HB5609 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 37589 RJT 67715 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5609

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Rep. Kam Buckner

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/27A-6
105 ILCS 5/27A-9

Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. In provisions concerning contract contents, provides that for a charter granted or renewed on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act by a local school board, administrative fees withheld from a charter school under the charter for the purpose of conducting administrative duties shall be capped at 3% or less of the total annual public dollars allocated to the charter school. Provides that the 3% total administrative fee collected from a charter school shall include a 2% or less administrative fee collected by a local school board for the purpose of conducting administrative duties related to the administration of charter school contracts, oversight, and authorizing services, and a 1% fee to be either (i) given to a statewide charter school membership association for the purpose of administering State-mandated board governance training, and compliance and technical assistance to charter schools for the purpose of meeting academic, financial, and operational reporting requirements, or (ii) sub-granted by a statewide charter school membership association to charter schools for the purpose of meeting academic, financial, and operational requirements as agreed upon with the authorizer in the charter school's contract. In provisions concerning the term of a charter, provides that an authorizer shall grant renewal for a term of no fewer than 5 years if the charter's average annual summative designation over the term of the charter is in the top 3 summative designations on the State report card prepared by the State Board of Education.

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections 27A-6 and 27A-9 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27A-6)

Sec. 27A-6. Contract contents; applicability of laws and regulations.

(a) A certified charter shall constitute a binding contract and agreement between the charter school and a local school board under the terms of which the local school board authorizes the governing body of the charter school to operate the charter school on the terms specified in the contract.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the certified charter may not waive or release the charter school from the State goals, standards, and assessments established pursuant to Section 2-3.64a-5 of this Code. The certified charter for a charter school operating in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 shall require the charter school to administer any other nationally recognized standardized tests to its students that the chartering entity administers to other students, and the results on such tests shall be included in the chartering entity's assessment reports.

(c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a material revision to a previously certified contract or a renewal shall be made with the approval of both the local school board and the governing body of the charter school.

(c-5) The proposed contract shall include a provision on how both parties will address minor violations of the contract.

(c-10) After August 4, 2023 (the effective date of Public Act 103-416) this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, any renewal of a certified charter must include a union neutrality clause.

(d) The proposed contract between the governing body of a proposed charter school and the local school board as described in Section 27A-7 must be submitted to and certified by the State Board before it can take effect. If the State Board recommends that the proposed contract be modified for consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the modifications must be consented to by both the governing body of the charter school and the local school board, and resubmitted to the State Board for its certification. If the proposed contract is resubmitted in a form that is not consistent with this Article, the State Board may refuse to certify the charter.

The State Board shall assign a number to each submission or resubmission in chronological order of receipt, and shall determine whether the proposed contract is consistent with the provisions of this Article. If the proposed contract complies, the State Board shall so certify.

(e) No renewal of a previously certified contract is effective unless and until the State Board certifies that the renewal is consistent with the provisions of this Article. A material revision to a previously certified contract may go into effect immediately upon approval of both the local school board and the governing body of the charter school, unless either party requests in writing that the State Board certify that the material revision is consistent with the provisions of this Article. If such a request is made, the proposed material revision is not effective unless and until the State Board so certifies.

(f) For a charter granted or renewed on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly by a local school board, administrative fees withheld from a charter school under the charter for the purpose of conducting administrative duties shall be capped at 3% or less of the total annual public dollars allocated to the charter school. The 3% total administrative fee collected from a charter school shall include a 2% or less administrative fee collected by a local school board for the purpose of conducting administrative duties related to the administration of charter school contracts, oversight, and authorizing services, and a 1% fee to be either (i) given to a statewide charter school membership association for the purpose of administering State-mandated board governance training under Section 27A-5, and compliance and technical assistance to charter schools for the purpose of meeting academic, financial, and operational reporting requirements, or (ii) sub-granted by a statewide charter school membership association to charter schools for the purpose of meeting academic, financial, and operational requirements as agreed upon with the authorizer in the charter school's contract.

(Source: P.A. 103-175, eff. 6-30-23; 103-416, eff. 8-4-23; revised 9-5-23.)

(105 ILCS 5/27A-9)

Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.

(a) An initial charter shall be granted for a period of 5 school years. A charter may be renewed in incremental periods not to exceed 10 school years. Authorizers shall ensure that every charter granted on or after January 1, 2017 includes standards and goals for academic, organizational, and financial performance. A charter must meet all standards and goals for academic, organizational, and financial performance set forth by the authorizer in order to be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years but not more than 10 years. If an authorizer fails to establish standards and goals, a charter shall not be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years. Nothing contained in this Section shall require an authorizer to grant a full 10-year renewal term to any particular charter school, but an authorizer may award a full 10-year renewal term to charter schools that have a demonstrated track record of improving student performance. An authorizer shall grant renewal for a term of no fewer than 5 years if the charter's average annual summative designation over the term of the charter is in the top 3 summative designations on the State report card prepared by the State Board of Education for a charter renewed on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly.

(b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the local school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity, shall contain:

(1) a report on the progress of the charter school in achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance standards, content standards, and other terms of the initial approved charter proposal; and

(2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of administration, instruction, and other spending categories for the charter school that is understandable to the general public and that will allow comparison of those costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, in a format required by the State Board.

(c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity, clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements of this law:

(1) Committed a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter.

(2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward achievement of the content standards or pupil performance standards identified in the charter.

(3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management.

(4) Violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not exempted.

In the case of revocation, the local school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a written plan to the local school board or the State Board, whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or education of the charter school's students is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a school year. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years in duration. No local school board may arbitrarily or capriciously revoke or not renew a charter. Except for extenuating circumstances outlined in this Section, if a local school board revokes or does not renew a charter, it must ensure that all students currently enrolled in the charter school are placed in schools that are higher performing than that charter school, as defined in the State's federal Every Student Succeeds Act accountability plan. In determining whether extenuating circumstances exist, a local school board must detail, by clear and convincing evidence, that factors unrelated to the charter school's accountability designation outweigh the charter school's academic performance.

(d) (Blank).

(e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny, revoke, or not renew a charter shall be provided to the State Board.

The State Board may reverse a local board's decision to revoke or not renew a charter if the State Board finds that the charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with this Article and (ii) is in the best interests of the students it is designed to serve. The State Board may condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the charter school of funding in an amount less than that requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board. The State Board must appoint and utilize a hearing officer for any appeals conducted under this subsection. Final decisions of the State Board are subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.

(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision or if a charter school is approved by referendum, the State Board shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter school and shall perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils resident in a school district to that district and shall notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The charter school shall maintain accurate records of daily attendance and student enrollment and shall enter data on the students served, their characteristics, their particular needs, the programs in which they participate, and their academic achievement into the statewide student information system established by the State Board. The State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and shall pay such amounts to the charter school in quarterly installments, calculated as follows:

(1) The amount of the first quarterly payment shall be based on the projected number of students who will be enrolled in the charter school in the upcoming school year, multiplied by one-fourth of the resident district's per capita tuition amount. Each charter school shall submit its projected enrollment by no later than August 1 of each year on a form provided by the State Board for this purpose.

(2) The amount of the second quarterly payment shall be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the first and second quarterly installments is equal to the number of students reported as enrolled at the charter school on October 1 in the State Board's student information system, multiplied by one-half of the resident district's per capita tuition amount.

(3) The amount of the third quarterly payment shall be based on the number of students enrolled in the charter school on January 1, multiplied by one-fourth of the resident district's per capita tuition amount. Each charter school shall submit its January 1 enrollment by no later than January 5 of each year on a form provided by the State Board for this purpose.

(4) The amount of the fourth quarterly payment shall be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the third and fourth installments is equal to the number of students reported as enrolled at the charter school on March 1 in the State Board's student information system, multiplied by one-half of the resident district's per capita tuition amount.

(g) (Blank).

(h) The State Board shall pay directly to a charter school it authorizes any federal or State funding attributable to a student with a disability attending the school.

(Source: P.A. 103-175, eff. 6-30-23.)