Bill Text: IL HB3232 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Exempts contracts awarded to a local contractor who is not the lowest responsible bidder, but who is a qualified bidder who has submitted a bid that does not exceed 2% over the lowest responsible bid received by the school board, from the requirement that a school board award all contracts for the purchase of supplies and materials or work involving an expenditure in excess of $25,000 to the lowest responsible bidder. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-1)

Status: (Passed) 2014-07-24 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0783 [HB3232 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB3232-Amended.html

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Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins

Filed: 5/20/2014

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3232
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3232 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"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:
(105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.
(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
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
operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not
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.
For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board

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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.
(c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that
would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public
school to a charter school.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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
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

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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.
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

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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
(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).
(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

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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.
(k) In this Section:
"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

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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
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.)
(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

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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.
(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

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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.
(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. 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

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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.
(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
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

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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
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

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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. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12;
97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-16, eff. 5-24-13.)
(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.

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"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
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.
(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

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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
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.".