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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | 10-21.4 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/10-21.4) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.4)
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7 | Sec. 10-21.4. Superintendent - Duties ; shared | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | administrators . | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | (a) Except in districts
in which there is only one school | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | with fewer than 4
teachers, to employ a superintendent or share | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | the services of a superintendent as otherwise provided in this | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | Section , who shall have charge
of the administration of the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | schools under the direction of
the board of education. However, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | in any school district that has boundaries that lie in 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | counties, one county of which has a population exceeding | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | 1,000,000 inhabitants, that has an enrollment of more than | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | 35,000 students, and that has on staff properly licensed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | assistant superintendents or directors in the areas of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | instruction, finance, special education, assessments, and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | career and technology education, the school board may instead, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | by a vote of a majority of its full membership, appoint a chief | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | executive officer to serve as its superintendent, who shall be | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | a person of recognized administrative ability and management |
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1 | experience, hold a master's degree, have been employed with the | ||||||
2 | school district for a minimum of 5 years in an administrative | ||||||
3 | capacity, be responsible for the management of the district, | ||||||
4 | and have all other powers and duties of a superintendent as set | ||||||
5 | forth in this Code, but who shall be exempt from the provisions | ||||||
6 | and requirements of Section 21B-15 of this Code for a period of | ||||||
7 | 5 years. | ||||||
8 | (b) Except for a principal or assistant principal, a school | ||||||
9 | board shall, upon passage of a referendum as provided in | ||||||
10 | subsection (c) after submission of a petition signed by no less | ||||||
11 | than 8% of registered voters in the school district in the last | ||||||
12 | consolidated election, or may, by resolution, enter into a | ||||||
13 | joint agreement with other school boards to share the services | ||||||
14 | of a superintendent or other administrator, including, but not | ||||||
15 | limited to, an assistant superintendent, associate | ||||||
16 | superintendent, chief school business official, assistant | ||||||
17 | school business official, special education director or | ||||||
18 | supervisor, assistant special education director or | ||||||
19 | supervisor, general administrator, general supervisor, | ||||||
20 | director or dean, supervisory dean, athletic director, | ||||||
21 | curriculum director, assistant athletic director, or assistant | ||||||
22 | curriculum director. Each school board involved in the joint | ||||||
23 | agreement must agree to the joint agreement by resolution or by | ||||||
24 | passage of a referendum, but not both. A school board is not | ||||||
25 | required to enter into a joint agreement in the same manner as | ||||||
26 | the other school boards in the agreement, as long as the school |
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1 | board agrees to the joint agreement by resolution or by passage | ||||||
2 | of a referendum. The joint agreement must include the amount | ||||||
3 | that each school board shall contribute to the salary of the | ||||||
4 | superintendent or other administrator. The superintendent or | ||||||
5 | other administrator may be employed by one school board, which | ||||||
6 | shall be reimbursed on a mutually agreed-to basis with other | ||||||
7 | school boards that are parties to the joint agreement. The | ||||||
8 | joint agreement must contain clear and equitable funding | ||||||
9 | formulas covering each school district's obligations. The | ||||||
10 | joint agreement may be amended at any time as provided in the | ||||||
11 | joint agreement or, if the joint agreement does not so provide, | ||||||
12 | the agreement may be amended at any time upon the adoption of a | ||||||
13 | resolution (if the original joint agreement was entered into | ||||||
14 | upon adoption of a resolution) or the passage of a referendum | ||||||
15 | (if the original joint agreement was entered into upon passage | ||||||
16 | of a referendum) in all member school districts. A fully | ||||||
17 | executed copy of the joint agreement shall be filed with the | ||||||
18 | State Board of Education and each applicable regional office of | ||||||
19 | education. The State Board of Education must provide technical | ||||||
20 | support as requested by the school districts or a regional | ||||||
21 | office of education. In the event 3 or more school boards | ||||||
22 | decide to enter into a joint agreement and at least one school | ||||||
23 | board submits a referendum under subsection (c) that does not | ||||||
24 | pass, the agreement between the remaining school boards is | ||||||
25 | still valid. | ||||||
26 | Any savings realized by sharing services under this |
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1 | subsection must be divided equally between classroom needs and | ||||||
2 | property tax relief for the school district's residents. | ||||||
3 | Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, | ||||||
4 | shared administrator services may not alter an individual | ||||||
5 | school board's authority to make decisions on behalf of a | ||||||
6 | school district. | ||||||
7 | (c) A petition to enter into a joint agreement under | ||||||
8 | subsection (b) shall be filed with the school board's secretary | ||||||
9 | no more than 92 days prior to the election at which the | ||||||
10 | question is to be submitted to the voters. The school board's | ||||||
11 | secretary shall certify the question, and the proper election | ||||||
12 | authority or authorities shall submit the question to the | ||||||
13 | voters. This referendum shall be subject to all other general | ||||||
14 | election law requirements. The proposition shall be in | ||||||
15 | substantially the following form: | ||||||
16 | Shall the (school district) enter into a joint | ||||||
17 | agreement with (other school district or districts) to | ||||||
18 | share the services of a (superintendent or other | ||||||
19 | administrator)? | ||||||
20 | Votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No". | ||||||
21 | If a majority of all votes cast on the proposition are in | ||||||
22 | favor of the proposition or the school board adopts a | ||||||
23 | resolution in all affected school districts, the school boards | ||||||
24 | shall enter into a joint agreement. | ||||||
25 | (d) If, within 6 months after passage of a referendum under | ||||||
26 | subsection (c) or adoption of a resolution under subsection |
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1 | (b), the school boards who are parties to the joint agreement | ||||||
2 | are unable to reach an agreement on how they will share the | ||||||
3 | services of a superintendent or other administrator, the | ||||||
4 | regional office of education that has supervision and control | ||||||
5 | of the school districts that are sharing services or, if more | ||||||
6 | than one regional office of education has supervision and | ||||||
7 | control, the regional office of education that has supervision | ||||||
8 | and control of the largest portion of the affected school | ||||||
9 | districts must assist in the development of the joint | ||||||
10 | agreement. | ||||||
11 | (e) A school district wishing to withdraw from a joint | ||||||
12 | agreement under this Section shall obtain from its school board | ||||||
13 | a written resolution approving the withdrawal if the school | ||||||
14 | district entered into the joint agreement by resolution. The | ||||||
15 | withdrawing school district must present a written petition for | ||||||
16 | withdrawal from the joint agreement to the other member school | ||||||
17 | districts within the timelines designated by the joint | ||||||
18 | agreement. Upon approval of the petition by all of the | ||||||
19 | remaining member school districts, the petitioning school | ||||||
20 | district shall be withdrawn from the joint agreement effective | ||||||
21 | the following July 1 and shall provide the State Board of | ||||||
22 | Education written notification of the approved withdrawal. | ||||||
23 | (f) A school district wishing to withdraw from a joint | ||||||
24 | agreement under this Section shall submit to the voters of the | ||||||
25 | district at the next consolidated election the question of | ||||||
26 | whether the school district shall withdraw from the joint |
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1 | agreement if the school district entered into the joint | ||||||
2 | agreement by a referendum vote. In addition, the question shall | ||||||
3 | be submitted to the voters of the district at the next | ||||||
4 | consolidated election upon submission of a petition signed by | ||||||
5 | no less than 8% of registered voters in the district in the | ||||||
6 | last consolidated election. The petition or other school board | ||||||
7 | action shall be filed with the school board's secretary no more | ||||||
8 | than 92 days prior to the election at which the question is to | ||||||
9 | be submitted to the voters. The school board's secretary shall | ||||||
10 | certify the question, and the proper election authority or | ||||||
11 | authorities shall submit the question to the voters. This | ||||||
12 | referendum shall be subject to all other general election law | ||||||
13 | requirements. The proposition shall be in substantially the | ||||||
14 | following form: | ||||||
15 | Shall the (school district) withdraw from the joint | ||||||
16 | agreement with (other school district or districts) and | ||||||
17 | cease sharing the services of a (superintendent or other | ||||||
18 | administrator)? | ||||||
19 | Votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No". | ||||||
20 | If a majority of all votes cast on the proposition are in | ||||||
21 | favor of the proposition, the school district shall be | ||||||
22 | withdrawn from the joint agreement effective the following July | ||||||
23 | 1 and shall provide the State Board of Education written | ||||||
24 | notification of the approved withdrawal. | ||||||
25 | (g) In addition to the administrative
duties, the | ||||||
26 | superintendent shall make recommendations to
the board |
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1 | concerning the budget, building plans, the
locations of sites, | ||||||
2 | the selection, retention and dismissal of teachers
and all | ||||||
3 | other employees, the selection of textbooks, instructional | ||||||
4 | material
and courses of study.
However, in districts under a | ||||||
5 | Financial Oversight Panel pursuant to
Section 1A-8 for | ||||||
6 | violating a financial plan, the duties and responsibilities of
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7 | the superintendent in relation to the financial and business | ||||||
8 | operations of the
district shall be approved by the Panel. In | ||||||
9 | the event the Board refuses or
fails to follow a directive or | ||||||
10 | comply with an information request of the Panel,
the | ||||||
11 | performance of those duties shall be subject to the direction | ||||||
12 | of the
Panel.
The superintendent shall also notify the State | ||||||
13 | Board
of Education, the board and the chief administrative | ||||||
14 | official, other than
the alleged perpetrator himself, in the | ||||||
15 | school where the alleged
perpetrator serves, that any person | ||||||
16 | who is employed in a school or
otherwise comes into frequent | ||||||
17 | contact with children
in the school has been named as a | ||||||
18 | perpetrator in an indicated report filed
pursuant to the Abused | ||||||
19 | and Neglected Child Reporting Act, approved June 26,
1975, as | ||||||
20 | amended. The superintendent shall keep or cause to be kept the
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21 | records and accounts as directed and required by the board, aid | ||||||
22 | in making
reports required by the board, and perform such other | ||||||
23 | duties as the board
may delegate to him.
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24 | In addition, each year at a time designated by the State | ||||||
25 | Superintendent of Education,
each
superintendent shall report | ||||||
26 | to the State Board of Education the number of high school |
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1 | students in the
district who are enrolled in accredited courses | ||||||
2 | (for which high school
credit will be awarded upon successful | ||||||
3 | completion of the courses) at any
community college, together | ||||||
4 | with the name and number of the course or
courses which each | ||||||
5 | such student is taking.
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6 | (h) The provisions of this Section shall also apply to
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7 | board of director districts.
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8 | (i) Notice of intent not to renew
a contract must be given | ||||||
9 | in writing stating the
specific reason therefor by April 1 of | ||||||
10 | the contract
year unless the contract specifically provides | ||||||
11 | otherwise.
Failure to do so will automatically extend the | ||||||
12 | contract
for an additional year. Within 10 days after receipt | ||||||
13 | of
notice of intent not to renew a contract, the superintendent
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14 | may request a closed session hearing on the dismissal. At the | ||||||
15 | hearing the
superintendent has the privilege of presenting | ||||||
16 | evidence, witnesses and
defenses on the grounds for dismissal.
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17 | The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to a district | ||||||
18 | under a
Financial Oversight Panel pursuant to Section 1A-8 for | ||||||
19 | violating a financial
plan.
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20 | (Source: P.A. 99-846, eff. 6-1-17 .)
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