Bill Text: IL HB0980 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that, as public schools, charter schools are responsible for the expenditure of public funds and are accountable to their authorizer to account for those funds, and, if qualified, charter schools also receive federal categorical funds and must comply with all federal rules regarding the expenditure of these funds. Requires each charter school, on or before December 1 of every year of operation, to submit to its authorizer and the State Board of Education a copy of the charter school's audit and a copy of the Form 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal Internal Revenue Service (instead of requiring an annual submission to the State Board by December 1); makes a related change. Provides that an authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from a charter school if deemed necessary for proper financial oversight of the charter school. Makes changes concerning chartering policies and practices and giving preference to certain charter school proposals. Provides that in no event shall the funding that a charter school is to receive from a school board for a school year be less than 97% (instead of 75%) or more than 100% (instead of 125%) of the school district's per capita student tuition multiplied by the number of students residing in the district who are enrolled in the charter school. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 7-2)

Status: (Failed) 2014-12-03 - Session Sine Die [HB0980 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB0980-Introduced.html

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98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2013 and 2014 HB0980 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel J. Burke SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27A-5
105 ILCS 5/27A-7.10
105 ILCS 5/27A-8
105 ILCS 5/27A-11
Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that, as public schools, charter schools are responsible for the expenditure of public funds and are accountable to their authorizer to account for those funds, and, if qualified, charter schools also receive federal categorical funds and must comply with all federal rules regarding the expenditure of these funds. Requires each charter school, on or before December 1 of every year of operation, to submit to its authorizer and the State Board of Education a copy of the charter school's audit and a copy of the Form 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal Internal Revenue Service (instead of requiring an annual submission to the State Board by December 1); makes a related change. Provides that an authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from a charter school if deemed necessary for proper financial oversight of the charter school. Makes changes concerning chartering policies and practices and giving preference to certain charter school proposals. Provides that in no event shall the funding that a charter school is to receive from a school board for a school year be less than 97% (instead of 75%) or more than 100% (instead of 125%) of the school district's per capita student tuition multiplied by the number of students residing in the district who are enrolled in the charter school. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education, which may be referred to as
the Illinois Charter Public School Financial Accountability
Law.
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
27A-5, 27A-7.10, 27A-8, and 27A-11 as follows:
(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

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93rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing
or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory
Act.
(b-5) As public schools, charter schools are responsible
for the expenditure of public funds and are accountable to
their authorizer to account for those funds. If qualified,
charter schools also receive federal categorical funds and must
comply with all federal rules regarding the expenditure of
these funds, including federal rules governing the provision of
special education services to students with disabilities and
the provision of educational services to students who are
English language learners.
(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

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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. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
operation, each charter school shall Annually, by December 1,
every charter school must submit to its authorizer and the
State Board a copy of the charter school's its audit and a copy
of the Form 990 the charter school filed that year with the
federal Internal Revenue Service. In addition, an authorizer
may require quarterly financial statements from a charter
school if deemed necessary for proper financial oversight of
the charter school.
(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, 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 and Statewide Murderer and
Violent Offender Against Youth 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

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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;
(7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school
report cards; and
(8) The P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act.
The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g)
is declaratory of existing law.
(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

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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.
(k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission,
then the Commission charter school is its own local education
agency.
(Source: P.A. 96-104, eff. 1-1-10; 96-105, eff. 7-30-09;

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96-107, eff. 7-30-09; 96-734, eff. 8-25-09; 96-1000, eff.
7-2-10; 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12; 97-813, eff.
7-13-12.)
(105 ILCS 5/27A-7.10)
Sec. 27A-7.10. Authorizer powers and duties; immunity;
principles and standards.
(a) Authorizers are responsible for executing, in
accordance with this Article, all of the following powers and
duties:
(1) Soliciting and evaluating charter applications.
(2) Approving quality charter applications that meet
identified educational needs and promote a diversity of
educational choices.
(3) Declining to approve weak or inadequate charter
applications.
(4) Negotiating and executing sound charter contracts
with each approved charter school.
(5) Monitoring, in accordance with charter contract
terms, the performance and legal compliance of charter
schools.
(5.5) Ensuring financial accountability of public
funds by annually reviewing each charter school's
financial audit and Form 990 filed with the federal
Internal Revenue Service.
(6) Determining whether each charter contract merits

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renewal, nonrenewal, or revocation.
(b) An authorizing entity may delegate its duties to
officers, employees, and contractors.
(c) Regulation by authorizers is limited to the powers and
duties set forth in subsection (a) of this Section and must be
consistent with the spirit and intent of this Article.
(d) An authorizing entity, members of the local school
board, or the Commission, in their official capacity, and
employees of an authorizer are immune from civil and criminal
liability with respect to all activities related to a charter
school that they authorize, except for willful or wanton
misconduct.
(e) The Commission and all local school boards that have a
charter school operating are required to develop and maintain
chartering policies and practices consistent with recognized
principles and standards for quality charter authorizing in all
major areas of authorizing responsibility, including all of the
following:
(1) Organizational capacity and infrastructure.
(2) Soliciting and evaluating charter applications.
(3) Performance contracting.
(4) Ongoing charter school oversight and evaluation.
(5) Charter renewal decision-making.
(6) Ensuring charter financial and academic
accountability.
Authorizers shall carry out all their duties under this

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Article in a manner consistent with nationally recognized
principles and standards and with the spirit and intent of this
Article.
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11.)
(105 ILCS 5/27A-8)
Sec. 27A-8. Evaluation of charter proposals.
(a) This Section does not apply to a charter school
established by referendum under Section 27A-6.5. In evaluating
any charter school proposal submitted to it, the local school
board and the Commission shall give preference to proposals
that:
(1) demonstrate a high level of local pupil, parental,
community, business, and school personnel support;
(2) set rigorous levels of expected pupil achievement
and demonstrate feasible plans for attaining those levels
of achievement; and
(3) are designed to enroll and serve a substantial
proportion of at-risk children; provided that nothing in
the Charter Schools Law shall be construed as intended to
limit the establishment of charter schools to those that
serve a substantial portion of at-risk children or to in
any manner restrict, limit, or discourage the
establishment of charter schools that enroll and serve
other pupil populations under a nonexclusive,
nondiscriminatory admissions policy; and .

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(4) establish an economically sound financial and
administrative plan for school operations.
(b) In the case of a proposal to establish a charter school
by converting an existing public school or attendance center to
charter school status, evidence that the proposed formation of
the charter school has received majority support from certified
teachers and from parents and guardians in the school or
attendance center affected by the proposed charter, and, if
applicable, from a local school council, shall be demonstrated
by a petition in support of the charter school signed by
certified teachers and a petition in support of the charter
school signed by parents and guardians and, if applicable, by a
vote of the local school council held at a public meeting. In
the case of all other proposals to establish a charter school,
evidence of sufficient support to fill the number of pupil
seats set forth in the proposal may be demonstrated by a
petition in support of the charter school signed by parents and
guardians of students eligible to attend the charter school. In
all cases, the individuals, organizations, or entities who
initiate the proposal to establish a charter school may elect,
in lieu of including any petition referred to in this
subsection as a part of the proposal submitted to the local
school board, to demonstrate that the charter school has
received the support referred to in this subsection by other
evidence and information presented at the public meeting that
the local school board is required to convene under this

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Section.
(c) Within 45 days of receipt of a charter school proposal,
the local school board shall convene a public meeting to obtain
information to assist the board in its decision to grant or
deny the charter school proposal. A local school board may
develop its own process for receiving charter school proposals
on an annual basis that follows the same timeframes as set
forth in this Article. Only after the local school board
process is followed may a charter school applicant appeal to
the Commission.
(d) Notice of the public meeting required by this Section
shall be published in a community newspaper published in the
school district in which the proposed charter is located and,
if there is no such newspaper, then in a newspaper published in
the county and having circulation in the school district. The
notices shall be published not more than 10 days nor less than
5 days before the meeting and shall state that information
regarding a charter school proposal will be heard at the
meeting. Copies of the notice shall also be posted at
appropriate locations in the school or attendance center
proposed to be established as a charter school, the public
schools in the school district, and the local school board
office. If 45 days pass without the local school board holding
a public meeting, then the charter applicant may submit the
proposal to the Commission, where it must be addressed in
accordance with the provisions set forth in subsection (g) of

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this Section.
(e) Within 30 days of the public meeting, the local school
board shall vote, in a public meeting, to either grant or deny
the charter school proposal. If the local school board has not
voted in a public meeting within 30 days after the public
meeting, then the charter applicant may submit the proposal to
the Commission, where it must be addressed in accordance with
the provisions set forth in subsection (g) of this Section.
(f) Within 7 days of the public meeting required under
subsection (e) of this Section, the local school board shall
file a report with the State Board granting or denying the
proposal. If the local school board has approved the proposal,
within 30 days of receipt of the local school board's report,
the State Board shall determine whether the approved charter
proposal is consistent with the provisions of this Article and,
if the approved proposal complies, certify the proposal
pursuant to Section 27A-6.
(g) If the local school board votes to deny the proposal,
then the charter school applicant has 30 days from the date of
that vote to submit an appeal to the Commission. In such
instances or in those instances referenced in subsections (d)
and (e) of this Section, the Commission shall follow the same
process and be subject to the same timelines for review as the
local school board.
(h) The Commission may reverse a local school board's
decision to deny a charter school proposal if the Commission

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finds that the proposal (i) is in compliance with this Article
and (ii) is in the best interests of the students the charter
school is designed to serve. Final decisions of the Commission
are subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review
Law.
(i) In the case of a charter school proposed to be jointly
authorized by 2 or more school districts, the local school
boards may unanimously deny the charter school proposal with a
statement that the local school boards are not opposed to the
charter school, but that they yield to the Commission in light
of the complexities of joint administration.
(Source: P.A. 96-105, eff. 7-30-09; 96-734, eff. 8-25-09;
96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 97-152, eff. 7-20-11.)
(105 ILCS 5/27A-11)
Sec. 27A-11. Local financing.
(a) For purposes of the School Code, pupils enrolled in a
charter school shall be included in the pupil enrollment of the
school district within which the pupil resides. Each charter
school (i) shall determine the school district in which each
pupil who is enrolled in the charter school resides, (ii) shall
report the aggregate number of pupils resident of a school
district who are enrolled in the charter school to the school
district in which those pupils reside, and (iii) shall maintain
accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed
sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8 notwithstanding

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any other requirements of that Section regarding hours of
instruction and teacher certification.
(b) Except for a charter school established by referendum
under Section 27A-6.5, as part of a charter school contract,
the charter school and the local school board shall agree on
funding and any services to be provided by the school district
to the charter school. Agreed funding that a charter school is
to receive from the local school board for a school year shall
be paid in equal quarterly installments with the payment of the
installment for the first quarter being made not later than
July 1, unless the charter establishes a different payment
schedule.
All services centrally or otherwise provided by the school
district including, but not limited to, rent, food services,
custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services,
libraries, transportation, and warehousing shall be subject to
negotiation between a charter school and the local school board
and paid for out of the revenues negotiated pursuant to this
subsection (b); provided that the local school board shall not
attempt, by negotiation or otherwise, to obligate a charter
school to provide pupil transportation for pupils for whom a
district is not required to provide transportation under the
criteria set forth in subsection (a)(13) of Section 27A-7.
In no event shall the funding be less than 97% 75% or more
than 100% 125% of the school district's per capita student
tuition multiplied by the number of students residing in the

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district who are enrolled in the charter school.
It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and
service agreements under this subsection (b) shall be neither a
financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the
establishment of a charter school.
The charter school may set and collect reasonable fees.
Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school shall
be retained by the charter school.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this Section, the
proportionate share of State and federal resources generated by
students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be
directed to charter schools enrolling those students by their
school districts or administrative units. The proportionate
share of moneys generated under other federal or State
categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools
serving students eligible for that aid.
(d) The governing body of a charter school is authorized to
accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind made to the
charter school and to expend or use gifts, donations, or grants
in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the donor;
however, a gift, donation, or grant may not be accepted by the
governing body if it is subject to any condition contrary to
applicable law or contrary to the terms of the contract between
the charter school and the local school board. Charter schools
shall be encouraged to solicit and utilize community volunteer
speakers and other instructional resources when providing

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instruction on the Holocaust and other historical events.
(e) (Blank).
(f) The State Board shall provide technical assistance to
persons and groups preparing or revising charter applications.
(g) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter, each
charter school shall refund to the local board of education all
unspent funds.
(h) A charter school is authorized to incur temporary,
short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of
receipt of funds from the local school board.
(Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 90-757, eff. 8-14-98;
91-407, eff. 8-3-99.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.