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| Public Act 098-0783
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| HB3232 Enrolled | LRB098 07648 NHT 37720 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections |
27A-4 and 27A-5 and by adding Sections 27A-10.5 and 27A-10.10 |
as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
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Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.
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(a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend |
the provisions
of any court-ordered desegregation plan in |
effect for any school district. A
charter school shall be |
subject to all federal and State laws and
constitutional |
provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
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disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, |
religion, ancestry,
marital status, or need for special |
education services.
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(b) The total number of charter schools operating under |
this Article at any
one time shall not exceed 120. Not more |
than 70 charter
schools
shall operate at any one time in any |
city having a population exceeding
500,000, with at least 5 |
charter schools devoted exclusively to students from |
low-performing or overcrowded schools operating at any one time |
in that city; and not more than 45
charter schools shall |
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operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not
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more than one charter school that
has been initiated by a board |
of education, or
by an intergovernmental agreement between or |
among boards of education,
operating at any one
time in the |
school district where the charter school is located. In |
addition to these charter schools, up to but no more than 5 |
charter schools devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school |
dropouts and/or students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping |
out may operate at any one time in any city having a population |
exceeding 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the |
contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each |
such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the |
city. Any of these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875 |
enrollment seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout |
charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each |
campus of the dropout charter must be operated, through a |
contract or payroll, by the same legal entity as that for which |
the charter is approved and certified.
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For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board |
shall assign a
number to each charter submission it receives |
under Section 27A-6 for its
review and certification, based on |
the chronological order in which the
submission is received by |
it. The State Board shall promptly notify local
school boards |
when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools |
authorized
to operate have been reached.
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(c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that |
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would convert any
existing private, parochial, or non-public |
school to a charter school.
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(d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any |
pupil who resides
within the geographic boundaries of the area |
served by the local school board, provided that the board of |
education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may |
designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of |
the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of |
education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to |
relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk |
students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may |
be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to |
attend the charter school.
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(e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local |
school boards from
jointly
issuing a charter to a single shared |
charter school, provided that all of the
provisions of this |
Article are met as to those local school boards.
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(f) No local school board shall require any employee of the |
school district
to be employed in a charter school.
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(g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing |
within the
geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a |
charter school.
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(h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in |
a charter school
than there are spaces available, successful |
applicants shall be selected by
lottery. However, priority |
shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in
the charter |
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school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school |
the
previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and |
priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter |
school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated |
by the board of education in a city having a population |
exceeding 500,000. |
Beginning with student enrollment for the 2015-2016 school |
year, any lottery required under this subsection (h) must be |
administered and videotaped by the charter school. The |
authorizer or its designee must be allowed to be present or |
view the lottery in real time. The charter school must maintain |
a videotaped record of the lottery, including a time/date |
stamp. The charter school shall transmit copies of the |
videotape and all records relating to the lottery to the |
authorizer on or before September 1 of each year. |
Subject to the requirements for priority applicant groups |
set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection (h), any lottery |
required under this subsection (h) must be administered in a |
way that provides each student an equal chance at admission. If |
an authorizer makes a determination that a charter school's |
lottery is in violation of this subsection (h), it may |
administer the lottery directly. After a lottery, each student |
randomly selected for admission to the charter school must be |
notified. Charter schools may not create an admissions process |
subsequent to a lottery that may operate as a barrier to |
registration or enrollment. |
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Charter schools may undertake additional intake |
activities, including without limitation student essays, |
school-parent compacts, or open houses, but in no event may a |
charter school require participation in these activities as a |
condition of enrollment. A charter school must submit an |
updated waitlist to the authorizer on a quarterly basis. A |
waitlist must be submitted to the authorizer at the same time |
as quarterly financial statements, if quarterly financial |
statements are required by the authorizer. |
Dual enrollment at both a
charter school and a public |
school or non-public school shall not be allowed.
A pupil who |
is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed |
to
be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the |
school district in
which the pupil resides. Notwithstanding |
anything to the contrary in this subsection (h): |
(1) any charter school with a mission exclusive to |
educating high school dropouts may grant priority |
admission to students who are high school dropouts and/or |
students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping out and any |
charter school with a mission exclusive to educating |
students from low-performing or overcrowded schools may |
restrict admission to students who are from low-performing |
or overcrowded schools; "priority admission" for charter |
schools exclusively devoted to re-enrolled dropouts or |
students at risk of dropping out means a minimum of 90% of |
students enrolled shall be high school dropouts; and
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(2) any charter school located in a school district |
that contains all or part of a federal military base may |
set aside up to 33% of its current charter enrollment to |
students with parents assigned to the federal military |
base, with the remaining 67% subject to the general |
enrollment and lottery requirements of subsection (d) of |
this Section and this subsection (h); if a student with a |
parent assigned to the federal military base withdraws from |
the charter school during the course of a school year for |
reasons other than grade promotion, those students with |
parents assigned to the federal military base shall have |
preference in filling the vacancy. |
(i) (Blank).
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(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the |
contrary, a
school district in a city having a population |
exceeding 500,000 shall not
have a duty to collectively bargain |
with an exclusive representative of its
employees over |
decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal
under |
Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a |
charter
under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of |
these decisions,
provided that nothing in this Section shall |
have the effect of negating,
abrogating, replacing, reducing, |
diminishing, or limiting in any way
employee rights, |
guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8,
10, |
14, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
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(k) In this Section: |
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"Low-performing school" means a public school in a school |
district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls |
students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is |
ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in |
terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding |
standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test. |
"Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school |
district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i) |
enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii) |
has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as |
identified in the most recently available School Report Card |
published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is |
determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most |
severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or |
before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education |
shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which |
schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded |
school". "Students at risk of dropping out" means students 16 |
or 15 years old in a public school in a district organized |
under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls students in any |
grades 9-12 who have been absent at least 90 school attendance |
days of the previous 180 school attendance days. |
(l) For advertisements created after the effective date of |
this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, any |
advertisement, including a radio, television, print, Internet, |
social media, or billboard advertisement, purchased by a school |
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district or public school, including a charter school, with |
public funds must include a disclaimer stating that the |
advertisement was paid for using public funds. |
This disclaimer requirement does not extend to materials |
created by the charter school, including, but not limited to, a |
school website, informational pamphlets or leaflets, or |
clothing with affixed school logos. |
(Source: P.A. 97-151, eff. 1-1-12; 97-624, eff. 11-28-11; |
97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-474, eff. 8-16-13.)
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
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Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
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(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
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authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
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(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
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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) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means |
the teaching of courses through online methods with online |
instructors, rather than the instructor and student being at |
the same physical location. "Virtual-schooling" includes |
without limitation instruction provided by full-time, online |
virtual schools. |
From April 1, 2013 through April 1, 2014, 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. |
On or before March 1, 2014, the Commission shall submit to |
the General Assembly a report on the effect of |
virtual-schooling, including without limitation the effect on |
student performance, the costs associated with |
virtual-schooling, and issues with oversight. The report shall |
include policy recommendations for virtual-schooling.
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(c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by |
its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner |
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provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
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shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open |
Meetings Act.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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 Annually, by December 1, every charter school must submit |
to 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 each charter |
school.
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(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of |
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this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, and
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its charter. A charter
school is exempt from all other State |
laws and regulations in the School Code
governing public
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schools and local school board policies, except the following:
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(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;
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(2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code |
regarding discipline of
students;
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(3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees |
Tort Immunity Act;
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(4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit |
Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of |
officers, directors, employees, and agents;
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(5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
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(6) The Illinois School Student Records Act;
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(7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school |
report cards; and
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(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 |
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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 the |
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
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Assembly and that operates
in a city having a population |
exceeding
500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
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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
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shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
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(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 |
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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
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to negotiation between
the charter school and the local school |
board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
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(j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or |
grade level.
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(k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission, |
then the Commission charter school is its own local education |
agency. |
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12; |
97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-16, eff. 5-24-13.)
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-10.5 new) |
Sec. 27A-10.5. Educational or charter management |
organization. |
(a) In this Section: |
"CMO" means a charter management organization. |
"EMO" means an educational management organization. |
(b) All authorizers shall ensure that any charter school |
established on or after the effective date of this amendatory |
Act of the 98th General Assembly has a governing body that is |
separate and distinct from the governing body of any CMO or |
EMO. In reviewing charter applications and charter renewal |
applications, authorizers shall review the governance model |
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proposed by the applicant to ensure that there are no conflicts |
of interest. |
(c) No charter school may employ a staff person who is |
simultaneously employed by an EMO or CMO.
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-10.10 new) |
Sec. 27A-10.10. Closure of charter school; unspent public |
funds; procedures for the disposition of property and assets. |
(a) Upon the closing of a charter school authorized by one |
or more local school boards, the governing body of the charter |
school or its designee shall refund to the chartering entity or |
entities all unspent public funds. The charter school's other |
property and assets shall be disposed of under the provisions |
of the charter application and contract. If the application and |
contract are silent or ambiguous as to the disposition of any |
of the school's property or assets, any property or assets of |
the charter school purchased with public funds shall be |
returned to the school district or districts from which the |
charter school draws enrollment, at no cost to the receiving |
district or districts, subject to each district's acceptance of |
the property or asset. Any unspent public funds or other |
property or assets received by the charter school directly from |
any State or federal agency shall be refunded to or revert back |
to that State or federal agency, respectively. |
(b) Upon the closing of a charter school authorized by the |
Commission, the governing body of the charter school or its |
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designee shall refund all unspent public funds to the State |
Board of Education. The charter school's other property and |
assets shall be disposed of under the provisions of the charter |
application and contract. If the application and contract are |
silent or ambiguous as to the disposition of any of the |
school's property or assets, any property or assets of the |
charter school purchased with public funds shall be returned to |
the school district or districts from which the charter school |
draws its enrollment, at no cost to the receiving district or |
districts, subject to each district's acceptance of the |
property or asset. Any unspent public funds or other property |
or assets provided by a State agency other than the State Board |
of Education or by a federal agency shall be refunded to or |
revert back to that State or federal agency, respectively.
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