Public Act 098-0640

HB4591 Enrolled LRB098 17997 NHT 53122 b

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

27A-11 as follows:

(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

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. However, if a charter school dismisses a pupil from

the charter school after receiving a quarterly payment, the

charter school shall return to the school district, on a

quarterly basis, the prorated portion of public funding

provided for the education of that pupil for the time the

student is not enrolled at the charter school. Likewise, if a

pupil transfers to a charter school between quarterly payments,

the school district shall provide, on a quarterly basis, a

prorated portion of the public funding to the charter school to

provide for the education of that pupil.

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 75% or more than

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.

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

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.