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91_HB0559
LRB9102268NTsbA
1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Sections
2 27A-9 and 27A-11.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
6 Sections 27A-9 and 27A-11 as follows:
7 (105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
8 Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
9 (a) A charter may be granted for a period not less than
10 3 and not more than 5 school years. A charter may be renewed
11 in incremental periods not to exceed 5 school years.
12 (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
13 local school board shall contain:
14 (1) A report on the progress of the charter school
15 in achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
16 standards, content standards, and other terms of the
17 initial approved charter proposal; and
18 (2) A financial statement that discloses the costs
19 of administration, instruction, and other spending
20 categories for the charter school that is understandable
21 to the general public and that will allow comparison of
22 those costs to other schools or other comparable
23 organizations, in a format required by the State Board.
24 (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
25 school board clearly demonstrates that the charter school did
26 any of the following, or otherwise failed to comply with the
27 requirements of this law:
28 (1) Committed a material violation of any of the
29 conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
30 charter.
31 (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress
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1 toward achievement of the content standards or pupil
2 performance standards identified in the charter.
3 (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
4 fiscal management.
5 (4) Violated any provision of law from which the
6 charter school was not exempted.
7 (d) (Blank).
8 (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
9 revoke or not to renew a charter shall be provided to the
10 State Board. The State Board may reverse a local board's
11 decision if the State Board finds that the charter school or
12 charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with this
13 Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students it
14 is designed to serve. Final decisions of the State Board
15 shall be subject to judicial review under the Administrative
16 Review Law.
17 (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
18 the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision,
19 the State Board shall act as the authorized chartering entity
20 for the charter school. The State Board shall approve and
21 certify the charter and shall perform all functions under
22 this Article otherwise performed by the local school board.
23 The State Board, not the local school board, shall provide
24 the funding necessary to pay the costs of the charter school
25 from a separate appropriation made for this purpose. The
26 amount of State aid paid to the school district shall not be
27 reduced because the State Board is providing this funding,
28 and days of attendance by pupils at the charter school for
29 which the State Board acts as the chartering entity shall be
30 accredited to and counted by the school district in which
31 those pupils reside for purposes of determining the average
32 daily attendance of and State aid payable to that district
33 under Section 18-8.05, notwithstanding any other requirements
34 of Section 18-8.05 regarding hours of instruction and teacher
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1 certification. The State Board shall report the aggregate
2 number of charter school pupils resident in a school district
3 to that district and shall notify the district of the amount
4 of funding to be paid by the State Board to the charter
5 school enrolling such students. The State Board shall
6 withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds
7 authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school
8 and shall pay such amounts to the charter school.
9 The changes made to this subsection (f) by this
10 amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly apply beginning
11 June 1, 1998.
12 (Source: P.A. 89-450, eff. 4-10-96; 90-548, eff. 1-1-98.)
13 (105 ILCS 5/27A-11)
14 Sec. 27A-11. Financing.
15 (a) For purposes of the School Code, pupils enrolled in
16 a charter school shall be included in the pupil enrollment of
17 the school district within which the pupil resides. Each
18 charter school (i) shall determine the school district in
19 which each pupil who is enrolled in the charter school
20 resides, (ii) shall report the aggregate number of pupils
21 resident of a school district who are enrolled in the charter
22 school to the school district in which those pupils reside,
23 and (iii) shall maintain accurate records of daily attendance
24 that shall be deemed sufficient to file claims under Section
25 18-8.05 18-8 notwithstanding any other requirements of that
26 Section regarding hours of instruction and teacher
27 certification.
28 (b) As part of a charter school contract, the charter
29 school and the local school board shall agree on funding and
30 any services to be provided by the school district to the
31 charter school. Agreed funding that a charter school is to
32 receive from the local school board for a school year shall
33 be paid in equal quarterly installments with the payment of
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1 the installment for the first quarter being made not later
2 than July 1, unless the charter establishes a different
3 payment schedule. However, if the State Board acts as the
4 authorized chartering entity for the charter school, funding
5 that is to be received, services that are to be provided, and
6 time of payment shall be negotiated by the State Board and
7 charter school.
8 All services centrally or otherwise provided by the
9 school district including, but not limited to, food services,
10 custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services,
11 libraries, transportation, and warehousing shall be subject
12 to negotiation between a charter school and the local school
13 board and paid for out of the revenues negotiated pursuant to
14 this subsection (b); provided that the local school board or
15 State Board shall not attempt, by negotiation or otherwise,
16 to obligate a charter school to provide pupil transportation
17 for pupils for whom a district is not required to provide
18 transportation under the criteria set forth in subsection
19 (a)(13) of Section 27A-7.
20 In no event shall the funding be less than 75% or more
21 than 125% of the school district's per capita student tuition
22 multiplied (i) for the first school year that the charter
23 school is in operation, by the number of students residing in
24 the district who are enrolled in the charter school or (ii)
25 after the first school year that the charter school is in
26 operation, by the average daily attendance figure for the
27 charter school as computed under this subsection (b). For the
28 purposes of this subsection (b), the average daily attendance
29 figure for a charter school shall be computed in a manner
30 deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8.05
31 notwithstanding any other requirements of Section 18-8.05
32 regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification.
33 It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and
34 service agreements under this subsection (b) shall be neither
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1 a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the
2 establishment of a charter school.
3 Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school
4 shall be retained by the charter school.
5 The changes made to this subsection (b) by this
6 amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly apply beginning
7 June 1, 1998.
8 (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this Section, the
9 proportionate share of State and federal resources generated
10 by students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be
11 directed to charter schools enrolling those students by their
12 school districts or administrative units. The proportionate
13 share of moneys generated under other federal or State
14 categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools
15 serving students eligible for that aid.
16 (d)(1) The governing body of a charter school is
17 authorized to accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind
18 made to the charter school and to expend or use gifts,
19 donations, or grants in accordance with the conditions
20 prescribed by the donor; however, a gift, donation, or grant
21 may not be accepted by the governing body if it is subject to
22 any condition contrary to applicable law or contrary to the
23 terms of the contract between the charter school and the
24 local school board. Charter schools shall be encouraged to
25 solicit and utilize community volunteer speakers and other
26 instructional resources when providing instruction on the
27 Holocaust and other historical events.
28 (2) From amounts appropriated to the State Board for
29 purposes of this subsection (d)(2), the State Board may make
30 loans to charter schools established under this Article to be
31 used by those schools to defer their start-up costs of
32 acquiring textbooks and laboratory and other equipment
33 required for student instruction. Any such loan shall be made
34 to a charter school at the inception of the term of its
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1 charter, under terms established by the State Board, and
2 shall be repaid by the charter school over the term of its
3 charter. A local school board is not responsible for the
4 repayment of the loan.
5 (e) No later than January 1, 1997, the State Board shall
6 issue a report to the General Assembly and the Governor
7 describing the charter schools certified under this Article,
8 their geographic locations, their areas of focus, and the
9 numbers of school children served by them.
10 (f) The State Board shall provide technical assistance
11 to persons and groups preparing or revising charter
12 applications.
13 (g) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter,
14 each charter school shall refund to the local board of
15 education all unspent funds.
16 (h) A charter school is authorized to incur temporary,
17 short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of
18 receipt of funds from the local school board.
19 (Source: P.A. 89-450, eff. 4-10-96; 90-548, eff. 1-1-98;
20 90-757, eff. 8-14-98.)
21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22 becoming law.