Section 25.345  Endorsement for Chief School Business Official

This endorsement is required for chief school business officials.  (See also 23 Ill. Adm. Code 29.110.)

a)         Each candidate for the chief school business official's endorsement shall hold a master's degree or equivalent awarded by a regionally accredited institution of higher education.  For the purposes of this subsection (a), "equivalent" shall mean the completion of a degree beyond the bachelor's degree level (e.g., juris doctor (J.D.), doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.), doctor of education (Ed.D.)).

b)         Each candidate, other than a candidate whose master's degree was earned in business administration, finance, accounting, or public administration, shall have completed 24 semester hours of graduate coursework in an Illinois program approved for the preparation of school business officials pursuant to Subpart C of this Part or a comparable approved program in another state or country, or hold a comparable certificate or license issued by another state or country (see Section 25.425 of this Part) and either have:

1)         two years' of full-time administrative experience in school business management; or

2)         two years of university-approved practical experience. (Section 21B-25(2)(C) of the Code)

c)         Each candidate whose master's degree was earned in business administration, finance, accounting, or public administration shall complete an additional six semester hours of internship in school business management from a regionally accredited institution of higher education (Section 21B-25(2)(C) of the Code) that is conducted under the supervision of an individual who holds a current Illinois endorsement for chief school business official or who serves as the school district's chief financial officer. Institutions may consider a candidate's work experience in a school business office that is comparable to the responsibilities of a chief school business official as meeting a portion or all of the six-semester-hour internship requirement.  For purposes of this subsection (c), one semester hour shall be equivalent to a minimum of 15-clock hours of experience that a candidate documents as completing.

d)         Each candidate shall be required to pass the applicable content-area test (see Section 25.710).

e)         Educator License with Stipulations. An individual holding an educator license with stipulations endorsed for chief school business official shall be considered fully qualified to serve as a chief school business official provided the individual meets any renewal requirements set forth in Subpart J.

(Source:  Amended at 45 Ill. Reg. 7269, effective June 3, 2021)