Public Act 103-0960
 
SB3237 EnrolledLRB103 37777 RJT 67906 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Construction Law is amended by 
changing Sections 5-5 and 5-15 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 230/5-5)
    Sec. 5-5. Definitions. As used in this Article:
    "Conditional grant award" means the formal notification by 
the Capital Development Board to a school district of its 
conditional intent to award a grant to a school district to pay 
a portion of the recognized project cost for a school 
construction project. The grant award is conditioned upon 
receiving proof from the school district that it has funds 
available to cover the cost of the required local match.
    "Grant award amount" means an amount equal to the 
recognized project cost determined by the Capital Development 
Board for a school construction project multiplied by the 
grant award percentage and then adjusted as may be required 
pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 5-15.
    "Grant award percentage" means a percentage equal to one 
minus the required local match percentage. 
    "Grant index" means a figure for each school district 
equal to one minus the ratio of the district's equalized 
assessed valuation per pupil in average daily attendance to 
the equalized assessed valuation per pupil in average daily 
attendance of the district located at the 90th percentile for 
all districts of the same category. This definition applies 
only to completed or partially completed, as determined by the 
Capital Development Board, school construction projects for 
which a grant application was filed for the 2004, 2005, or 2006 
application cycle by a school district included on the State 
Board of Education's 2004, 2005, or 2006 School Construction 
Project Application Cycle listing and only for the purpose of 
determining the amount of any adjustment pursuant to 
subsection (d) of Section 5-15 to a grant award amount for a 
project funded during the first application cycle opened after 
June 30, 2022. For the purpose of calculating the grant index, 
school districts are grouped into 2 categories, Category I and 
Category II. Category I consists of elementary and unit school 
districts. The equalized assessed valuation per pupil in 
average daily attendance of each school district in Category I 
shall be computed using its grades kindergarten through 8 
average daily attendance figure. A unit school district's 
Category I grant index shall be used for projects or portions 
of projects constructed for elementary school pupils. Category 
II consists of high school and unit school districts. The 
equalized assessed valuation per pupil in average daily 
attendance of each school district in Category II shall be 
computed using its grades 9 through 12 average daily 
attendance figure. A unit school district's Category II grant 
index shall be used for projects or portions of projects 
constructed for high school pupils. The changes made by this 
amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly apply to all 
grants made on or after the effective date of this amendatory 
Act, provided that for grants not yet made on the effective 
date of this amendatory Act but made in fiscal year 2001 and 
for grants made in fiscal year 2002, the grant index for a 
school district shall be the greater of (i) the grant index as 
calculated under this Law on or after the effective date of 
this amendatory Act or (ii) the grant index as calculated 
under this Law before the effective date of this amendatory 
Act. The grant index shall be no less than 0.35 and no greater 
than 0.75 for each district; provided that the grant index for 
districts whose equalized assessed valuation per pupil in 
average daily attendance is at the 99th percentile and above 
for all districts of the same type shall be 0.00.
    The grant index shall be calculated for each of those 
school districts forming a reorganized school district or 
cooperative high school if one or more of the following happen 
within the current or prior 2 fiscal years:
        (1) a new school district is created in accordance 
    with Article 11E of the School Code;
        (2) an existing school district annexes all of the 
    territory of one or more entire other school districts in 
    accordance with Article 7 of the School Code; or
        (3) a cooperative high school is formed in accordance 
    with Section 10-22.22c of the School Code.
The average grant index of those school districts shall be 
used as the grant index for the newly reorganized district or 
cooperative high school. 
    "Recognized project cost" means the total project cost for 
a school construction project determined by the Capital 
Development Board to be taken into account in calculating the 
grant award amount and the required local match for a school 
construction project.
    "Required local match" means an amount equal to the 
product of the recognized project cost determined by the 
Capital Development Board multiplied by a school district's 
required local match percentage, and then adjusted as may be 
required pursuant to Section 5-15. 
    "Required local match percentage" means a percentage equal 
to a school district's Local Capacity Percentage, as defined 
in Section 18-8.15 of the School Code, and as calculated by the 
State Superintendent of Education in the fiscal year in which 
the school district applies for a grant to be awarded pursuant 
to this Article, provided that the required local match 
percentage shall be no less than 10% and no greater than 90% 
for any district. With respect to a Type 40 area vocational 
center cooperative, a special education cooperative, or a 
cooperative high school, the required local match percentage 
is calculated by first multiplying each cooperative member 
district's average student enrollment utilized to calculate 
its latest Evidence-Based Funding, as defined in Section 
18-8.15 of the School Code, by the respective district's 
latest Local Capacity Percentage, as defined in Section 
18-8.15 of the School Code, to obtain a weighted average 
student enrollment. Then, the required local match percentage 
is calculated by taking the sum of all the member districts' 
weighted average student enrollment and dividing that sum by 
the sum of all the member districts' average student 
enrollment utilized to calculate the latest Evidence-Based 
Funding.
    "School construction project" means the acquisition, 
development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, 
improvement, architectural planning, and installation of 
capital facilities consisting of buildings, structures, 
durable equipment, and land for educational purposes.
    "School district" means a school district or a Type 40 
area vocational center or special education cooperative that 
is jointly owned, if the joint agreement includes language 
that specifies how the debt obligation is to be paid, 
including in the event that an entity withdraws from the joint 
agreement.
    "School district" includes a cooperative high school, if 
the cooperative agreement includes language that specifies how 
the debt obligation is to be paid, including if an entity 
withdraws from the cooperative agreement or the cooperative 
agreement is terminated. 
    "School maintenance project" means a project, other than a 
school construction project, intended to provide for the 
maintenance or upkeep of buildings or structures for 
educational purposes, but does not include ongoing operational 
costs.
(Source: P.A. 102-723, eff. 5-6-22.)
 
    (105 ILCS 230/5-15)
    Sec. 5-15. Grant award amounts and required local match.  
    (a) After June 30, 2022, any time there is an 
appropriation of funds by the General Assembly from the School 
Infrastructure Fund or School Construction Fund and a release 
of the appropriated funds to the Capital Development Board for 
expenditure on grant awards pursuant to the provisions of this 
Article, the State Board of Education is authorized to open an 
application cycle to receive grant applications from school 
districts for school construction projects. No grant 
application filed before the start of the first application 
cycle after June 30, 2022 may be considered. After the close of 
each application cycle, the State Board of Education shall 
determine the approval of applications, the required local 
match percentage for each approved application, and the 
priority order for school construction project grants to be 
made by the Capital Development Board and shall then notify 
all applicants regarding their eligibility for a grant. Such 
notification shall include an estimate of the required local 
match. The State Board of Education shall publish a list of 
applicants eligible for grants and forward it to the Capital 
Development Board.
    (b) The Capital Development Board, to the extent that 
appropriated funds have been released and proceeding through 
the list of eligible applicants in the order of priority 
determined by the State Board of Education, shall issue 
conditional grant awards to eligible school districts. An 
applicant that does not receive a conditional grant award 
notification must submit a new application during another 
application cycle in order to receive future consideration for 
a grant award.
    (c) The conditional grant award certifies to a school 
district the recognized project costs for its school 
construction project determined by the Capital Development 
Board, the applicable required local match percentage and 
grant award percentage, the required local match and grant 
award amount calculated by multiplying the required local 
match percentage and the grant award percentage by the 
recognized project cost, and the required local match and 
grant award amount as those amounts may be adjusted as 
required in subsection (d).
    (d) The required local match and grant award amount are 
calculated by multiplying the required local match percentage 
and the grant award percentage by the recognized project cost, 
provided that, for the first application in which an applicant 
is funded only during the first application cycle after June 
30, 2022, these amounts may be adjusted if the applicant had 
previously expended funds on a school construction project on 
the 2004, 2005, or 2006 School Construction Grant List. In 
that case, the required local match shall be reduced (but not 
below zero) and the grant award amount shall be increased (to 
an amount no greater than the recognized project cost) by an 
amount determined by the Capital Development Board to be equal 
to the amount of the grant the applicant would have received 
pursuant to Section 5-35 had it been awarded a grant in 2004, 
2005, or 2006 based on the 2004, 2005, or 2006 School 
Construction Grant List and the year in which the school 
district applied for the grant. To receive an adjustment under 
this subsection (d), a school district on the 2004, 2005, or 
2006 School Construction Grant List must initially apply and 
be approved during the first 3 application cycles after June 
30, 2024. 
    (e) A school district shall have 2 years from the date the 
school district was issued a conditional grant award from the 
Capital Development Board to obtain the school district's 
required local match and receive a final grant award from the 
Capital Development Board. If the required local match is not 
obtained within the 2-year time frame, the school district 
shall be required to reapply in another application cycle, 
after the 2-year time frame, to be considered for a grant 
award. The State share of the grant amount in a conditional 
grant award that is not claimed by a school district within the 
2-year time frame shall be reallocated to future application 
cycles after the 2-year time frame expires. 
(Source: P.A. 102-723, eff. 5-6-22; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.