State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SB2248

 
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 1        AN ACT in relation to charter schools.

 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
 5    Section 27A-4 as follows:

 6        (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
 7        Sec. 27A-4.  General provisions Provisions.
 8        (a)  The  General  Assembly  does  not intend to alter or
 9    amend the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation  plan
10    in effect for any school district.  A charter school shall be
11    subject  to  all  federal  and  State laws and constitutional
12    provisions  prohibiting  discrimination  on  the   basis   of
13    disability,  race,  creed,  color,  gender,  national origin,
14    religion, ancestry,  marital  status,  or  need  for  special
15    education services.
16        (b)  The  total number of charter schools operating under
17    this Article at any one time shall not exceed 45.   Not  more
18    than  15 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any
19    city having a population exceeding 500,000; not more than  15
20    charter schools shall operate at any one time in the counties
21    of  DuPage,  Kane,  Lake,  McHenry, Will, and that portion of
22    Cook  County  that  is  located  outside  a  city  having   a
23    population  exceeding 500,000, with not more than one charter
24    school that has been initiated by a board of education, or by
25    an intergovernmental agreement between  or  among  boards  of
26    education,  operating  at any one time in the school district
27    where the charter school is located; and  not  more  than  15
28    charter  schools  shall  operate  at  any  one  time  in  the
29    remainder of the State, with not more than one charter school
30    that  has  been  initiated  by a board of education, or by an
31    intergovernmental  agreement  between  or  among  boards   of
 
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 1    education,  operating  at any one time in the school district
 2    where the charter school is located.
 3        For purposes of  implementing  this  Section,  the  State
 4    Board  shall  assign  a  number to each charter submission it
 5    receives   under   Section   27A-6   for   its   review   and
 6    certification, based on the chronological order in which  the
 7    submission is received by it.  The State Board shall promptly
 8    notify  local  school  boards  when  the  maximum  numbers of
 9    certified charter schools authorized  to  operate  have  been
10    reached.
11        (c)  No  charter shall be granted under this Article that
12    would convert any existing private, parochial, or  non-public
13    school to a charter school.
14        (d)  Enrollment  in a charter school shall be open to any
15    pupil who resides within the  geographic  boundaries  of  the
16    area served by the local school board.
17        (e)  Nothing  in  this  Article  shall  prevent 2 or more
18    local school boards from  jointly  issuing  a  charter  to  a
19    single  shared  charter  school,  provided  that  all  of the
20    provisions of this Article are met as to those  local  school
21    boards.
22        (f)  No  local school board shall require any employee of
23    the school district to be employed in a charter school.
24        (g)  No  local  school  board  shall  require  any  pupil
25    residing within the geographic boundary of  its  district  to
26    enroll in a charter school.
27        (h)  If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment
28    in   a  charter  school  than  there  are  spaces  available,
29    successful applicants shall be selected by lottery.  However,
30    priority shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the
31    charter school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter
32    school the previous school year, unless expelled  for  cause.
33    Dual  enrollment at both a charter school and a public school
34    or non-public school shall not be allowed.  A  pupil  who  is
 
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 1    suspended  or  expelled from a charter school shall be deemed
 2    to be suspended or expelled from the public  schools  of  the
 3    school district in which the pupil resides.
 4        (i)  (Blank).
 5    (Source:  P.A.  91-357,  eff.  7-29-99;  91-405, eff. 8-3-99;
 6    91-407, eff. 8-3-99; 92-16, eff. 6-28-01.)

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