Public Act 93-0053
SB381 Enrolled LRB093 05990 NHT 06091 b
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
Section 1D-1 and adding Section 2-3.51a as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
(a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year
thereafter, the State Board of Education shall award to a
school district having a population exceeding 500,000
inhabitants a general education block grant and an
educational services block grant, determined as provided in
this Section, in lieu of distributing to the district
separate State funding for the programs described in
subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this Section,
however, do not apply to any federal funds that the district
is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section 2-3.32,
all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore, block
grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be recorded
to the appropriate fund code for the designated block grant.
(b) The general education block grant shall include the
following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool
At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support,
Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse
Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development,
Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12
Continued Reading Improvement, Truants' Optional Education,
Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education, Gifted Education,
Parental Education, Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and
Criminal Background Investigations. Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, all amounts paid under the general
education block grant from State appropriations to a school
district in a city having a population exceeding 500,000
inhabitants shall be appropriated and expended by the board
of that district for any of the programs included in the
block grant or any of the board's lawful purposes.
(c) The educational services block grant shall include
the following programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational
Transportation, State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program,
Special Education (Personnel, Extraordinary, Transportation,
Orphanage, Private Tuition), Summer School, Educational
Service Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This
subsection (c) does not relieve the district of its
obligation to provide the services required under a program
that is included within the educational services block grant.
It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting the
provisions of this subsection (c) to relieve the district of
the administrative burdens that impede efficiency and
accompany single-program funding. The General Assembly
encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers pursuant to
Section 2-3.25g.
(d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year
thereafter, the amount of the district's block grants shall
be determined as follows: (i) with respect to each program
that is included within each block grant, the district shall
receive an amount equal to the same percentage of the current
fiscal year appropriation made for that program as the
percentage of the appropriation received by the district from
the 1995 fiscal year appropriation made for that program, and
(ii) the total amount that is due the district under the
block grant shall be the aggregate of the amounts that the
district is entitled to receive for the fiscal year with
respect to each program that is included within the block
grant that the State Board of Education shall award the
district under this Section for that fiscal year. In the
case of the Summer Bridges program, the amount of the
district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of the amount of
the current fiscal year appropriation made for that program.
(e) The district is not required to file any application
or other claim in order to receive the block grants to which
it is entitled under this Section. The State Board of
Education shall make payments to the district of amounts due
under the district's block grants on a schedule determined by
the State Board of Education.
(f) A school district to which this Section applies
shall report to the State Board of Education on its use of
the block grants in such form and detail as the State Board
of Education may specify.
(g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block
grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the
amount of block grants for a district under this Section.
Those block grants under Article 1C are, for this purpose,
treated as included in the amount of appropriation for the
various programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The
appropriation in each current fiscal year for each block
grant under Article 1C shall be treated for these purposes as
appropriations for the individual program included in that
block grant. The proportion of each block grant so allocated
to each such program included in it shall be the proportion
which the appropriation for that program was of all
appropriations for such purposes now in that block grant, in
fiscal 1995.
Payments to the school district under this Section with
respect to each program for which payments to school
districts generally, as of the date of this amendatory Act of
the 92nd General Assembly, are on a reimbursement basis shall
continue to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis,
pursuant to the provisions of this Code governing those
programs.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
school district receiving a block grant under this Section
may classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives
in a particular fiscal year from any block grant authorized
under this Code or from general State aid pursuant to Section
18-8.05 of this Code (other than supplemental general State
aid) as funds received in connection with any funding program
for which it is entitled to receive funds from the State in
that fiscal year (including, without limitation, any funding
program referred to in subsection (c) of this Section),
regardless of the source or timing of the receipt. The
district may not classify more funds as funds received in
connection with the funding program than the district is
entitled to receive in that fiscal year for that program.
Any classification by a district must be made by a resolution
of its board of education. The resolution must identify the
amount of any block grant or general State aid to be
classified under this subsection (h) and must specify the
funding program to which the funds are to be treated as
received in connection therewith. This resolution is
controlling as to the classification of funds referenced
therein. A certified copy of the resolution must be sent to
the State Superintendent of Education. The resolution shall
still take effect even though a copy of the resolution has
not been sent to the State Superintendent of Education in a
timely manner. No classification under this subsection (h)
by a district shall affect the total amount or timing of
money the district is entitled to receive under this Code.
No classification under this subsection (h) by a district
shall in any way relieve the district from or affect any
requirements that otherwise would apply with respect to the
block grant as provided in this Section, including any
accounting of funds by source, reporting expenditures by
original source and purpose, reporting requirements, or
requirements of provision of services.
(Source: P.A. 91-711, eff. 7-1-00; 92-568, eff. 6-26-02;
92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
(105 ILCS 5/2-3.51a new)
Sec. 2-3.51a. Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant
Program. To improve the reading and study skills of children
from seventh through twelfth grade in school districts. The
State Board of Education is authorized to administer a
Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program. As used
in this Section, "school district" includes those schools
designated as laboratory schools.
(a) Funds for the Continued Reading Improvement Block
Grant Program shall be distributed to school districts on the
following basis: 70% of moneys shall be awarded on the prior
year's best 3 months average daily attendance and 30% shall
be distributed on the number of economically disadvantaged
(E.C.I.A. Chapter I) pupils in the district, provided that
the State Board may distribute an amount not to exceed 2% of
the moneys appropriated for the Continued Reading Improvement
Block Grant Program for the purpose of providing teacher
training and re-training in the teaching of reading. Program
funds shall be distributed to school districts in 2
semi-annual installments, one payment on or before October 30
and one payment prior to April 30 of each year. The State
Board shall adopt any rules necessary for the implementation
of this program.
(b) Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program
funds shall be used by school districts in the following
manner to support students in grades 7 through 12 who are
reading significantly below grade level:
(1) to continue direct reading instruction for
grades 7 through 12, focusing on the application of
reading skills for understanding informational text;
(2) to focus on and to commit time and resources to
the reading of rich literature;
(3) to conduct intense vocabulary, spelling, and
related writing programs that promote better
understanding of language and words;
(4) to provide professional development based on
scientifically based research and best practices and
delivered by providers approved by the State Board of
Education; and
(5) to increase the availability of reading
specialists and teacher aides trained in research-based
reading intervention or improvement practices or both.
(c) Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program
funds shall be made available to each eligible school
district submitting an approved application developed by the
State Board, beginning with the 2003-2004 school year.
Applications shall include a proposed assessment method or
methods for measuring student reading skills. Such methods
may include the reading portion of State tests. At the end
of each school year the district shall report assessment
results to the State Board. Districts not demonstrating
performance progress using an approved assessment method
shall not be eligible for funding in the third or subsequent
years until such progress is established.
(d) The State Superintendent of Education, in
cooperation with the school districts participating in the
program, shall annually report to the leadership of the
General Assembly on the results of the Continued Reading
Improvement Block Grant Program and the progress being made
on improving the reading skills of students in grades 7
through 12.
(e) Grants under the Continued Reading Improvement Block
Grant Program shall be awarded provided there is an
appropriation for the program, and funding levels for each
district shall be prorated according to the amount of the
appropriation. Funding for the program established under
Section 2-3.51 of this Code shall not be reduced in order to
fund the Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
July 1, 2003.