(105 ILCS 5/7-2c)

Sec. 7-2c. Change of school district boundaries following annexation of vacant and unincorporated territory to a contiguous municipality.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, any contiguous portion of an elementary school district may be detached from that district and annexed to an adjoining elementary school district, and any contiguous portion of a high school district may be detached from that district and annexed to an adjoining high school district, upon a petition or petitions filed under this Section, when all of the following conditions are met with respect to each petition so filed:

(1) The portion of the district to be so detached and annexed to an adjoining elementary or high school district consists of not more than 160 acres of vacant land that is located in an unincorporated area of a county of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants and, on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, is contiguous to one municipality that is (i) wholly outside the elementary or high school district from which the vacant land is to be detached and (ii) located entirely within the territorial boundaries of the adjoining elementary or high school district to which the vacant land is to be annexed.

(2) The equalized assessed valuation of the taxable property located in the portion of the district that is to be so detached and annexed to the adjoining elementary or high school district constitutes less than 1% of the equalized assessed valuation of the taxable property of the district from which it is to be detached.

(3) The portion of the district to be so detached and annexed to the adjoining elementary or high school district is annexed to the contiguous municipality pursuant to a petition for annexation filed and pending with the annexing municipality upon the effective date of this amendatory Act.

A petition filed under this Section shall be filed with the State Superintendent of Education and shall be signed by all of the owners of record of the vacant land that comprises the portion of the district that is to be detached and annexed to the adjoining elementary or high school district under the provisions of this Section. The State Superintendent shall: (i) hold a hearing on the petition within 90 days after the date of filing; (ii) render a decision granting or denying the petition within 30 days after the hearing; and (iii) promptly serve a copy of the decision by certified mail, return receipt requested, upon the petitioners and upon the school boards of the school districts from which the territory described in the petition is sought to be detached and to which that territory is sought to be annexed.

The State Superintendent of Education has no authority or discretion to hear any evidence or consider any issues at the hearing except those that may be necessary to determine whether the limitations and conditions of this Section have been met.

The State Superintendent of Education: (i) shall give written notice of the time and place of the hearing, not less than 30 days prior to the date of the hearing, to the school board of the school district from which the territory described in the petition is to be detached and to the school board of the school district to which that territory is to be annexed; and (ii) shall publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper that is published in the county in which the territory described in the petition is located and that has circulation within the school districts whose school boards are entitled to written notice of the hearing.

In the event that the granting of a petition filed under this Section has become final, either through failure to seek administrative review or by the final decision of a court on review, the change in boundaries shall become effective forthwith and for all purposes, except that if the granting of the petition becomes final between September 1 and June 30 of any year, the administration of and attendance at the schools shall not be affected until the following July 1, when the change in boundaries shall become effective for all purposes. After the granting of a petition has become final, the date when the change shall become effective for purposes of administration and attendance may be accelerated or postponed by stipulation of the school boards of the school districts from which the territory described in the petition is detached and to which that territory is annexed.

The decision of the State Superintendent of Education shall be deemed an "administrative decision" as defined in Section 3-101 of the Administrative Review Law, and any petitioner or the school board of a school district affected by the detachment and annexation of the territory described in the petition may within 35 days after a copy of the decision sought to be reviewed was served by certified mail upon the party affected thereby, or upon the attorney of record for such party, apply for a review of such decision in accordance with the Administrative Review Law, and all amendments and modifications thereof and the rules adopted pursuant thereto.

The commencement of any action for review shall operate as a supersedeas, and no further proceedings shall be had until final disposition of such review. The circuit court of the county in which the petition is filed with the State Superintendent of Education shall have sole jurisdiction to entertain a complaint for such review.

This Section: (i) is not limited by and operates independently of all other provisions of this Article, and (ii) constitutes complete authority for the granting or denial by the State Superintendent of Education of a petition filed under this Section when the conditions prescribed by this Section for the filing of that petition are met.

(Source: P.A. 90-459, eff. 8-17-97.)