Bill Text: IL HB0809 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. In a Section allowing school boards to enter into joint agreements with other school boards with respect to special education matters, provides that an amendment to an agreement may include the removal of a school district from or the addition of a school district to the joint agreement without a petition as otherwise required in the Section if all member districts adopt concurring resolutions to that effect. Makes changes concerning a petition for withdrawal of a district from the joint agreement, including requiring the hearing on the petition to be in accordance with State Board of Education rules and changing how the vote on approval of the petition is determined. Provides that the changes made by the amendatory Act apply to all changes to special education joint agreement membership initiated after July 1, 2009. Provides that the contract of a director of a joint agreement program may not be offered or accepted for less than one year or more than 3 years (instead of for less than or more than 3 years). Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2009-08-28 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0769 [HB0809 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB0809-Enrolled.html

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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
10-22.31 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/10-22.31) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.31)
Sec. 10-22.31. Special education.
(a) To enter into joint agreements with other school boards
to provide the needed special educational facilities and to
employ a director and other professional workers as defined in
Section 14-1.10 and to establish facilities as defined in
Section 14-1.08 for the types of children described in Sections
14-1.02 through 14-1.07. The director (who may be employed
under a multi-year contract as provided in subsection (c) of
this Section) and other professional workers may be employed by
one district, which shall be reimbursed on a mutually agreed
basis by other districts that are parties to the joint
agreement. Such agreements may provide that one district may
supply professional workers for a joint program conducted in
another district. Such agreement shall provide that any
full-time school psychologist who is employed by a joint
agreement program and spends over 50% of his or her time in one
school district shall not be required to work a different

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teaching schedule than the other school psychologists in that
district. Such agreement shall include, but not be limited to,
provisions for administration, staff, programs, financing,
housing, transportation, an advisory body, and the withdrawal
of districts from the joint agreement. Except as otherwise
provided in this Section and Section 10-22.31.1, the withdrawal
of districts from the joint agreement shall be by petition to
the regional board of school trustees. Such agreement may be
amended at any time as provided in the joint agreement or, if
the joint agreement does not so provide, then such agreement
may be amended at any time upon the adoption of concurring
resolutions by the school boards of all member districts. Such
an amendment may include the removal of a school district from
or the addition of a school district to the joint agreement
without a petition as otherwise required in this Section if all
member districts adopt concurring resolutions to that effect. A
fully executed copy of any such agreement or amendment entered
into on or after January 1, 1989 shall be filed with the State
Board of Education. Petitions Such petitions for withdrawal
shall be made to the regional board or boards of school
trustees exercising oversight or governance over any of all
counties having jurisdiction over one or more of the districts
in the joint agreement. Upon receipt of a petition for
withdrawal, the regional board boards of school trustees having
jurisdiction over the cooperating districts shall publish
notice of and conduct a joint hearing or, in instances in which

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more than one regional board of school trustees exercises
oversight or governance over any of the districts in the joint
agreement, a joint hearing, in accordance with rules adopted by
the State Board of Education. In instances in which a single
regional board of school trustees holds the hearing, approval
of the petition must be by a two-thirds majority vote of the
school trustees. In instances in which a joint hearing of 2 or
more regional boards of school trustees is required, approval
of the petition must be by a two-thirds majority of all those
school trustees present and voting. Notwithstanding the
provisions of Article 6 of this Code, in instances in which the
competent regional board or boards of school trustees has been
abolished, petitions for withdrawal shall be made to the school
boards of those districts that fall under the oversight or
governance of the abolished regional board of school trustees
in accordance with rules adopted by the State Board of
Education on the issue as provided in Section 7-6. No such
petition may be considered, however, unless in compliance with
Section 7-8. If any petition is approved pursuant to this
subsection (a) by a 2/3 vote of all trustees of those regional
boards, at a joint meeting, the withdrawal takes effect as
provided in Section 7-9 of this Act. The changes to this
Section made by this amendatory Act of the 96th General
Assembly apply to all changes to special education joint
agreement membership initiated after July 1, 2009.
(b) To either (1) designate an administrative district to

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act as fiscal and legal agent for the districts that are
parties to the joint agreement, or (2) designate a governing
board composed of one member of the school board of each
cooperating district and designated by such boards to act in
accordance with the joint agreement. No such governing board
may levy taxes and no such governing board may incur any
indebtedness except within an annual budget for the joint
agreement approved by the governing board and by the boards of
at least a majority of the cooperating school districts or a
number of districts greater than a majority if required by the
joint agreement. The governing board may appoint an executive
board of at least 7 members to administer the joint agreement
in accordance with its terms. However, if 7 or more school
districts are parties to a joint agreement that does not have
an administrative district: (i) at least a majority of the
members appointed by the governing board to the executive board
shall be members of the school boards of the cooperating
districts; or (ii) if the governing board wishes to appoint
members who are not school board members, they shall be
superintendents from the cooperating districts.
(c) To employ a director of a joint agreement program under
a one-year or multi-year contract. No such contract can be
offered or accepted for less than one year or more than 3
years, except for a person serving as a director of a special
education joint agreement for the first time in Illinois. In
such a case, the initial contract shall be for a 2 year period.

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Such contract may be discontinued at any time by mutual
agreement of the contracting parties, or may be extended for an
additional 3 years at the end of any year.
The contract year is July 1 through the following June
30th, unless the contract specifically provides otherwise.
Notice of intent not to renew a contract when given by a
controlling board or administrative district must be in writing
stating the specific reason therefor. Notice of intent not to
renew the contract must be given by the controlling board or
the administrative district at least 90 days before the
contract expires. Failure to do so will automatically extend
the contract for one additional year.
By accepting the terms of the multi-year contract, the
director of a special education joint agreement waives all
rights granted under Sections 24-11 through 24-16 for the
duration of his or her employment as a director of a special
education joint agreement.
(d) To designate a district that is a party to the joint
agreement as the issuer of bonds or notes for the purposes and
in the manner provided in this Section. It is not necessary for
such district to also be the administrative district for the
joint agreement, nor is it necessary for the same district to
be designated as the issuer of all series of bonds or notes
issued hereunder. Any district so designated may, from time to
time, borrow money and, in evidence of its obligation to repay
the borrowing, issue its negotiable bonds or notes for the

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purpose of acquiring, constructing, altering, repairing,
enlarging and equipping any building or portion thereof,
together with any land or interest therein, necessary to
provide special educational facilities and services as defined
in Section 14-1.08. Title in and to any such facilities shall
be held in accordance with the joint agreement.
Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution
of the board of education of the issuing district. The
resolution may contain such covenants as may be deemed
necessary or advisable by the district to assure the payment of
the bonds or notes. The resolution shall be effective
immediately upon its adoption.
Prior to the issuance of such bonds or notes, each school
district that is a party to the joint agreement shall agree,
whether by amendment to the joint agreement or by resolution of
the board of education, to be jointly and severally liable for
the payment of the bonds and notes. The bonds or notes shall be
payable solely and only from the payments made pursuant to such
agreement.
Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the
bonds or notes under any joint agreement shall constitute an
indebtedness of any district, including the issuing district,
within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory
limitation.
As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid,
the agreement by a district to pay the bonds and notes shall be

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irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal from
membership in the joint special education program.
(e) If a district whose employees are on strike was, prior
to the strike, sending students with disabilities to special
educational facilities and services in another district or
cooperative, the district affected by the strike shall continue
to send such students during the strike and shall be eligible
to receive appropriate State reimbursement.
(f) With respect to those joint agreements that have a
governing board composed of one member of the school board of
each cooperating district and designated by those boards to act
in accordance with the joint agreement, the governing board
shall have, in addition to its other powers under this Section,
the authority to issue bonds or notes for the purposes and in
the manner provided in this subsection. The governing board of
the joint agreement may from time to time borrow money and, in
evidence of its obligation to repay the borrowing, issue its
negotiable bonds or notes for the purpose of acquiring,
constructing, altering, repairing, enlarging and equipping any
building or portion thereof, together with any land or interest
therein, necessary to provide special educational facilities
and services as defined in Section 14-1.08 and including also
facilities for activities of administration and educational
support personnel employees. Title in and to any such
facilities shall be held in accordance with the joint
agreement.

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Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution
of the governing board. The resolution may contain such
covenants as may be deemed necessary or advisable by the
governing board to assure the payment of the bonds or notes and
interest accruing thereon. The resolution shall be effective
immediately upon its adoption.
Each school district that is a party to the joint agreement
shall be automatically liable, by virtue of its membership in
the joint agreement, for its proportionate share of the
principal amount of the bonds and notes plus interest accruing
thereon, as provided in the resolution. Subject to the joint
and several liability hereinafter provided for, the resolution
may provide for different payment schedules for different
districts except that the aggregate amount of scheduled
payments for each district shall be equal to its proportionate
share of the debt service in the bonds or notes based upon the
fraction that its equalized assessed valuation bears to the
total equalized assessed valuation of all the district members
of the joint agreement as adjusted in the manner hereinafter
provided. In computing that fraction the most recent available
equalized assessed valuation at the time of the issuance of the
bonds and notes shall be used, and the equalized assessed
valuation of any district maintaining grades K to 12 shall be
doubled in both the numerator and denominator of the fraction
used for all of the districts that are members of the joint
agreement. In case of default in payment by any member, each

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school district that is a party to the joint agreement shall
automatically be jointly and severally liable for the amount of
any deficiency. The bonds or notes and interest thereon shall
be payable solely and only from the funds made available
pursuant to the procedures set forth in this subsection. No
project authorized under this subsection may require an annual
contribution for bond payments from any member district in
excess of 0.15% of the value of taxable property as equalized
or assessed by the Department of Revenue in the case of
districts maintaining grades K-8 or 9-12 and 0.30% of the value
of taxable property as equalized or assessed by the Department
of Revenue in the case of districts maintaining grades K-12.
This limitation on taxing authority is expressly applicable to
taxing authority provided under Section 17-9 and other
applicable Sections of this Act. Nothing contained in this
subsection shall be construed as an exception to the property
tax limitations contained in Section 17-2, 17-2.2a, 17-5, or
any other applicable Section of this Act.
Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the
bonds or notes under any joint agreement shall constitute an
indebtedness of any district within the meaning of any
constitutional or statutory limitation.
As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid,
the obligation of a district to pay its proportionate share of
the principal of and interest on the bonds and notes as
required in this Section shall be a general obligation of the

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district payable from any and all sources of revenue designated
for that purpose by the board of education of the district and
shall be irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal
from membership in the joint special education program.
(Source: P.A. 89-397, eff. 8-20-95; 89-613, eff. 8-9-96;
89-626, eff. 8-9-96; 90-103, eff. 7-11-97; 90-515, eff.
8-22-97; 90-637, eff. 7-24-98; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon