Bill Text: IL HB1778 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Beyond Charity Law. Amends the School Code. Provides that each school district that serves pupils in any of grades 6 through 12 and that issues an identification card to pupils in any of grades 6 through 12 shall provide contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), the Crisis Text Line, and either the Safe2Help Illinois helpline or a local suicide prevention hotline or both on the identification card. Amends the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act. Provides that if a public higher education institution issues student identification cards to its students, the institution must provide contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), the Crisis Text Line, and a local suicide prevention hotline on the identification card. Requires the contact information on the school's or institution's card to identify each helpline that may be contacted through text messaging. Provides that the contact information shall also be included in the student handbook and student planner if a student planner is custom printed by the school or institution. Effective July 1, 2022.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 25-11)

Status: (Passed) 2021-08-20 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0416 [HB1778 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB1778-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB1778 Introduced , by Rep. Michelle Mussman SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/10-20.73 new
105 ILCS 5/27A-5
105 ILCS 5/34-18.67 new
110 ILCS 58/25
Amends the School Code and the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act. Provides that if a school district issues an identification card to pupils in any of grades 7 through 12, the district shall provide contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Crisis Text Line, and a local suicide prevention hotline on the identification card. Provides that if a public college or university issues an identification card to students, the public college or university must provide on the identification card (i) contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Crisis Text Line, and a local suicide prevention hotline and (ii) the campus police or campus security telephone number or a local nonemergency telephone number. Effective July 1, 2022.
LRB102 11751 CMG 17086 b
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
A BILL FOR
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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 adding Sections
10-20.73 and 34-18.67 and by changing Section 27A-5 as
follows:
(105 ILCS 5/10-20.73 new)
Sec. 10-20.73. Identification cards; suicide prevention
information. Each school district that serves pupils in any of
grades 7 through 12 and that issues an identification card to
pupils in any of grades 7 through 12 shall provide contact
information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the
Crisis Text Line, and a local suicide prevention hotline on
the identification card.
(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

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by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
school or attendance center to charter school status.
Beginning on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act
93-3), in all new applications 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 Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter
schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the
effective date of Public Act 93-3).
(b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means
a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and
instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with
their teachers at remote locations and with students
participating at different times.
From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a
moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
school with virtual-schooling components already approved
prior to April 1, 2013.
(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

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school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and
the Open Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year
after the effective date of Public Act 101-291) this
amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly, a charter
school's board of directors or other governing body must
include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently
enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the
charter school or a charter network election, appointment by
the charter school's board of directors or other governing
body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization
or its equivalent.
(c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the
effective date of Public Act 101-291) this amendatory Act of
the 101st General Assembly or within the first year of his or
her first term, every voting member of a charter school's
board of directors or other governing body shall complete a
minimum of 4 hours of professional development leadership
training to ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity
with the board's or governing body's role and
responsibilities, including financial oversight and
accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and
school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information
Act and the Open Meetings Act Acts, and compliance with
education and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her
term, a voting member of a charter school's board of directors
or other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of

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professional development training in these same areas. The
training under this subsection may be provided or certified by
a statewide charter school membership association or may be
provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by
the State Board of Education.
(d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular
health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or
prevent threats to the health and safety of students and
school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety
requirement" does not include any course of study or
specialized instructional requirement for which the State
Board has established goals and learning standards or which is
designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students
to master and apply as an outcome of their education.
A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before September
1, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its
Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall
be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
contract between a charter school and its authorizer must
contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow

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the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health
and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are
not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
authorizing local school board.
(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. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
proper financial oversight of the charter school, an
authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from

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each charter school.
(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act,
all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public
schools that pertain to special education and the instruction
of English learners, and its charter. A charter school is
exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
governing public schools and local school board policies;
however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
(1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this 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 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and
34-84a of this 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;
(5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and
subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code;
(6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
(7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school

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report cards;
(8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
(9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying
prevention;
(10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student
discipline reporting;
(11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code;
(12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code;
(13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code;
(14) Section 26-18 of this Code;
(15) Section 22-30 of this Code; and
(16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code; .
(17) the (16) The Seizure Smart School Act; and .
(18) Sections 10-20.73 and 34-18.67 of this Code.
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.

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However, a charter school that is established on or after
April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) 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 April 16, 2003 (the
effective date of Public Act 93-3) 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

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or grade level.
(k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or
Commission, then the charter school is its own local education
agency.
(Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18;
100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff.
6-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50,
eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20;
101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; revised 8-4-20.)
(105 ILCS 5/34-18.67 new)
Sec. 34-18.67. Identification cards; suicide prevention
information. If the school district issues an identification
card to pupils in any of grades 7 through 12, the district
shall provide contact information for the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline, the Crisis Text Line, and a local suicide
prevention hotline on the identification card.
Section 10. The Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act
is amended by changing Section 25 as follows:
(110 ILCS 58/25)
Sec. 25. Awareness. To raise mental health awareness on
college campuses, each public college or university must do
all of the following:
(1) Develop and implement an annual student

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orientation session aimed at raising awareness about
mental health conditions.
(2) Assess courses and seminars available to students
through their regular academic experiences and implement
mental health awareness curricula if opportunities for
integration exist.
(3) Create and feature a page on its website or mobile
application with information dedicated solely to the
mental health resources available to students at the
public college or university and in the surrounding
community.
(4) Distribute messages related to mental health
resources that encourage help-seeking behavior through the
online learning platform of the public college or
university during high stress periods of the academic
year, including, but not limited to, midterm or final
examinations. These stigma-reducing strategies must be
based on documented best practices.
(5) Three years after the effective date of this Act,
implement an online screening tool to raise awareness and
establish a mechanism to link or refer students of the
public college or university to services. Screenings and
resources must be available year round for students and,
at a minimum, must (i) include validated screening tools
for depression, an anxiety disorder, an eating disorder,
substance use, alcohol-use disorder, post-traumatic stress

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disorder, and bipolar disorder, (ii) provide resources for
immediate connection to services, if indicated, including
emergency resources, (iii) provide general information
about all mental health-related resources available to
students of the public college or university, and (iv)
function anonymously.
(6) At least once per term and at times of high
academic stress, including midterm or final examinations,
provide students information regarding online screenings
and resources.
(7) If the public college or university issues an
identification card to students, provide on the
identification card (i) contact information for the
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Crisis Text
Line, and a local suicide prevention hotline and (ii) the
campus police or campus security telephone number or a
local nonemergency telephone number.
(Source: P.A. 101-251, eff. 7-1-20.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2022.