98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB3742

 

Introduced , by Rep. Cynthia Soto

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/34-200
105 ILCS 5/34-210

    Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. Makes changes concerning the Educational Facility Master Plan. Provides that updates to the plan must be reviewed and approved 2 1/2 years after the approval of the initial plan (instead of requiring updates 2 1/2 years after approval). Provides that the first revision to the plan must be completed and approved on or before January 1, 2015, and the district is prohibited from completing any sale of vacant school buildings identified in the initial master plan until this first revision is approved. Requires each revision and update to the plan to include certain data and analysis. Requires the chief executive officer to prepare a summary for each school prior to approving a plan or update; specifies what the summary must include. Requires the district to hold local school council meetings, meet with its community action councils, work with a task force, the Chicago Teachers Union, and the Chicago Principals & Administrators Association, and hold public hearings before the approval of a plan or update. With respect to the first revision and update to the plan, provides that the revised draft master plan must be published on or before October 1, 2014 and must be immediately followed by a public comment period of at least 15 days. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

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
534-200 and 34-210 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/34-200)
7    Sec. 34-200. Definitions. For the purposes of Sections
834-200 through 34-235 of this Article:
9    "Capital improvement plan" means a plan that identifies
10capital projects to be started or finished within the
11designated period, excluding projects funded by locally raised
12capital not exceeding $10,000.
13    "Community action council" means any of the 8 regional
14councils created by the district serving the areas of Austin,
15Bronzeville, Englewood, Far South/Roseland, East Humboldt
16Park, West Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and South Shore.
17    "Community area" means a geographic area of the City of
18Chicago defined by the chief executive officer as part of the
19development of the educational facilities master plan.
20    "Space utilization" means the percentage achieved by
21dividing the school's actual enrollment by its design capacity.
22    "School closing" or "school closure" means the closing of a
23school, the effect of which is the assignment and transfer of

 

 

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1all students enrolled at that school to one or more designated
2receiving schools.
3    "School consolidation" means the consolidation of 2 or more
4schools by closing one or more schools and reassigning the
5students to another school.
6    "Phase-out" means the gradual cessation of enrollment in
7certain grades each school year until a school closes or is
8consolidated with another school.
9    "School action" means any school closing; school
10consolidation; co-location; boundary change that requires
11reassignment of students, unless the reassignment is to a new
12school with an attendance area boundary and is made to relieve
13overcrowding; or phase-out.
14(Source: P.A. 97-473, eff. 1-1-12; 97-474, eff. 8-22-11;
1597-813, eff. 7-13-12.)
 
16    (105 ILCS 5/34-210)
17    Sec. 34-210. The Educational Facility Master Plan.
18    (a) In accordance with the schedule set forth in this
19Article, the chief executive officer or his or her designee
20shall prepare a 10-year educational facility master plan every
215 years, with updates reviewed and approved 2 1/2 years after
22the approval of the initial 10-year plan, with the first such
23educational facility master plan to be approved on or before
24October 1, 2013. Notwithstanding the schedule established
25under this Section, the first revision must be completed and

 

 

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1approved on or before January 1, 2015, and the district is
2prohibited from completing any sale of vacant school buildings
3identified in the initial master plan until this first revision
4is approved.
5    (b) The educational facility master plan shall provide
6community area level plans and individual school master plans
7with options for addressing the facility and space needs for
8each facility operated by the district over a 10-year period.
9    (c) The data, information, and analysis that shall inform
10the educational facility master plan shall be published on the
11district's Internet website and shall include the following:
12        (1) a description of the district's guiding
13    educational goals and standards;
14        (2) a brief description of the types of instructional
15    programs and services delivered in each school;
16        (3) a description of the process, procedure, and
17    timeline for community participation in the development of
18    the plan;
19        (4) the enrollment capacity of each school and its rate
20    of utilization;
21        (5) a report on the assessment of individual building
22    and site conditions;
23        (6) a data table with historical and projected
24    enrollment data by school by grade;
25        (7) community analysis, including a study of current
26    and projected demographics, land usage, transportation

 

 

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1    plans, residential housing and commercial development,
2    private schools, plans for water and sewage service
3    expansion or redevelopment, and institutions of higher
4    education;
5        (8) an analysis of the facility needs and requirements
6    of the district; and
7        (9) identification of potential sources of funding for
8    the implementation of the Educational Facility Master
9    Plan.
10    (c-5) Each revision and update to the educational facility
11master plan must include data and analysis addressing all of
12the following:
13        (1) A school-to-school comparison of
14    facility-investment needs and past capital investments
15    that ranks and projects the future time frame for
16    addressing schools' facility needs.
17        (2) A full inventory of the district's vacant and
18    closed school buildings and other real estate deemed by the
19    district to be excess or surplus, with values for each
20    property, common street address, and proposed future
21    re-uses or dispositions that have been recommended by the
22    district, the public, or third parties for each.
23        (3) The plans developed by the community action
24    councils.
25        (4) School-level master plans that project future
26    changes in building or campus configurations and projected

 

 

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1    facility improvements, whether currently funded or not;
2    identify the needed amount unfunded; and list all current
3    and projected funding sources.
4        (5) Identification and mapping of colleges and
5    universities in the City of Chicago and any partnerships
6    that they may have or that have been proposed with the
7    district's schools.
8        (6) A comprehensive analysis of current, planned, and
9    projected housing and community development initiatives,
10    including those sponsored or subsidized by government
11    agencies, including the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust
12    Fund, the City of Chicago Department of Housing and
13    Economic Development, the Chicago Housing Authority, the
14    Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Cook County
15    Land Bank, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
16    Development, or others, and by private developers that have
17    put forth housing and community development projects.
18        (7) All current and future proposed charter schools, by
19    location and charter operator, and the district's signed
20    agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's
21    charter pact.
22    (d) On or before May 1, 2013, the chief executive officer
23or his or her designee shall prepare and distribute for comment
24a preliminary draft of the Educational Facility Master Plan.
25The draft plan shall be distributed to the City of Chicago, the
26County of Cook, the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Housing

 

 

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1Authority, the Chicago Transit Authority, attendance centers
2operated by the district, and charter schools operating within
3the district. Each attendance center shall make the draft plan
4available to the local school council or alternative advisory
5body and to the parents, guardians, and staff of the school.
6The draft plan also shall be distributed to each State Senator
7and State Representative with a district in the City of
8Chicago, to the Mayor of the City of Chicago, and to each
9alderman of the City.
10    (d-5) At least 7 months prior to approving an educational
11facility master plan or update, the chief executive officer
12shall prepare a summary for each school to be distributed to
13the principal and the parents or guardians of any school
14attendee. This summary shall include all of the following:
15        (1) The school's and community's enrollment
16    projections.
17        (2) The school's facility condition assessment and
18    space utilization report and the last 5 years of past
19    capital investments in the school.
20        (3) Any capital improvements for the school in the
21    current fiscal year's capital budget and in the district's
22    5-year capital improvement plan.
23        (4) A summary of the district's master plan community
24    area needs and proposals for the community area to which
25    the district has assigned the school.
26        (5) A complete inventory of all closed and vacant

 

 

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1    school facilities in the community area to which the
2    district has assigned the school.
3    (d-10) At least 7 months, but no later than 4 months,
4before approving an educational facility master plan or update,
5the district must hold at least 2 local school council meetings
6open to all parents of each school to review the current master
7plan, propose revisions, and develop and recommend a
8school-level master plan. The same data that accompanied the
9summary to parents and guardians in subsection (d-5) of this
10Section must be provided and presented at these local school
11council meetings and must be available for public inspection at
12each school site. The district must meet at least 2 times with
13its community action councils to elicit proposals for
14completing and revising the master plan. The district must
15provide each community action council with a list of all closed
16and vacant school facilities in its planning area and solicit
17proposals for the future re-use or disposition of those
18facilities. Community action councils must be provided with the
19same data provided to parents and guardians for all of the
20schools within their planning area. During this period, the
21district must work with a task force, the Chicago Teachers
22Union, and the Chicago Principals & Administrators Association
23to obtain input from educators regarding revisions to the
24master plan.
25    (e) The chief executive or his or her designee shall
26publish a procedure for conducting public hearings and

 

 

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1submitting public comments on the draft plan. At least 7
2months, but no later than 4 months, before approving an
3educational facility master plan or update, the district must
4hold public hearings in each of the 30 community areas defined
5by the district in the master plan on the current master plan
6and elicit the public's proposals for revisions. The district
7must provide the public with 30 days advance notice of the date
8of each hearing. The public hearing notice must specify that
9the district is seeking the public's proposals for the future
10re-use or disposition of any closed school facility in their
11community area.
12    (f) After consideration of public input on the draft plan,
13the chief executive officer or his or her designee shall
14prepare and publish a report describing the process used to
15incorporate public input in the development of the final plan
16to be recommended to the Board.
17    (g) The chief executive officer shall present the final
18plan and report to the Board for final consideration and
19approval.
20    (h) The final approved Educational Facility Master Plan
21shall be published on the district's website.
22    (h-5) The first revision and update to the Educational
23Facility Master Plan must be approved on or before January 1,
242015. Notwithstanding any other dates included in this Section,
25the revised draft master plan must be published on or before
26October 1, 2014 and must be immediately followed by a public

 

 

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1comment period of at least 15 days.
2    (i) No later than January 1, 2016, and every 5 years
3thereafter, the chief executive officer or his or her designee
4shall prepare and submit for public comment a draft revised
5Educational Facility Master Plan following the procedures
6required for development of the original plan.
7    (j) This proposed revised plan shall reflect the progress
8achieved during the first 2 1/2 years of the Educational
9Facility Master Plan.
10(Source: P.A. 97-473, eff. 1-1-12; 97-474, eff. 8-22-11;
1197-1133, eff. 11-30-12.)
 
12    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
13becoming law.