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| Public Act 097-0238 | ||||
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections | ||||
1C-4 and 1D-1 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/1C-4)
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Sec. 1C-4. Reports. The State Superintendent of Education, | ||||
in cooperation
with the school districts participating under | ||||
this Article, shall annually
report to the leadership of the | ||||
General Assembly on the progress made in
implementing this | ||||
Article. By February 1, 1997, the State Board of Education
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shall submit to the Governor and General Assembly a | ||||
comprehensive plan for
Illinois school districts, including | ||||
the school district that has been
organized under Article 34 | ||||
and is under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Board
of | ||||
Education, to establish and implement a block grant funding | ||||
system for
educational programs that are currently funded | ||||
through single-program grants.
Before submitting its plan to | ||||
establish and implement a block grant funding
system to the | ||||
Governor and General Assembly as required by this Section, the
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State Board of Education shall give appropriate notice of and | ||||
hold statewide
public hearings on the subject of funding | ||||
educational programs through block
grants. The
plan shall be
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designed to relieve school districts of the administrative | ||
burdens that impede
efficiency and accompany single-program | ||
funding.
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A school district that receives an Early Childhood | ||
Education Block Grant shall report to the State Board of | ||
Education on its use of the block
grant in such form and detail | ||
as the State Board of Education
may specify. In addition, the | ||
report must include the following
description for the district, | ||
which must also be reported to
the General Assembly: block | ||
grant allocation and expenditures
by program; population and | ||
service levels by program; and
administrative expenditures by | ||
program. The State Board of Education shall ensure that the | ||
reporting requirements for a district organized under Article | ||
34 of this Code are the same as for all other school districts | ||
in this State. | ||
(Source: P.A. 88-555, eff. 7-27-94; 89-397, eff. 8-20-95; | ||
89-610, eff.
8-6-96.)
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(105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
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Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
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(a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter, | ||
the State Board
of Education shall award to a school district | ||
having a population exceeding
500,000 inhabitants a general | ||
education block grant and an educational services
block grant, | ||
determined as provided in this Section, in lieu of distributing | ||
to
the district separate State funding for the programs | ||
described in subsections
(b) and (c). The provisions of this | ||
Section, however, do not apply to any
federal funds that the | ||
district is entitled to receive. In accordance with
Section | ||
2-3.32, all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore, | ||
block
grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be | ||
recorded to the
appropriate fund code for the designated block | ||
grant.
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(b) The general education block grant shall include the | ||
following
programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool | ||
At Risk, K-6
Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support, | ||
Urban Education, Scientific
Literacy, Substance Abuse | ||
Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff
Development, | ||
Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12 | ||
Continued
Reading Improvement, Truants'
Optional Education, | ||
Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education,
Parental Education, | ||
Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and Criminal
Background | ||
Investigations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, | ||
all
amounts paid under the general education block grant from | ||
State appropriations
to a school district in a city having a | ||
population exceeding 500,000
inhabitants shall be appropriated | ||
and expended by the board of that district
for any of the | ||
programs included in the block grant or any of the board's
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lawful purposes.
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(c) The educational services block grant shall include the | ||
following
programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational | ||
Transportation, State Lunch and
Free Breakfast Program, | ||
Special Education (Personnel,
Transportation, Orphanage, | ||
Private Tuition), funding
for children requiring special | ||
education services, Summer School,
Educational Service | ||
Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This subsection (c)
does | ||
not relieve the district of its obligation to provide the | ||
services
required under a program that is included within the | ||
educational services block
grant. It is the intention of the | ||
General Assembly in enacting the provisions
of this subsection | ||
(c) to relieve the district of the administrative burdens
that | ||
impede efficiency and accompany single-program funding. The | ||
General
Assembly encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers | ||
pursuant to Section
2-3.25g. | ||
The funding program included in the educational services | ||
block grant
for funding for children requiring special | ||
education services in each fiscal
year shall be treated in that | ||
fiscal year as a payment to the school district
in respect of | ||
services provided or costs incurred in the prior fiscal year,
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calculated in each case as provided in this Section. Nothing in | ||
this Section
shall change the nature of payments for any | ||
program that, apart from this
Section, would be or, prior to | ||
adoption or amendment of this Section, was on
the basis of a | ||
payment in a fiscal year in respect of services provided or
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costs incurred in the prior fiscal year, calculated in each | ||
case as provided
in this Section.
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(d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter, | ||
the amount
of the district's block grants shall be determined | ||
as follows:
(i) with respect to each program that is included | ||
within each block grant, the
district shall receive an amount | ||
equal to the same percentage of the current
fiscal year | ||
appropriation made for that program as the percentage of the
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appropriation received by the district from the 1995 fiscal | ||
year appropriation
made for that program, and
(ii) the total | ||
amount that is due the district under the block grant shall be
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the aggregate of the amounts that the district is entitled to | ||
receive for the
fiscal year with respect to each program that | ||
is included within the block
grant that the State Board of | ||
Education shall award the district under this
Section for that | ||
fiscal year. In the case of the Summer Bridges program,
the | ||
amount of the district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of | ||
the amount
of the current fiscal year appropriation made for | ||
that program.
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(e) The district is not required to file any application or | ||
other claim in
order to receive the block grants to which it is | ||
entitled under this Section.
The State Board of Education shall | ||
make payments to the district of amounts due
under the | ||
district's block grants on a schedule determined by the State | ||
Board
of Education.
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(f) A school district to which this Section applies shall | ||
report to the
State Board of Education on its use of the block | ||
grants in such form and detail
as the State Board of Education | ||
may specify. In addition, the report must include the following | ||
description for the district, which must also be reported to | ||
the General Assembly: block grant allocation and expenditures | ||
by program; population and service levels by program; and | ||
administrative expenditures by program. The State Board of | ||
Education shall ensure that the reporting requirements for the | ||
district are the same as for all other school districts in this | ||
State.
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(g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block | ||
grants under Article
1C for purposes of calculating the amount | ||
of block grants for a district under
this Section. Those block | ||
grants under Article 1C are, for this
purpose, treated as | ||
included in the amount of appropriation for the various
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programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The appropriation in | ||
each current
fiscal year for each block grant under Article 1C | ||
shall be treated for these
purposes as appropriations for the | ||
individual program included in that block
grant. The proportion | ||
of each block grant so allocated to each such program
included | ||
in it shall be the proportion which the appropriation for that | ||
program
was of all appropriations for such purposes now in that | ||
block grant, in fiscal
1995.
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Payments to the school district under this Section with | ||
respect to each
program for which payments to school districts | ||
generally, as of the date of
this
amendatory Act of the 92nd | ||
General Assembly, are on a reimbursement basis
shall continue | ||
to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis, pursuant
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to the provisions of this Code governing those programs.
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(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school | ||
district
receiving a block grant under this Section may | ||
classify all or a portion of
the funds that it receives in a | ||
particular fiscal year from any block grant
authorized under | ||
this Code or from general State aid pursuant to Section
18-8.05 | ||
of this Code (other than supplemental general State aid) as
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funds received in connection with any funding program for which | ||
it is
entitled to receive funds from the State in that fiscal | ||
year (including,
without limitation, any funding program | ||
referred to in subsection (c) of
this Section), regardless of | ||
the source or timing of the receipt. The
district may not | ||
classify more funds as funds received in connection
with the | ||
funding program than the district is entitled to receive in | ||
that
fiscal year for that program. Any classification by a | ||
district must be made by
a resolution
of its board of | ||
education. The resolution must identify the amount of any
block | ||
grant or general State aid to be classified under this | ||
subsection (h)
and must specify the funding program to which | ||
the funds are to be
treated as received in connection | ||
therewith. This resolution is
controlling as to the | ||
classification of funds referenced therein. A certified
copy of | ||
the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
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Education.
The resolution shall still take effect even though a | ||
copy of the resolution
has not been sent to the State
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Superintendent of Education in a timely manner.
No | ||
classification under this subsection (h) by a district shall
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affect the total amount or timing of money the district is | ||
entitled to receive
under this Code.
No classification under | ||
this subsection (h) by a district
shall in any way relieve the | ||
district from or affect any
requirements that otherwise would | ||
apply with respect to the
block grant as provided in this | ||
Section, including any
accounting of funds by source, reporting | ||
expenditures by
original source and purpose,
reporting | ||
requirements, or requirements of provision of
services.
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(Source: P.A. 92-568, eff. 6-26-02; 92-651, eff. 7-11-02; | ||
93-21, eff. 7-1-03; 93-53, eff. 7-1-03; 93-1022, eff. 8-24-04.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||
2011.
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