Public Act 094-0219
 		





HB3451 Enrolled
LRB094 09221 RAS 39455 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 Sections 
10-21.9, 27A-5, and 34-18.5 as follows:
 



    (105 ILCS 5/10-21.9)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)



    Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal history records checks and checks of 
the Statewide Sex Offender Database. 

    (a) Certified and noncertified applicants for employment 
with a school
district, except school bus driver applicants, 
are required as a condition
of employment to authorize a 
fingerprint-based criminal history records check to determine 
if such applicants have been convicted of any of
the enumerated 
criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or

have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for 
employment with
the
school district, of any other felony under 
the laws of this State or of any
offense committed or attempted 
in any other state or against the laws of
the United States 
that, if committed or attempted in this State, would
have been 
punishable as a felony under the laws of this State.
 
Authorization for
the check shall be furnished by the applicant 
to
the school district, except that if the applicant is a 
substitute teacher
seeking employment in more than one school 
district, a teacher seeking
concurrent part-time employment 
positions with more than one school
district (as a reading 
specialist, special education teacher or otherwise),
or an 
educational support personnel employee seeking employment 
positions
with more than one district, any such district may 
require the applicant to
furnish authorization for
the  check to 
the regional superintendent
of the educational service region 
in which are located the school districts
in which the 
applicant is seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent

part-time teacher or concurrent educational support personnel 
employee.
Upon receipt of this authorization, the school 
district or the appropriate
regional superintendent, as the 
case may be, shall submit the applicant's
name, sex, race, date 
of birth, social security number, fingerprint images, and other 
identifiers, as prescribed by the Department
of State Police, 
to the Department. The regional
superintendent submitting the 
requisite information to the Department of
State Police shall 
promptly notify the school districts in which the
applicant is 
seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time

teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee 
that
the
check of the applicant has been requested. The 
Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based 
criminal history records check, records of convictions, until 
expunged, to the president of the school board for the school 
district that requested the check, or to the regional 
superintendent who requested the check.
 The
Department shall 
charge
the school district
or the appropriate regional 
superintendent a fee for
conducting
 such check, which fee shall 
be deposited in the State
Police Services Fund and shall not 
exceed the cost of
the inquiry; and the
applicant shall not be 
charged a fee for
such check by the school
district or by the 
regional superintendent.  Subject to appropriations for these 
purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall 
reimburse school districts and regional superintendents for 
fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this 
Section.

    (a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall 
further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, 
as authorized by the Sex Offender and Child Murderer Community 
Notification Law, for each applicant.

    (b)
  Any information
concerning the record of convictions 
obtained by the president of the
school board or the regional 
superintendent shall be confidential and may
only be 
transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or his

designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if
the check 
was
requested by the school district, the presidents of the 
appropriate school
boards if
the check was requested from the 
Department of State
Police by the regional superintendent, the 
State Superintendent of
Education, the State Teacher 
Certification Board or any other person
necessary to the 
decision of hiring the applicant for employment.  A copy
of the 
record of convictions obtained from the Department of State 
Police
shall be provided to the applicant for employment. Upon 
the check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, the school 
district or regional superintendent shall notify an applicant 
as to whether or not the applicant has been identified in the 
Database as a sex offender. If a check of
an applicant for 
employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher
or 
concurrent educational support personnel employee in more than 
one
school district was requested by the regional 
superintendent, and the
Department of State Police upon a check 
ascertains that the applicant
has not been convicted of any of 
the enumerated criminal or drug offenses
in subsection (c)
or 
has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
application for

employment with the
school district, of any other felony under 
the laws of this State or of any
offense committed or attempted 
in any other state or against the laws of
the United States 
that, if committed or attempted in this State, would
have been 
punishable as a felony under the laws of this State
and so 
notifies the regional
superintendent and if the regional 
superintendent upon a check ascertains that the applicant has 
not been identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex 
offender, then the
regional superintendent shall issue to the 
applicant a certificate
evidencing that as of the date 
specified by the Department of State Police
the applicant has 
not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or
drug 
offenses in subsection (c)
or has not been
convicted, within 7 
years of the application for employment with the
school 
district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or 
of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or 
against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or 
attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony 
under the laws of this State and evidencing that as of the date 
that the regional superintendent conducted a check of the 
Statewide Sex Offender Database, the applicant has not been 
identified in the Database as a sex offender.  The school
board 
of
any
school district
located in the educational service 
region served by the regional
superintendent who issues such a 
certificate to an applicant for employment
as a substitute 
teacher in more than one such district may rely on the

certificate issued by the regional superintendent to that 
applicant, or may
initiate its own criminal history records 
check of the applicant through the Department of
State Police 
and its own check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database as 
provided in subsection (a). Any person who releases any

confidential information concerning any criminal convictions 
of an
applicant for employment shall be guilty of a Class A 
misdemeanor, unless
the release of such information is 
authorized by this Section.

    (c) No school board shall knowingly employ a person who has 
been
convicted for committing attempted first degree murder or 
for committing or
attempting to commit first degree murder or a 
Class X felony or any one or
more of the
following offenses: 
(i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15,

11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, 11-19.2, 11-20, 
11-20.1,
11-21, 12-13, 12-14,
12-14.1,
12-15 and 12-16 of the 
"Criminal Code of 1961"; (ii)
those defined in the "Cannabis 
Control Act" except those defined in Sections
4(a), 4(b) and 
5(a) of that Act; (iii) those defined in the "Illinois

Controlled Substances Act"; and (iv) any
offense committed or 
attempted in
any other state or against the laws of the United 
States, which if
committed or attempted in this State, would 
have been punishable as one or
more of the foregoing offenses.

Further, no school board shall knowingly employ a person who 
has been found
to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical 
abuse of any minor under 18 years
of age pursuant to 
proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of
1987.

    (d) No school board shall knowingly employ a person for 
whom a criminal
history records check and a Statewide Sex 
Offender Database check has not been initiated.

    (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a 
finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued 
pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School 
Code, the appropriate regional superintendent of schools or the

State Superintendent of Education shall initiate the 
certificate suspension
and revocation proceedings authorized 
by law.

    (f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section 
shall apply
to all employees of persons or firms holding 
contracts with any school
district including, but not limited 
to, food service workers, school bus
drivers and other 
transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact
with 
the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of 
criminal
history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex 
Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding

contracts with more than one school district and assigned to 
more than one
school district, the regional superintendent of 
the educational service
region in which the contracting school 
districts are located may, at the
request of any such school 
district, be responsible for receiving the
authorization for
a 
criminal history records check prepared by each such employee 
and
submitting the same to the Department of State Police and 
for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database 
for each employee.  Any information
concerning the record of 
conviction and identification as a sex offender of any such 
employee obtained by the
regional superintendent shall be 
promptly reported to the president of the
appropriate school 
board or school boards.

(Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04; 93-909, eff. 8-12-04.)

 



    (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)


    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements. 

    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, 
nonreligious, non-home
based, and non-profit school.  A charter 
school shall be organized and operated
as a nonprofit 
corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity

authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.

    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article 
by creating a new
school or by converting an existing public 
school or attendance center to
charter
school status.

    Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 
93rd General
Assembly, in all new
applications submitted to the 
State Board or a local school board to establish
a charter

school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, 
operation of the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. 
The changes made to this Section by this
amendatory Act
of the 
93rd General
Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing 
or approved on or before the
effective date of this
amendatory 
Act.

    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by 
its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner 
provided in its charter.  The governing body of a charter school

shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open 
Meetings Act.

    (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable 
health and safety
requirements applicable to public schools 
under the laws of the State of
Illinois.

    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a 
charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a 
charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, 
instructional materials, and student activities.

    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the 
management and operation
of its fiscal affairs including,
but 
not limited to, the preparation of its budget.  An audit of each 
charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an 
outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter 
school.

    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of 
this Article and
its charter.  A charter
school is exempt from 
all other State laws and regulations in the School Code

governing public
schools and local school board policies, 
except the following:


        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code 
    regarding criminal
 history records checks and checks of the 
    Statewide Sex Offender Database of applicants for 
    employment;


        (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code 
    regarding discipline of
students;


        (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees 
    Tort Immunity Act;


        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit 
    Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of 
    officers, directors, employees, and agents;


        (5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;


        (6) The Illinois School Student Records Act; and


        (7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school 
    report cards.

    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a 
school district, the
governing body of a State college or 
university or public community college, or
any other public or 
for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a 
school building and grounds or any other real property or 
facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert 
for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and 
maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, 
activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required to 
perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.

However, a charter school
that is established on
or
after the 
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General

Assembly and that operates
in a city having a population 
exceeding
500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to

manage or operate the school during the period that commences 
on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd 
General Assembly and
concludes at the end of the 2004-2005 
school year.
Except as provided in subsection (i) of this 
Section, a school district may
charge a charter school 
reasonable rent for the use of the district's
buildings, 
grounds, and facilities.  Any services for which a charter 
school
contracts
with a school district shall be provided by 
the district at cost.  Any services
for which a charter school 
contracts with a local school board or with the
governing body 
of a State college or university or public community college

shall be provided by the public entity at cost.

    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established 
by converting an
existing school or attendance center to 
charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is 
deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter 
agreement,
in school district
facilities.  However, all other 
costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district 
facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject

to negotiation between
the charter school and the local school 
board and shall be set forth in the
charter.

    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or 
grade level.

(Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 93-909, eff. 8-12-04.)

 



    (105 ILCS 5/34-18.5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5)



    Sec. 34-18.5. Criminal history records checks and checks of 
the Statewide Sex Offender Database. 

    (a) Certified and noncertified applicants for
employment 
with the school district are required as a condition of

employment to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history 
records check to determine if such applicants
have been 
convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in

subsection (c) of this Section or have been
convicted, within 7 
years of the application for employment with the
school 
district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or 
of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or 
against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or 
attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony 
under the laws of this State. Authorization
for
the
check shall

be furnished by the applicant to the school district, except 
that if the
applicant is a substitute teacher seeking 
employment in more than one
school district, or a teacher 
seeking concurrent part-time employment
positions with more 
than one school district (as a reading specialist,
special 
education teacher or otherwise), or an educational support

personnel employee seeking employment positions with more than 
one
district, any such district may require the applicant to 
furnish
authorization for
the check to the regional 
superintendent of the
educational service region in which are 
located the school districts in
which the applicant is seeking 
employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher or 
concurrent educational support personnel employee.
Upon 
receipt of this authorization, the school district or the 
appropriate
regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall 
submit the applicant's
name, sex, race, date of birth, social 
security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as 
prescribed by the Department
of State Police, to the 
Department. The regional
superintendent submitting the 
requisite information to the Department of
State Police shall 
promptly notify the school districts in which the
applicant is 
seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time

teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee 
that
the
check of the applicant has been requested. The 
Department of State
Police and the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based 
criminal history records check, records of convictions, until 
expunged, to the president of the school board for the school 
district that requested the check, or to the regional 
superintendent who requested the check.  The
Department shall 
charge
the school district
or the appropriate regional 
superintendent a fee for
conducting
such check, which fee shall 
be deposited in the State
Police Services Fund and shall not 
exceed the cost of the inquiry; and the
applicant shall not be 
charged a fee for
such check by the school
district or by the 
regional superintendent.  Subject to appropriations for these 
purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall 
reimburse the school district and regional superintendent for 
fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this 
Section.

    (a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall 
further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, 
as authorized by the Sex Offender and Child Murderer Community 
Notification Law, for each applicant.

    (b) Any
information concerning the record of convictions 
obtained by the president
of the board of education or the 
regional superintendent shall be
confidential and may only be 
transmitted to the general superintendent of
the school 
district or his designee, the appropriate regional

superintendent if
the check was requested by the board of 
education
for the school district, the presidents of the 
appropriate board of
education or school boards if
the check 
was requested from the
Department of State Police by the 
regional superintendent, the State
Superintendent of 
Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any
other 
person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for

employment. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from 
the
Department of State Police shall be provided to the 
applicant for
employment. Upon the check of the Statewide Sex 
Offender Database, the school district or regional 
superintendent shall notify an applicant as to whether or not 
the applicant has been identified in the Database as a sex 
offender. If a check of an applicant for employment as a

substitute or concurrent part-time teacher or concurrent 
educational
support personnel employee in more than one school 
district was requested
by the regional superintendent, and the 
Department of State Police upon
a check ascertains that the 
applicant has not been convicted of any
of the enumerated 
criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c)
or has not been

convicted,
within 7 years of the application for employment 
with the
school district, of any other felony under the laws of 
this State or of any
offense committed or attempted in any 
other state or against the laws of
the United States that, if 
committed or attempted in this State, would
have been 
punishable as a felony under the laws of this State and so

notifies the regional superintendent and if the regional 
superintendent upon a check ascertains that the applicant has 
not been identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex 
offender, then the regional superintendent
shall issue to the 
applicant a certificate evidencing that as of the date

specified by the Department of State Police the applicant has 
not been
convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug 
offenses in subsection
(c)
or has not been
convicted, within 7 
years of the application for employment with the
school 
district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or 
of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or 
against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or 
attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony 
under the laws of this State and evidencing that as of the date 
that the regional superintendent conducted a check of the 
Statewide Sex Offender Database, the applicant has not been 
identified in the Database as a sex offender.  The school
board 
of any school district located
in
the educational
service 
region served by the regional superintendent who issues such a

certificate to an applicant for employment as a substitute or 
concurrent
part-time teacher or concurrent educational support 
personnel employee in more
than one such district may rely on 
the certificate issued by the regional
superintendent to that 
applicant, or may initiate its own criminal history records 
check of
the applicant through the Department of State Police 
and its own check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database as 
provided in
subsection (a). Any person who releases any 
confidential information
concerning any criminal convictions 
of an applicant for employment shall be
guilty of a Class A 
misdemeanor, unless the release of such information is

authorized by this Section.

    (c) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a 
person who has
been convicted for committing attempted first 
degree murder or for
committing or attempting to commit first 
degree murder or a Class X felony
or any one or more of the

following offenses:  (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9, 
11-14,
11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, 
11-19.2, 11-20,
11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14,
12-14.1,
12-15 
and 12-16 of the Criminal Code of
1961; (ii) those defined in 
the Cannabis Control Act,
except those defined in Sections 
4(a), 4(b) and 5(a) of that Act; (iii)
those defined in the 
Illinois Controlled Substances Act;
and (iv) any
offense 
committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws 
of
the United States, which if committed or attempted in this 
State, would
have been punishable as one or more of the 
foregoing offenses.
Further, the board of education shall not 
knowingly employ a person who has
been found to be the 
perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under
18 
years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the 
Juvenile Court
Act of 1987.

    (d) The board of education shall not knowingly employ a 
person for whom
a criminal history records check and a 
Statewide Sex Offender Database check has not been initiated. 

    (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a 
finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued 
pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School 
Code, the board of education or the State Superintendent of

Education shall initiate the certificate suspension and 
revocation
proceedings authorized by law.

    (f) After March 19, 1990, the provisions of this Section 
shall apply to
all employees of persons or firms holding 
contracts with any school district
including, but not limited 
to, food service workers, school bus drivers and
other 
transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with 
the
pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of 
criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex 
Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding 
contracts with more
than one school district and assigned to 
more than one school district, the
regional superintendent of 
the educational service region in which the
contracting school 
districts are located may, at the request of any such
school 
district, be responsible for receiving the authorization for
a  
criminal history records check prepared by each such employee 
and submitting the same to the
Department of State Police and 
for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database 
for each employee.  Any information concerning the record of

conviction and identification as a sex offender of any such 
employee obtained by the regional superintendent
shall be 
promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school 
board
or school boards.

(Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04; 93-909, eff. 8-12-04.)

 

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





Effective Date:  7/14/2005