State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HB2975

 
                                               LRB9109442NTsb

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

 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    Section 27A-4 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 20 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  shall  operate  at  any one time in the
22    counties of DuPage,  Kane,  Lake,  McHenry,  Will,  and  that
23    portion  of Cook County that is located outside a city having
24    a population  exceeding  500,000,  with  not  more  than  one
25    charter  school  that  has  been  initiated  by  a  board  of
26    education,  or  by  an intergovernmental agreement between or
27    among boards of education, operating at any one time  in  the
28    school  district where the charter school is located; and not
29    more than 10 15 charter schools shall operate at any one time
30    in the remainder of the State, with not more than one charter
31    school that has been initiated by a board of education, or by
 
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 1    an intergovernmental agreement between  or  among  boards  of
 2    education,  operating  at any one time in the school district
 3    where the charter school is located.
 4        For purposes of  implementing  this  Section,  the  State
 5    Board  shall  assign  a  number to each charter submission it
 6    receives   under   Section   27A-6   for   its   review   and
 7    certification, based on the chronological order in which  the
 8    submission is received by it.  The State Board shall promptly
 9    notify  local  school  boards  when  the  maximum  numbers of
10    certified charter schools authorized  to  operate  have  been
11    reached.
12        (c)  No  charter shall be granted under this Article that
13    would convert any existing private, parochial, or  non-public
14    school to a charter school.
15        (d)  Enrollment  in a charter school shall be open to any
16    pupil who resides within the  geographic  boundaries  of  the
17    area served by the local school board.
18        (e)  Nothing  in  this  Article  shall  prevent 2 or more
19    local school boards from  jointly  issuing  a  charter  to  a
20    single  shared  charter  school,  provided  that  all  of the
21    provisions of this Article are met as to those  local  school
22    boards.
23        (f)  No  local school board shall require any employee of
24    the school district to be employed in a charter school.
25        (g)  No  local  school  board  shall  require  any  pupil
26    residing within the geographic boundary of  its  district  to
27    enroll in a charter school.
28        (h)  If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment
29    in   a  charter  school  than  there  are  spaces  available,
30    successful applicants shall be selected by lottery.  However,
31    priority shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the
32    charter school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter
33    school the previous school year, unless expelled  for  cause.
34    Dual  enrollment at both a charter school and a public school
 
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 1    or non-public school shall not be allowed.  A  pupil  who  is
 2    suspended  or  expelled from a charter school shall be deemed
 3    to be suspended or expelled from the public  schools  of  the
 4    school district in which the pupil resides.
 5        (i)  (Blank).
 6    (Source:  P.A.  91-357,  eff.  7-29-99;  91-405, eff. 8-3-99;
 7    91-407, eff. 8-3-99; revised 8-27-99.)

 8        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
 9    becoming law.

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