current charter enrollment to | 4 | | students with parents assigned to the federal military | 5 | | base, with the remaining 67% subject to the general | 6 | | enrollment and lottery requirements of subsection (d) of | 7 | | this Section and this subsection (h); if a student with a | 8 | | parent assigned to the federal military base withdraws from | 9 | | the charter school during the course of a school year for | 10 | | reasons other than grade promotion, those students with | 11 | | parents assigned to the federal military base shall have | 12 | | preference in filling the vacancy. | 13 | | (i) (Blank).
| 14 | | (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the | 15 | | contrary, a
school district in a city having a population | 16 | | exceeding 500,000 shall not
have a duty to collectively bargain | 17 | | with an exclusive representative of its
employees over | 18 | | decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal
under | 19 | | Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a | 20 | | charter
under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of | 21 | | these decisions,
provided that nothing in this Section shall | 22 | | have the effect of negating,
abrogating, replacing, reducing, | 23 | | diminishing, or limiting in any way
employee rights, | 24 | | guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8,
10, | 25 | | 14, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
| 26 | | (k) In this Section: |
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| 1 | | "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school | 2 | | district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls | 3 | | students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is | 4 | | ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in | 5 | | terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding | 6 | | standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test. | 7 | | "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school | 8 | | district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i) | 9 | | enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii) | 10 | | has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as | 11 | | identified in the most recently available School Report Card | 12 | | published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is | 13 | | determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most | 14 | | severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or | 15 | | before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education | 16 | | shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which | 17 | | schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded | 18 | | school". "Students at risk of dropping out" means students 16 | 19 | | or 15 years old in a public school in a district organized | 20 | | under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls students in any | 21 | | grades 9-12 who have been absent at least 90 school attendance | 22 | | days of the previous 180 school attendance days. | 23 | | (l) For advertisements created after the effective date of | 24 | | this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, any | 25 | | advertisement, including a radio, television, print, Internet, | 26 | | social media, or billboard advertisement, purchased by a school |
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| 1 | | district or public school, including a charter school, with | 2 | | public funds must include a disclaimer stating that the | 3 | | advertisement was paid for using public funds. | 4 | | This disclaimer requirement does not extend to materials | 5 | | created by the charter school, including, but not limited to, a | 6 | | school website, informational pamphlets or leaflets, or | 7 | | clothing with affixed school logos. | 8 | | (Source: P.A. 97-151, eff. 1-1-12; 97-624, eff. 11-28-11; | 9 | | 97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-474, eff. 8-16-13.)
| 10 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
| 11 | | Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
| 12 | | (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, | 13 | | nonreligious, non-home
based, and non-profit school. A charter | 14 | | school shall be organized and operated
as a nonprofit | 15 | | corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
| 16 | | authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
| 17 | | (b) A charter school may be established under this Article | 18 | | by creating a new
school or by converting an existing public | 19 | | school or attendance center to
charter
school status.
Beginning | 20 | | on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | 21 | | General
Assembly, in all new
applications submitted to the | 22 | | State Board or a local school board to establish
a charter
| 23 | | school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, | 24 | | operation of the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. | 25 | | The changes made to this Section by this
amendatory Act
of the |
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| 1 | | 93rd General
Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing | 2 | | or approved on or before the
effective date of this
amendatory | 3 | | Act. | 4 | | (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means | 5 | | the teaching of courses through online methods with online | 6 | | instructors, rather than the instructor and student being at | 7 | | the same physical location. "Virtual-schooling" includes | 8 | | without limitation instruction provided by full-time, online | 9 | | virtual schools. | 10 | | From April 1, 2013 through April 1, 2014, there is a | 11 | | moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with | 12 | | virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a | 13 | | school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This | 14 | | moratorium does not apply to a charter school with | 15 | | virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to | 16 | | April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter | 17 | | school with virtual-schooling components already approved | 18 | | prior to April 1, 2013. | 19 | | On or before March 1, 2014, the Commission shall submit to | 20 | | the General Assembly a report on the effect of | 21 | | virtual-schooling, including without limitation the effect on | 22 | | student performance, the costs associated with | 23 | | virtual-schooling, and issues with oversight. The report shall | 24 | | include policy recommendations for virtual-schooling.
| 25 | | (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by | 26 | | its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner |
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| 1 | | provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
| 2 | | shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open | 3 | | Meetings Act.
| 4 | | (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable | 5 | | health and safety
requirements applicable to public schools | 6 | | under the laws of the State of
Illinois.
| 7 | | (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a | 8 | | charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a | 9 | | charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, | 10 | | instructional materials, and student activities.
| 11 | | (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the | 12 | | management and operation
of its fiscal affairs including,
but | 13 | | not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each | 14 | | charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an | 15 | | outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter | 16 | | school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of | 17 | | public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of | 18 | | operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer | 19 | | and Annually, by December 1, every charter school must submit | 20 | | to the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form | 21 | | 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal | 22 | | Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for | 23 | | proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer | 24 | | may require quarterly financial statements from each charter | 25 | | school.
| 26 | | (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of |
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| 1 | | this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, and
| 2 | | its charter. A charter
school is exempt from all other State | 3 | | laws and regulations in the School Code
governing public
| 4 | | schools and local school board policies, except the following:
| 5 | | (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code | 6 | | regarding criminal
history records checks and checks of the | 7 | | Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and | 8 | | Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for | 9 | | employment;
| 10 | | (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code | 11 | | regarding discipline of
students;
| 12 | | (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees | 13 | | Tort Immunity Act;
| 14 | | (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit | 15 | | Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of | 16 | | officers, directors, employees, and agents;
| 17 | | (5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
| 18 | | (6) The Illinois School Student Records Act;
| 19 | | (7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school | 20 | | report cards; and
| 21 | | (8) The P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act. | 22 | | The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g) | 23 | | is declaratory of existing law. | 24 | | (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a | 25 | | school district, the
governing body of a State college or | 26 | | university or public community college, or
any other public or |
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| 1 | | for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a | 2 | | school building and grounds or any other real property or | 3 | | facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert | 4 | | for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and | 5 | | maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, | 6 | | activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required to | 7 | | perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
| 8 | | However, a charter school
that is established on
or
after the | 9 | | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
| 10 | | Assembly and that operates
in a city having a population | 11 | | exceeding
500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
| 12 | | manage or operate the school during the period that commences | 13 | | on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | 14 | | General Assembly and
concludes at the end of the 2004-2005 | 15 | | school year.
Except as provided in subsection (i) of this | 16 | | Section, a school district may
charge a charter school | 17 | | reasonable rent for the use of the district's
buildings, | 18 | | grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter | 19 | | school
contracts
with a school district shall be provided by | 20 | | the district at cost. Any services
for which a charter school | 21 | | contracts with a local school board or with the
governing body | 22 | | of a State college or university or public community college
| 23 | | shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
| 24 | | (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established | 25 | | by converting an
existing school or attendance center to | 26 | | charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is |
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| 1 | | deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter | 2 | | agreement,
in school district
facilities. However, all other | 3 | | costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district | 4 | | facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
| 5 | | to negotiation between
the charter school and the local school | 6 | | board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
| 7 | | (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or | 8 | | grade level.
| 9 | | (k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission, | 10 | | then the Commission charter school is its own local education | 11 | | agency. | 12 | | (Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12; | 13 | | 97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-16, eff. 5-24-13.)
| 14 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-10.5 new) | 15 | | Sec. 27A-10.5. Educational or charter management | 16 | | organization. | 17 | | (a) In this Section: | 18 | | "CMO" means a charter management organization. | 19 | | "EMO" means an educational management organization. | 20 | | (b) All authorizers shall ensure that any charter school | 21 | | established on or after the effective date of this amendatory | 22 | | Act of the 98th General Assembly has a governing body that is | 23 | | separate and distinct from the governing body of any CMO or | 24 | | EMO. In reviewing charter applications and charter renewal | 25 | | applications, authorizers shall review the governance model |
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| 1 | | proposed by the applicant to ensure that there are no conflicts | 2 | | of interest. | 3 | | (c) No charter school may employ a staff person who is | 4 | | simultaneously employed by an EMO or CMO. | 5 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-10.10 new) | 6 | | Sec. 27A-10.10. Closure of charter school; unspent public | 7 | | funds; procedures for the disposition of property and assets. | 8 | | (a) Upon the closing of a charter school authorized by one | 9 | | or more local school boards, the governing body of the charter | 10 | | school or its designee shall refund to the chartering entity or | 11 | | entities all unspent public funds. The charter school's other | 12 | | property and assets shall be disposed of under the provisions | 13 | | of the charter application and contract. If the application and | 14 | | contract are silent or ambiguous as to the disposition of any | 15 | | of the school's property or assets, any property or assets of | 16 | | the charter school purchased with public funds shall be | 17 | | returned to the school district or districts from which the | 18 | | charter school draws enrollment, at no cost to the receiving | 19 | | district or districts, subject to each district's acceptance of | 20 | | the property or asset. Any unspent public funds or other | 21 | | property or assets received by the charter school directly from | 22 | | any State or federal agency shall be refunded to or revert back | 23 | | to that State or federal agency, respectively. | 24 | | (b) Upon the closing of a charter school authorized by the | 25 | | Commission, the governing body of the charter school or its |
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| 1 | | designee shall refund all unspent public funds to the State | 2 | | Board of Education. The charter school's other property and | 3 | | assets shall be disposed of under the provisions of the charter | 4 | | application and contract. If the application and contract are | 5 | | silent or ambiguous as to the disposition of any of the | 6 | | school's property or assets, any property or assets of the | 7 | | charter school purchased with public funds shall be returned to | 8 | | the school district or districts from which the charter school | 9 | | draws its enrollment, at no cost to the receiving district or | 10 | | districts, subject to each district's acceptance of the | 11 | | property or asset. Any unspent public funds or other property | 12 | | or assets provided by a State agency other than the State Board | 13 | | of Education or by a federal agency shall be refunded to or | 14 | | revert back to that State or federal agency, respectively.
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