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| Public Act 099-0325 | ||||
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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 Section | ||||
27A-5 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
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Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
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(a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, | ||||
nonreligious, non-home
based, and non-profit school. A charter | ||||
school shall be organized and operated
as a nonprofit | ||||
corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
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authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
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(b) A charter school may be established under this Article | ||||
by creating a new
school or by converting an existing public | ||||
school or attendance center to
charter
school status.
Beginning | ||||
on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | ||||
General
Assembly, in all new
applications to establish
a | ||||
charter
school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, | ||||
operation of the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. | ||||
The changes made to this Section by this
amendatory Act
of the | ||||
93rd General
Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing | ||||
or approved on or before the
effective date of this
amendatory | ||||
Act. | ||||
(b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means | ||
a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and | ||
instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with | ||
their teachers at remote locations and with students | ||
participating at different times. | ||
From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a | ||
moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with | ||
virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a | ||
school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This | ||
moratorium does not apply to a charter school with | ||
virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to | ||
April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter | ||
school with virtual-schooling components already approved | ||
prior to April 1, 2013. | ||
On or before March 1, 2014, the Commission shall submit to | ||
the General Assembly a report on the effect of | ||
virtual-schooling, including without limitation the effect on | ||
student performance, the costs associated with | ||
virtual-schooling, and issues with oversight. The report shall | ||
include policy recommendations for virtual-schooling.
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(c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by | ||
its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner | ||
provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
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shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open | ||
Meetings Act.
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(d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular | ||
health and safety requirement" means any health and safety | ||
requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain, | ||
preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for | ||
students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or | ||
prevent threats to the health and safety of students and school | ||
personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety requirement" does | ||
not include any course of study or specialized instructional | ||
requirement for which the State Board has established goals and | ||
learning standards or which is designed primarily to impart | ||
knowledge and skills for students to master and apply as an | ||
outcome of their education. | ||
A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular | ||
applicable health and safety
requirements applicable to public | ||
schools under the laws of the State of
Illinois. On or before | ||
September 1, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on | ||
its Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety | ||
requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall be | ||
updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter | ||
contract between a charter school and its authorizer must | ||
contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow | ||
the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements | ||
promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health | ||
and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list | ||
during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d) | ||
precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health | ||
and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are | ||
not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board, | ||
including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the | ||
authorizing local school board.
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(e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a | ||
charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a | ||
charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, | ||
instructional materials, and student activities.
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(f) A charter school shall be responsible for the | ||
management and operation
of its fiscal affairs including,
but | ||
not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each | ||
charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an | ||
outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter | ||
school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of | ||
public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of | ||
operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer | ||
and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form | ||
990 the charter school filed that year with the federal | ||
Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for | ||
proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer | ||
may require quarterly financial statements from each charter | ||
school.
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(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of | ||
this Article; the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act; all | ||
federal and State laws and rules applicable to public schools | ||
that pertain to special education and the instruction of | ||
English language learners, referred to in this Code as | ||
"children of limited English-speaking ability"; and
its | ||
charter. A charter
school is exempt from all other State laws | ||
and regulations in this Code
governing public
schools and local | ||
school board policies; however, a charter school is not exempt | ||
from , except the following:
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(1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code regarding | ||
criminal
history records checks and checks of the Statewide | ||
Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent | ||
Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for | ||
employment;
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(2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of this Code regarding | ||
discipline of
students;
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(3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees | ||
Tort Immunity Act;
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(4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit | ||
Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of | ||
officers, directors, employees, and agents;
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(5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
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(6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
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(7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school report | ||
cards;
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(8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act; | ||
and | ||
(9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying | ||
prevention; and . | ||
(10) (9) Section 2-3.162 2-3.160 of this the School | ||
Code regarding student discipline reporting. | ||
The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g) | ||
is declaratory of existing law. | ||
(h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a | ||
school district, the
governing body of a State college or | ||
university or public community college, or
any other public or | ||
for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a | ||
school building and grounds or any other real property or | ||
facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert | ||
for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and | ||
maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, | ||
activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required to | ||
perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
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However, a charter school
that is established on
or
after the | ||
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
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Assembly and that operates
in a city having a population | ||
exceeding
500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
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manage or operate the school during the period that commences | ||
on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | ||
General Assembly and
concludes at the end of the 2004-2005 | ||
school year.
Except as provided in subsection (i) of this | ||
Section, a school district may
charge a charter school | ||
reasonable rent for the use of the district's
buildings, | ||
grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter | ||
school
contracts
with a school district shall be provided by | ||
the district at cost. Any services
for which a charter school | ||
contracts with a local school board or with the
governing body | ||
of a State college or university or public community college
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shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
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(i) In no event shall a charter school that is established | ||
by converting an
existing school or attendance center to | ||
charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is | ||
deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter | ||
agreement,
in school district
facilities. However, all other | ||
costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district | ||
facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
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to negotiation between
the charter school and the local school | ||
board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
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(j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or | ||
grade level.
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(k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission, | ||
then the Commission charter school is its own local education | ||
agency. | ||
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12; | ||
97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-16, eff. 5-24-13; 98-639, eff. 6-9-14; | ||
98-669, eff. 6-26-14; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14; 98-783, eff. | ||
1-1-15; 98-1059, eff. 8-26-14; 98-1102, eff. 8-26-14; revised | ||
10-14-14.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||
becoming law.
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