Bill Text: IL SB1571 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. Provides that there shall be a moratorium on school closings, consolidations, and phase-outs in the school district in the 2013-2014 school year. Provides that any of these actions that are subsequently appropriate must be carried out no sooner than the end of the 2014-2015 school year, subject to any new set of requirements adopted by the General Assembly. During this moratorium period, requires the district to establish polices that address and remedy the academic performance of schools in which Illinois Standards Achievement Test scores reflect students performing at or below 75%. Requires these policies to establish clear criteria or processes for establishing criteria for making school facility decisions and include clear criteria for setting priorities with respect to school openings, school closings, school consolidations, school turnarounds, school phase-outs, school construction, school repairs, school modernizations, school boundary changes, and other related school facility decisions, including the encouragement of multiple community uses for school space. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Failed) 2015-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1571 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-SB1571-Amended.html

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Sen. William Delgado

Filed: 4/15/2013

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1571
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1571, AS AMENDED,
by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
following:
"Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
34-230 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/34-230)
Sec. 34-230. School action public meetings and hearings.
(a) By October 1 of each year, the chief executive officer
shall prepare and publish guidelines for school actions. The
guidelines shall outline the academic and non-academic
criteria for a school action. These guidelines shall be created
with the involvement of local school councils, parents,
educators, and community organizations. These guidelines, and
each subsequent revision, shall be subject to a public comment
period of at least 21 days before their approval.

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(b) The chief executive officer shall announce all proposed
school actions to be taken at the close of the current academic
year consistent with the guidelines by December 1 of each year.
(c) On or before December 1 of each year, the chief
executive officer shall publish notice of the proposed school
actions.
(1) Notice of the proposal for a school action shall
include a written statement of the basis for the school
action, an explanation of how the school action meets the
criteria set forth in the guidelines, and a draft School
Transition Plan identifying the items required in Section
34-225 of this Code for all schools affected by the school
action. The notice shall state the date, time, and place of
the hearing or meeting.
(2) The chief executive officer or his or her designee
shall provide notice to the principal, staff, local school
council, and parents or guardians of any school that is
subject to the proposed school action.
(3) The chief executive officer shall provide written
notice of any proposed school action to the State Senator,
State Representative, and alderman for the school or
schools that are subject to the proposed school action.
(4) The chief executive officer shall publish notice of
proposed school actions on the district's Internet
website.
(5) The chief executive officer shall provide notice of

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proposed school actions at least 30 calendar days in
advance of a public hearing or meeting. The notice shall
state the date, time, and place of the hearing or meeting.
No Board decision regarding a proposed school action may
take place less than 60 days after the announcement of the
proposed school action.
(d) The chief executive officer shall publish a brief
summary of the proposed school actions and the date, time, and
place of the hearings or meetings in a newspaper of general
circulation.
(e) The chief executive officer shall designate at least 3
opportunities to elicit public comment at a hearing or meeting
on a proposed school action and shall do the following:
(1) Convene at least one public hearing at the
centrally located office of the Board.
(2) Convene at least 2 additional public hearings or
meetings at a location convenient to the school community
subject to the proposed school action.
(f) Public hearings shall be conducted by a qualified
independent hearing officer chosen from a list of independent
hearing officers. The general counsel shall compile and publish
a list of independent hearing officers by November 1 of each
school year. The independent hearing officer shall have the
following qualifications:
(1) he or she must be a licensed attorney eligible to
practice law in Illinois;

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(2) he or she must not be an employee of the Board; and
(3) he or she must not have represented the Board, its
employees or any labor organization representing its
employees, any local school council, or any charter or
contract school in any capacity within the last year.
The independent hearing officer shall issue a written
report that summarizes the hearing and determines whether the
chief executive officer complied with the requirements of this
Section and the guidelines.
The chief executive officer shall publish the report on the
district's Internet website within 5 calendar days after
receiving the report and at least 15 days prior to any Board
action being taken.
(g) Public meetings shall be conducted by a representative
of the chief executive officer. A summary of the public meeting
shall be published on the district's Internet website within 5
calendar days after the meeting.
(h) If the chief executive officer proposes a school action
without following the mandates set forth in this Section, the
proposed school action shall not be approved by the Board
during the school year in which the school action was proposed.
(i) No school actions, as defined in Section 34-200 of this
Code, may be approved by the Board before the Board has adopted
a 10-year educational facility master plan on or before October
1, 2013 (as required by Section 34-210 of this Code); nor may
any school action be implemented prior to June 30, 2014.

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(Source: P.A. 97-473, eff. 1-1-12; 97-474, eff. 8-22-11;
97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 97-1133, eff. 11-30-12.)".