98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB3692

 

Introduced , by Rep. Sandra M. Pihos

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/1C-4
105 ILCS 5/1D-1

    Amends the School Code. With respect to the report that a school district submits to the State Board of Education if the district receives an Early Childhood Education Block Grant and the report that the Chicago school district submits to the State Board on the use of its general education and educational services block grants, provides that if the district does not submit the report to the State Board in a timely manner then the State Board shall withhold all payments owed to the district until the report is submitted, reviewed, and made public by the State Board. Effective July 1, 2014.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
51C-4 and 1D-1 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/1C-4)
7    Sec. 1C-4. Reports. The State Superintendent of Education,
8in cooperation with the school districts participating under
9this Article, shall annually report to the leadership of the
10General Assembly on the progress made in implementing this
11Article. By February 1, 1997, the State Board of Education
12shall submit to the Governor and General Assembly a
13comprehensive plan for Illinois school districts, including
14the school district that has been organized under Article 34
15and is under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Board of
16Education, to establish and implement a block grant funding
17system for educational programs that are currently funded
18through single-program grants. Before submitting its plan to
19establish and implement a block grant funding system to the
20Governor and General Assembly as required by this Section, the
21State Board of Education shall give appropriate notice of and
22hold statewide public hearings on the subject of funding
23educational programs through block grants. The plan shall be

 

 

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1designed to relieve school districts of the administrative
2burdens that impede efficiency and accompany single-program
3funding.
4    A school district that receives an Early Childhood
5Education Block Grant shall report to the State Board of
6Education on its use of the block grant in such form and detail
7as the State Board of Education may specify. In addition, the
8report must include the following description for the district,
9which must also be reported to the General Assembly: block
10grant allocation and expenditures by program; population and
11service levels by program; and administrative expenditures by
12program. The State Board of Education shall ensure that the
13reporting requirements for a district organized under Article
1434 of this Code are the same as for all other school districts
15in this State. If the school district does not submit the
16report to the State Board of Education in a timely manner, as
17prescribed by the State Board of Education, then the State
18Board of Education shall withhold all payments owed to the
19district until the report is submitted, reviewed, and made
20public by the State Board of Education.
21(Source: P.A. 97-238, eff. 8-2-11.)
 
22    (105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
23    Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
24    (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,
25the State Board of Education shall award to a school district

 

 

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1having a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants a general
2education block grant and an educational services block grant,
3determined as provided in this Section, in lieu of distributing
4to the district separate State funding for the programs
5described in subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this
6Section, however, do not apply to any federal funds that the
7district is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section
82-3.32, all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore,
9block grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be
10recorded to the appropriate fund code for the designated block
11grant.
12    (b) The general education block grant shall include the
13following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool
14At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support,
15Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse
16Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development,
17Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12
18Continued Reading Improvement, Truants' Optional Education,
19Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education, Parental Education,
20Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and Criminal Background
21Investigations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
22all amounts paid under the general education block grant from
23State appropriations to a school district in a city having a
24population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be appropriated
25and expended by the board of that district for any of the
26programs included in the block grant or any of the board's

 

 

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1lawful purposes.
2    (c) The educational services block grant shall include the
3following programs: Regular and Vocational Transportation,
4State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program, Special Education
5(Personnel, Transportation, Orphanage, Private Tuition),
6funding for children requiring special education services,
7Summer School, Educational Service Centers, and
8Administrator's Academy. This subsection (c) does not relieve
9the district of its obligation to provide the services required
10under a program that is included within the educational
11services block grant. It is the intention of the General
12Assembly in enacting the provisions of this subsection (c) to
13relieve the district of the administrative burdens that impede
14efficiency and accompany single-program funding. The General
15Assembly encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers
16pursuant to Section 2-3.25g.
17    The funding program included in the educational services
18block grant for funding for children requiring special
19education services in each fiscal year shall be treated in that
20fiscal year as a payment to the school district in respect of
21services provided or costs incurred in the prior fiscal year,
22calculated in each case as provided in this Section. Nothing in
23this Section shall change the nature of payments for any
24program that, apart from this Section, would be or, prior to
25adoption or amendment of this Section, was on the basis of a
26payment in a fiscal year in respect of services provided or

 

 

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1costs incurred in the prior fiscal year, calculated in each
2case as provided in this Section.
3    (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,
4the amount of the district's block grants shall be determined
5as follows: (i) with respect to each program that is included
6within each block grant, the district shall receive an amount
7equal to the same percentage of the current fiscal year
8appropriation made for that program as the percentage of the
9appropriation received by the district from the 1995 fiscal
10year appropriation made for that program, and (ii) the total
11amount that is due the district under the block grant shall be
12the aggregate of the amounts that the district is entitled to
13receive for the fiscal year with respect to each program that
14is included within the block grant that the State Board of
15Education shall award the district under this Section for that
16fiscal year. In the case of the Summer Bridges program, the
17amount of the district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of
18the amount of the current fiscal year appropriation made for
19that program.
20    (e) The district is not required to file any application or
21other claim in order to receive the block grants to which it is
22entitled under this Section. The State Board of Education shall
23make payments to the district of amounts due under the
24district's block grants on a schedule determined by the State
25Board of Education.
26    (f) A school district to which this Section applies shall

 

 

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1report to the State Board of Education on its use of the block
2grants in such form and detail as the State Board of Education
3may specify. In addition, the report must include the following
4description for the district, which must also be reported to
5the General Assembly: block grant allocation and expenditures
6by program; population and service levels by program; and
7administrative expenditures by program. The State Board of
8Education shall ensure that the reporting requirements for the
9district are the same as for all other school districts in this
10State. If the school district does not submit the report to the
11State Board of Education in a timely manner, as prescribed by
12the State Board of Education, then the State Board of Education
13shall withhold all payments owed to the district until the
14report is submitted, reviewed, and made public by the State
15Board of Education.
16    (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block
17grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the amount
18of block grants for a district under this Section. Those block
19grants under Article 1C are, for this purpose, treated as
20included in the amount of appropriation for the various
21programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The appropriation in
22each current fiscal year for each block grant under Article 1C
23shall be treated for these purposes as appropriations for the
24individual program included in that block grant. The proportion
25of each block grant so allocated to each such program included
26in it shall be the proportion which the appropriation for that

 

 

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1program was of all appropriations for such purposes now in that
2block grant, in fiscal 1995.
3    Payments to the school district under this Section with
4respect to each program for which payments to school districts
5generally, as of the date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd
6General Assembly, are on a reimbursement basis shall continue
7to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis, pursuant
8to the provisions of this Code governing those programs.
9    (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school
10district receiving a block grant under this Section may
11classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a
12particular fiscal year from any block grant authorized under
13this Code or from general State aid pursuant to Section 18-8.05
14of this Code (other than supplemental general State aid) as
15funds received in connection with any funding program for which
16it is entitled to receive funds from the State in that fiscal
17year (including, without limitation, any funding program
18referred to in subsection (c) of this Section), regardless of
19the source or timing of the receipt. The district may not
20classify more funds as funds received in connection with the
21funding program than the district is entitled to receive in
22that fiscal year for that program. Any classification by a
23district must be made by a resolution of its board of
24education. The resolution must identify the amount of any block
25grant or general State aid to be classified under this
26subsection (h) and must specify the funding program to which

 

 

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1the funds are to be treated as received in connection
2therewith. This resolution is controlling as to the
3classification of funds referenced therein. A certified copy of
4the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
5Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though a
6copy of the resolution has not been sent to the State
7Superintendent of Education in a timely manner. No
8classification under this subsection (h) by a district shall
9affect the total amount or timing of money the district is
10entitled to receive under this Code. No classification under
11this subsection (h) by a district shall in any way relieve the
12district from or affect any requirements that otherwise would
13apply with respect to the block grant as provided in this
14Section, including any accounting of funds by source, reporting
15expenditures by original source and purpose, reporting
16requirements, or requirements of provision of services.
17(Source: P.A. 97-238, eff. 8-2-11; 97-324, eff. 8-12-11;
1897-813, eff. 7-13-12.)
 
19    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
202014.