Section 675.60  Application Process

a)         Applications for approval as SES providers will be accepted only from eligible applicants and only during the two application periods established by the State Superintendent of Education each fiscal year, unless an emergency application period is needed for a particular school district to enable students to continue receiving services through the remainder of a school year as required by NCLB. Each provider's approval shall take effect beginning with the fiscal year after the year in which the application was submitted, unless the State Superintendent makes an exception to account for circumstances at ISBE that have led to a delay, resulting in approval of a provider's application in the fiscal year after its original submission.

b)         Upon receipt of an application, ISBE will provide it to the district in which an eligible applicant seeks to serve for the district's general review and comment, but in particular for an assessment by the district as to whether the program is consistent with the academic program a student experiences during the regular school day.  For providers seeking to serve all eligible districts, ISBE may elect to provide the application to a group of representative districts for review.  The district and ISBE may seek additional information and clarifications from the eligible applicant.  These clarifications will then be made a part of the provider's application. 

1)         If an applicant fails to respond to a request for additional information or clarification, ISBE shall, upon 14 days' written notice, declare the application inactive.  If an application is declared inactive under this subsection (b)(1), the applicant shall be required to submit an entirely new application using the then-current application form and within an application period established by the State Superintendent for a subsequent fiscal year.

2)         If attempts to clarify or revise an application fail to result in its approval by the end of the fiscal year for which it was submitted, it shall be declared inactive and a new application shall be required.

c)         Applications meeting the requirements set forth in Sections 675.40 and 675.50 of this Part and all other requirements of NCLB will be approved, provided that, when applicable, ISBE shall also consider factors that have led to any other state's revocation of, or refusal to renew, a provider's approval.  ISBE may reject an application if this information indicates that the provider violated any applicable law or regulatory requirement, failed to demonstrate the program's effectiveness, or otherwise acted in a manner contrary to the intent of NCLB.  If an application is rejected, neither the eligible applicant nor any related organization shall be eligible to re-apply during the following 12-month period.

d)         If a provider is removed from the State-approved list for any reason other than as described in Section 675.110 of this Part, the provider and any related organization shall be ineligible to re-apply for any of the following three fiscal years, except that a provider that is a public school or school district that has its eligibility restored by being removed from "improvement status" shall be eligible to re-apply for the fiscal year after the year of its removal from that status.

(Source:  Amended at 32 Ill. Reg. 4046, effective February 26, 2008)