State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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[ Introduced ][ Enrolled ][ House Amendment 001 ]
[ Senate Amendment 001 ]

91_HB0230eng

 
HB0230 Engrossed                               LRB9100464NTsb

 1        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  School Code by changing Sections
 2    27A-4 and 27A-7.

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

 5        Section  5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by changing
 6    Sections 27A-4 and 27A-7 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
10    amend  the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation plan
11    in 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 45.  Not more
19    than that 15 charter schools shall operate at any one time in
20    any city having a population exceeding 500,000; not more than
21    15 charter schools, with not more than one charter school per
22    school district,  shall  operate  at  any  one  time  in  the
23    counties  of  DuPage,  Kane,  Lake,  McHenry,  Will, and that
24    portion of Cook County that is located outside a city  having
25    a  population exceeding 500,000; and not more than 15 charter
26    schools, with not more than one  charter  school  per  school
27    district,  shall  operate at any one time in the remainder of
28    the State.
29        For purposes of  implementing  this  Section,  the  State
30    Board  shall  assign  a  number to each charter submission it
31    receives   under   Section   27A-6   for   its   review   and
 
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 1    certification, based on the chronological order in which  the
 2    submission is received by it.  The State Board shall promptly
 3    notify  local  school  boards  when  the  maximum  numbers of
 4    certified charter schools authorized  to  operate  have  been
 5    reached.
 6        (c)  No  charter shall be granted under this Article that
 7    would convert any existing private, parochial, or  non-public
 8    school to a charter school.
 9        (d)  Enrollment  in a charter school shall be open to any
10    pupil who resides within the  geographic  boundaries  of  the
11    area served by the local school board.  However, no more than
12    50%  of  the  number  of  resident pupils enrolled in any one
13    grade in a school district  with  only  a  single  attendance
14    center  covering  that  grade  may  be  enrolled in a charter
15    school at one time.
16        (e)  Nothing in this Article  shall  prevent  2  or  more
17    local  school  boards  from  jointly  issuing  a charter to a
18    single shared  charter  school,  provided  that  all  of  the
19    provisions  of  this Article are met as to those local school
20    boards.
21        (f)  No local school board shall require any employee  of
22    the school district to be employed in a charter school.
23        (g)  No  local  school  board  shall  require  any  pupil
24    residing  within  the  geographic boundary of its district to
25    enroll in a charter school.
26        (h)  If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment
27    in  a  charter  school  than  there  are  spaces   available,
28    successful applicants shall be selected by lottery.  However,
29    priority shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the
30    charter school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter
31    school  the  previous school year, unless expelled for cause.
32    Dual enrollment at both a charter school and a public  school
33    or  non-public  school  shall not be allowed.  A pupil who is
34    suspended or expelled from a charter school shall  be  deemed
 
HB0230 Engrossed            -3-                LRB9100464NTsb
 1    to  be  suspended  or expelled from the public schools of the
 2    school district in which the pupil resides.
 3        (i)  No charter school established under this Article may
 4    be authorized to open prior to the school year  beginning  in
 5    the fall of 1996.
 6    (Source: P.A. 89-450, eff. 4-10-96; revised 2-24-98.)

 7        (105 ILCS 5/27A-7)
 8        Sec. 27A-7.  Charter submission.
 9        (a)  A  proposal  to  establish a charter school shall be
10    submitted to the State Board and the local  school  board  in
11    the  form  of  a  proposed  contract entered into between the
12    local school board and  the  governing  body  of  a  proposed
13    charter  school.  The charter school proposal as submitted to
14    the State Board shall include:
15             (1)  The name of the proposed charter school,  which
16        must include the words "Charter School".
17             (2)  The age or grade range, areas of focus, minimum
18        and  maximum  numbers  of  pupils  to  be enrolled in the
19        charter school, and any  other  admission  criteria  that
20        would be legal if used by a school district.
21             (3)  A  description  of and address for the physical
22        plant in  which  the  charter  school  will  be  located;
23        provided  that  nothing in the Article shall be deemed to
24        justify delaying or withholding favorable  action  on  or
25        approval   of  a  charter  school  proposal  because  the
26        building or buildings in which the charter school  is  to
27        be located have not been acquired or rented at the time a
28        charter  school  proposal  is  submitted or approved or a
29        charter school contract is entered into or submitted  for
30        certification  or  certified,  so long as the proposal or
31        submission identifies and names at least 2 sites that are
32        potentially available as a charter school facility by the
33        time the charter school is to open.
 
HB0230 Engrossed            -4-                LRB9100464NTsb
 1             (4)  The mission statement of  the  charter  school,
 2        which  must  be  consistent  with  the General Assembly's
 3        declared purposes; provided that nothing in this  Article
 4        shall  be  construed to require that, in order to receive
 5        favorable consideration and approval,  a  charter  school
 6        proposal   demonstrate  unequivocally  that  the  charter
 7        school will be  able  to  meet  each  of  those  declared
 8        purposes,  it  being the intention of the Charter Schools
 9        Law that those  purposes  be  recognized  as  goals  that
10        charter schools must aspire to attain.
11             (5)  The  goals,  objectives,  and pupil performance
12        standards to be achieved by the charter school.
13             (6)  In the  case  of  a  proposal  to  establish  a
14        charter school by converting an existing public school or
15        attendance center to charter school status, evidence that
16        the proposed formation of the charter school has received
17        the   approval   of   certified   teachers,  parents  and
18        guardians, and, if applicable, a local school council  as
19        provided in subsection (b) of Section 27A-8.
20             (7)  A   description   of   the   charter   school's
21        educational   program,   pupil   performance   standards,
22        curriculum,  school  year,  school  days,  and  hours  of
23        operation.
24             (8)  A  description of the charter school's plan for
25        evaluating pupil performance, the  types  of  assessments
26        that  will  be  used  to  measure  pupil progress towards
27        achievement of the school's pupil performance  standards,
28        the  timeline for achievement of those standards, and the
29        procedures for taking corrective action in the event that
30        pupil performance at the charter school falls below those
31        standards.
32             (9)  Evidence that  the  terms  of  the  charter  as
33        proposed  are  economically  sound  for  both the charter
34        school and the school district, a proposed budget for the
 
HB0230 Engrossed            -5-                LRB9100464NTsb
 1        term of the charter, a description of the manner in which
 2        an annual  audit  of  the  financial  and  administrative
 3        operations  of the charter school, including any services
 4        provided by the school district, are to be conducted, and
 5        a plan for the  displacement  of  pupils,  teachers,  and
 6        other employees who will not attend or be employed in the
 7        charter school.
 8             (10)  A  description of the governance and operation
 9        of the charter school, including the nature and extent of
10        parental,   professional    educator,    and    community
11        involvement  in  the  governance  and  operation  of  the
12        charter school.
13             (11)  An  explanation  of the relationship that will
14        exist between  the  charter  school  and  its  employees,
15        including  evidence  that  the  terms  and  conditions of
16        employment have been addressed  with  affected  employees
17        and  their recognized representative, if any.  However, a
18        bargaining unit of  charter  school  employees  shall  be
19        separate  and  distinct  from any bargaining units formed
20        from employees of a school district in which the  charter
21        school is located.
22             (12)  An  agreement  between  the  parties regarding
23        their respective legal liability and applicable insurance
24        coverage.
25             (13)  A description of how the charter school  plans
26        to  meet  the  transportation needs of its pupils,  and a
27        plan  for  addressing   the   transportation   needs   of
28        low-income and at-risk pupils.
29             (14)  The  proposed  effective  date and term of the
30        charter;  provided  that  the  first  day  of  the  first
31        academic year and the first day of the fiscal year  shall
32        be  no earlier than August 15 and no later than September
33        15 of a calendar year.
34             (15)  Any other information reasonably  required  by
 
HB0230 Engrossed            -6-                LRB9100464NTsb
 1        the State Board of Education.
 2        (b)  A  proposal  to  establish  a  charter school may be
 3    initiated by individuals  or  organizations  that  will  have
 4    majority  representation  on  the board of directors or other
 5    governing body of the corporation  or  other  discrete  legal
 6    entity  that  is  to  be  established to operate the proposed
 7    charter   school,   by   a   board   of   education   or   an
 8    intergovernmental  agreement  between  or  among  boards   of
 9    education,  or  by  the board of directors or other governing
10    body  of  a  discrete  legal  entity  already   existing   or
11    established  to  operate  the  proposed  charter school.  The
12    individuals or organizations referred to in  this  subsection
13    may  be  school teachers, school administrators, local school
14    councils, colleges or universities or their faculty  members,
15    public  community  colleges  or  their  instructors  or other
16    representatives, corporations, or  other  entities  or  their
17    representatives.   The  proposal  shall  be  submitted to the
18    local school board for consideration and, if appropriate, for
19    development of a proposed contract to  be  submitted  to  the
20    State Board  for certification under Section 27A-6.
21        (c)  The  local  school board may not without the consent
22    of the governing body of the  charter  school  condition  its
23    approval  of  a  charter  school proposal on acceptance of an
24    agreement to operate under State  laws  and  regulations  and
25    local  school board policies from which the charter school is
26    otherwise exempted under this Article.
27    (Source: P.A. 89-450, eff. 4-10-96; 90-548, eff. 1-1-98.)

28        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
29    becoming law.

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