Public Act 096-0998
 
SB3515 Enrolled LRB096 17732 NHT 35833 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 Code is amended by changing Sections
8-16, 10-7, 10-9, 10-16.5, 10-20.6, 10-20.19, 10-22.6,
10-23.5, and 24-23 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/8-16)  (from Ch. 122, par. 8-16)
    Sec. 8-16. School orders; Teacher's wages. The school
treasurer shall pay out funds of the school district only upon
an order of the school board signed by the president and clerk
or secretary or by a majority of the board, except payment of
the obligations for Social Security taxes as required by the
Social Security Enabling Act and payment of recurring bills,
such as utility bills, may be made upon a certification by the
clerk or secretary of the board of the amount of the obligation
only. When an order issued for the wages of a teacher is
presented to the treasurer and is not paid for want of funds,
the treasurer shall endorse it over his signature, "not paid
for want of funds" with the date of presentation, and shall
make and keep a record of the endorsement. The order shall
thereafter bear interest at the rate, not exceeding the maximum
rate authorized by the Bond Authorization Act, as amended at
the time of the making of the contract, established by the
school board of the district, until the treasurer shall notify
the clerk or secretary in writing that he has funds to pay the
order. Whenever the treasurer obtains sufficient funds to pay
any such order he shall set them aside for such purpose and
shall not use them to pay any other order until the order
previously presented and not paid is paid or otherwise
discharged. The treasurer shall make and keep a record of the
notices and hold the funds necessary to pay such order until it
is presented. The order shall draw no interest after notice is
given to the clerk or secretary.
    Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the
establishment of a voucher system of expenditures as provided
in Section 10-23.5 of this Act.
    With respect to instruments for the payment of money issued
under this Section either before, on, or after June 6, 1989, it
is and always has been the intention of the General Assembly
(i) that the Omnibus Bond Acts are and always have been
supplementary grants of power to issue instruments in
accordance with the Omnibus Bond Acts, regardless of any
provision of this Act that may appear to be or to have been
more restrictive than those Acts, (ii) that the provisions of
this Section are not a limitation on the supplementary
authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts, and (iii) that
instruments issued under this Section within the supplementary
authority granted by the Omnibus Bond Acts are not invalid
because of any provision of this Act that may appear to be or
to have been more restrictive than those Acts.
(Source: P.A. 86-4; 86-715; 86-1028; 86-1161.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-7)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-7)
    Sec. 10-7. Secretary or clerk to record official acts -
yeas and nays on expenditures. The secretary or clerk shall
keep in a punctual, orderly and reliable manner a record of the
official acts of the board which shall be signed by the
president and the secretary or clerk, and submitted to the
treasurer having custody of the funds of the district for his
inspection and approval on the first Monday of April and
October, and at such other times as the treasurer may require.
On all questions involving the expenditure of money, the yeas
and nays shall be taken and entered on the records of the
proceedings of the board. The secretary or clerk shall keep the
minutes and, if the district is not required to employ a
superintendent, keep or cause to be kept the financial records
of the school district.
(Source: P.A. 76-1339.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-9)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-9)
    Sec. 10-9. Interest of board member in contracts.
    (a) No school board member shall be interested, directly or
indirectly, in his own name or in the name of any other person,
association, trust or corporation, in any contract, work or
business of the district or in the sale of any article,
whenever the expense, price or consideration of the contract,
work, business or sale is paid either from the treasury or by
any assessment levied by any statute or ordinance. A school
board member shall not be deemed interested if the board member
is an employee of a business that is involved in the
transaction of business with the school district, provided that
the board member has no financial interests other than as an
employee. No school board member shall be interested, directly
or indirectly, in the purchase of any property which (1)
belongs to the district, or (2) is sold for taxes or
assessments, or (3) is sold by virtue of legal process at the
suit of the district.
    (b) However, any board member may provide materials,
merchandise, property, services or labor, if:
        A. the contract is with a person, firm, partnership,
    association, corporation or cooperative association in
    which the board member has less than a 7 1/2% share in the
    ownership; and
        B. such interested board member publicly discloses the
    nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
    deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
    contract; and
        C. such interested board member abstains from voting on
    the award of the contract, though he shall be considered
    present for the purposes of establishing a quorum; and
        D. such contract is approved by a majority vote of
    those board members presently holding office; and
        E. the contract is awarded after sealed bids to the
    lowest responsible bidder if the amount of the contract
    exceeds $1500, or awarded without bidding if the amount of
    the contract is less than $1500; and
        F. the award of the contract would not cause the
    aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
    same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation
    or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
    exceed $25,000.
    (c) In addition to the above exemption, any board member
may provide materials, merchandise, property, services or
labor if:
        A. the award of the contract is approved by a majority
    vote of the board provided that any such interested member
    shall abstain from voting; and
        B. the amount of the contract does not exceed $1,000;
    and
        C. the award of the contract would not cause the
    aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
    same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
    or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
    exceed $2,000, except with respect to a board member of a
    school district in which the materials, merchandise,
    property, services, or labor to be provided under the
    contract are not available from any other person, firm,
    association, partnership, corporation, or cooperative
    association in the district, in which event the award of
    the contract shall not cause the aggregate amount of all
    contracts so awarded to that same person, firm,
    association, partnership, or cooperative association in
    the same fiscal year to exceed $5,000; and
        D. such interested member publicly discloses the
    nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
    deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
    contract; and
        E. such interested member abstains from voting on the
    award of the contract, though he shall be considered
    present for the purposes of establishing a quorum.
    (d) In addition to exemptions otherwise authorized by this
Section, any board member may purchase for use as the board
member's primary place of residence a house constructed by the
district's vocational education students on the same basis that
any other person would be entitled to purchase the property.
The sale of the house by the district must comply with the
requirements set forth in Section 5-22 of The School Code.
    (e) A contract for the procurement of public utility
services by a district with a public utility company is not
barred by this Section by one or more members of the board
being an officer or employee of the public utility company or
holding an ownership interest of no more than 7 1/2% in the
public utility company, or holding an ownership interest of any
size if the school district has a population of less than 7,500
and the public utility's rates are approved by the Illinois
Commerce Commission. An elected or appointed member of the
board having such an interest shall be deemed not to have a
prohibited interest under this Section.
    (f) Nothing contained in this Section, including the
restrictions set forth in subsections (b), (c), (d) and (e),
shall preclude a contract of deposit of monies, loans or other
financial services by a school district with a local bank or
local savings and loan association, regardless of whether a
member or members of the governing body of the school district
are interested in such bank or savings and loan association as
an officer or employee or as a holder of less than 7 1/2% of the
total ownership interest. A member or members holding such an
interest in such a contract shall not be deemed to be holding a
prohibited interest for purposes of this Act. Such interested
member or members of the governing body must publicly state the
nature and extent of their interest during deliberations
concerning the proposed award of such a contract, but shall not
participate in any further deliberations concerning the
proposed award. Such interested member or members shall not
vote on such a proposed award. Any member or members abstaining
from participation in deliberations and voting under this
Section may be considered present for purposes of establishing
a quorum. Award of such a contract shall require approval by a
majority vote of those members presently holding office.
Consideration and award of any such contract in which a member
or members are interested may only be made at a regularly
scheduled public meeting of the governing body of the school
district.
    (g) Any school board member who violates this Section is
guilty of a Class 4 felony and in addition thereto any office
held by such person so convicted shall become vacant and shall
be so declared as part of the judgment of the court.
(Source: P.A. 89-244, eff. 8-4-95.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-16.5)
    Sec. 10-16.5. Oath of office. Each school board member,
before taking his or her seat on the board, shall take an oath
of office, administered as determined by the board, in
substantially the following form:
        I, (name of member or successful candidate), do
    solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge
    the duties of the office of member of the Board of
    Education (or Board of School Directors, as the case may
    be) of (name of school district), in accordance with the
    Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the
    State of Illinois, and the laws of the State of Illinois,
    to the best of my ability.
        I further swear (or affirm) that:
        I shall respect taxpayer interests by serving as a
    faithful protector of the school district's assets;
        I shall encourage and respect the free expression of
    opinion by my fellow board members and others who seek a
    hearing before the board, while respecting the privacy of
    students and employees;
        I shall recognize that a board member has no legal
    authority as an individual and that decisions can be made
    only by a majority vote at a public board meeting; and
        I shall abide by majority decisions of the board, while
    retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions
    through ethical and constructive channels.
(Source: P.A. 94-881, eff. 6-20-06.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-20.6)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-20.6)
    Sec. 10-20.6. Maintain Visit and inspect schools. To visit,
inspect, and maintain the public schools under their
jurisdiction as the good of the schools may require and in
conformance with the code authorized in Section 2-3.12.
(Source: P.A. 87-984.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-20.19)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-20.19)
    Sec. 10-20.19. Payment of orders. Subject to the provisions
of Article 1B in the case of a school district receiving
emergency State financial assistance, the school board shall
pay all orders in accordance with Section 10-18 of this Act,
except as herein provided:
    (1) It shall be lawful for the school board to submit to
the treasurer a certified copy of those portions of the board
minutes, properly signed by the secretary and president, or a
majority of the board, showing all bills approved for payment
by the board and clearly showing to whom, and for what purpose
each payment is to be made by the treasurer, and to what
budgetary item each payment shall be debited, and such
certified copy shall serve as full authority to the treasurer
to make the payments as thus approved; this shall not preclude
the use of a voucher system, or any other system of sound
accounting and business procedure, provided that such system
reflects the facts, and that the same is in accordance with the
regulations prescribed by or approved by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction.
    (2) It shall be lawful for the school board by resolution
to establish revolving funds for school cafeterias, lunch
rooms, athletics, petty cash or similar purposes, provided such
funds are in the custody of an employee who shall be bonded as
provided in Article 8 of this Act for bonding school treasurers
and who shall be responsible to the board and to the treasurer,
subject to regular annual audit by licensed public accountants
and other such examinations as the school board shall deem
advisable and kept in accordance with regulations prescribed by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction. A monthly report and
an annual summary of all receipts and expenditures of the fund
shall be submitted to the school board and the treasurer. All
funds advanced by the treasurer to operate such revolving funds
shall be carried on the treasurer's books as cash obligations
due to the district and all receipts of such revolving funds
shall be deposited daily in a bank or savings and loan
association to be approved by the treasurer, unless there is no
bank or savings and loan association in the community, in which
event receipts shall be deposited intact not less than once
each week in the bank or savings and loan association approved
by the treasurer. All reimbursements to any such revolving
funds from the district funds shall be completely itemized as
to whom paid, for what purpose, and against what budgetary item
the expenditure is chargeable.
    No bank or savings and loan association shall receive
public funds as permitted by this Section, unless it has
complied with the requirements established pursuant to Section
6 of "An Act relating to certain investments of public funds by
public agencies", approved July 23, 1943, as now or hereafter
amended.
    (3) The school board shall establish rules and regulations
governing conditions under which school classes, clubs, and
associations may collect or acquire funds in the name of any
school; and, under such regulations as the Superintendent of
Public Instruction may prescribe, provide for the safeguarding
of such funds for the educational, recreational, or cultural
purposes they are designed to serve.
    (4) It shall be lawful for the clerk or secretary of the
board to certify to the school treasurer the amount of the
obligation for Social Security taxes as required by the Social
Security Enabling Act and the amount of recurring bills, such
as utility bills, showing the amount and to whom payment is to
be made and what budgetary item or items the payment shall be
debited from, and such certification shall serve as full
authority to the treasurer to make such payment.
(Source: P.A. 86-954.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-22.6)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.6)
    Sec. 10-22.6. Suspension or expulsion of pupils; school
searches.
    (a) To expel pupils guilty of gross disobedience or
misconduct, and no action shall lie against them for such
expulsion. Expulsion shall take place only after the parents
have been requested to appear at a meeting of the board, or
with a hearing officer appointed by it, to discuss their
child's behavior. Such request shall be made by registered or
certified mail and shall state the time, place and purpose of
the meeting. The board, or a hearing officer appointed by it,
at such meeting shall state the reasons for dismissal and the
date on which the expulsion is to become effective. If a
hearing officer is appointed by the board he shall report to
the board a written summary of the evidence heard at the
meeting and the board may take such action thereon as it finds
appropriate.
    (b) To suspend or by policy regulation to authorize the
superintendent of the district or the principal, assistant
principal, or dean of students of any school to suspend pupils
guilty of gross disobedience or misconduct, or to suspend
pupils guilty of gross disobedience or misconduct on the school
bus from riding the school bus, and no action shall lie against
them for such suspension. The board may by policy regulation
authorize the superintendent of the district or the principal,
assistant principal, or dean of students of any school to
suspend pupils guilty of such acts for a period not to exceed
10 school days. If a pupil is suspended due to gross
disobedience or misconduct on a school bus, the board may
suspend the pupil in excess of 10 school days for safety
reasons. Any suspension shall be reported immediately to the
parents or guardian of such pupil along with a full statement
of the reasons for such suspension and a notice of their right
to a review, a copy of which shall be given to the school
board. The school board must be given a summary of the notice,
including the reason for the suspension and the suspension
length. Upon request of the parents or guardian the school
board or a hearing officer appointed by it shall review such
action of the superintendent or principal, assistant
principal, or dean of students. At such review the parents or
guardian of the pupil may appear and discuss the suspension
with the board or its hearing officer. If a hearing officer is
appointed by the board he shall report to the board a written
summary of the evidence heard at the meeting. After its hearing
or upon receipt of the written report of its hearing officer,
the board may take such action as it finds appropriate.
    (c) The Department of Human Services shall be invited to
send a representative to consult with the board at such meeting
whenever there is evidence that mental illness may be the cause
for expulsion or suspension.
    (d) The board may expel a student for a definite period of
time not to exceed 2 calendar years, as determined on a case by
case basis. A student who is determined to have brought one of
the following objects to school, any school-sponsored activity
or event, or any activity or event that bears a reasonable
relationship to school shall be expelled for a period of not
less than one year:
        (1) A firearm. For the purposes of this Section,
    "firearm" means any gun, rifle, shotgun, weapon as defined
    by Section 921 of Title 18 of the United States Code,
    firearm as defined in Section 1.1 of the Firearm Owners
    Identification Card Act, or firearm as defined in Section
    24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961. The expulsion period
    under this subdivision (1) may be modified by the
    superintendent, and the superintendent's determination may
    be modified by the board on a case-by-case basis.
        (2) A knife, brass knuckles or other knuckle weapon
    regardless of its composition, a billy club, or any other
    object if used or attempted to be used to cause bodily
    harm, including "look alikes" of any firearm as defined in
    subdivision (1) of this subsection (d). The expulsion
    requirement under this subdivision (2) may be modified by
    the superintendent, and the superintendent's determination
    may be modified by the board on a case-by-case basis.
Expulsion or suspension shall be construed in a manner
consistent with the Federal Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. A student who is subject to suspension or
expulsion as provided in this Section may be eligible for a
transfer to an alternative school program in accordance with
Article 13A of the School Code. The provisions of this
subsection (d) apply in all school districts, including special
charter districts and districts organized under Article 34.
    (e) To maintain order and security in the schools, school
authorities may inspect and search places and areas such as
lockers, desks, parking lots, and other school property and
equipment owned or controlled by the school, as well as
personal effects left in those places and areas by students,
without notice to or the consent of the student, and without a
search warrant. As a matter of public policy, the General
Assembly finds that students have no reasonable expectation of
privacy in these places and areas or in their personal effects
left in these places and areas. School authorities may request
the assistance of law enforcement officials for the purpose of
conducting inspections and searches of lockers, desks, parking
lots, and other school property and equipment owned or
controlled by the school for illegal drugs, weapons, or other
illegal or dangerous substances or materials, including
searches conducted through the use of specially trained dogs.
If a search conducted in accordance with this Section produces
evidence that the student has violated or is violating either
the law, local ordinance, or the school's policies or rules,
such evidence may be seized by school authorities, and
disciplinary action may be taken. School authorities may also
turn over such evidence to law enforcement authorities. The
provisions of this subsection (e) apply in all school
districts, including special charter districts and districts
organized under Article 34.
    (f) Suspension or expulsion may include suspension or
expulsion from school and all school activities and a
prohibition from being present on school grounds.
    (g) A school district may adopt a policy providing that if
a student is suspended or expelled for any reason from any
public or private school in this or any other state, the
student must complete the entire term of the suspension or
expulsion before being admitted into the school district. This
policy may allow placement of the student in an alternative
school program established under Article 13A of this Code, if
available, for the remainder of the suspension or expulsion.
This subsection (g) applies to all school districts, including
special charter districts and districts organized under
Article 34 of this Code.
(Source: P.A. 96-633, eff. 8-24-09.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/10-23.5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-23.5)
    Sec. 10-23.5. Educational support personnel employees.
    (a) To employ such educational support personnel employees
as it deems advisable and to define their employment duties;
provided that residency within any school district shall not be
considered in determining the employment or the compensation of
any such employee, or whether to retain, promote, assign or
transfer such employee. If an educational support personnel
employee is removed or dismissed or the hours he or she works
are reduced as a result of a decision of the school board (i)
to decrease the number of educational support personnel
employees employed by the board or (ii) to discontinue some
particular type of educational support service, written notice
shall be mailed to the employee and also given to the employee
either by certified mail, return receipt requested, or personal
delivery with receipt, at least 30 days before the employee is
removed or dismissed or the hours he or she works are reduced,
together with a statement of honorable dismissal and the reason
therefor if applicable. However, if a reduction in hours is due
to an unforeseen reduction in the student population, then the
written notice must be mailed and given to the employee at
least 5 days before the hours are reduced. The employee with
the shorter length of continuing service with the district,
within the respective category of position, shall be dismissed
first unless an alternative method of determining the sequence
of dismissal is established in a collective bargaining
agreement or contract between the board and any exclusive
bargaining agent and except that this provision shall not
impair the operation of any affirmative action program in the
district, regardless of whether it exists by operation of law
or is conducted on a voluntary basis by the board. If the board
has any vacancies for the following school term or within one
calendar year from the beginning of the following school term,
the positions thereby becoming available within a specific
category of position shall be tendered to the employees so
removed or dismissed from that category or any other category
of position, so far as they are qualified to hold such
positions. Each board shall, in consultation with any exclusive
employee representative or bargaining agent, each year
establish a list, categorized by positions, showing the length
of continuing service of each full time educational support
personnel employee who is qualified to hold any such positions,
unless an alternative method of determining a sequence of
dismissal is established as provided for in this Section, in
which case a list shall be made in accordance with the
alternative method. Copies of the list shall be distributed to
the exclusive employee representative or bargaining agent on or
before February 1 of each year. Where an educational support
personnel employee is dismissed by the board as a result of a
decrease in the number of employees or the discontinuance of
the employee's job, the employee shall be paid all earned
compensation on or before the next regular pay date third
business day following his or her last day of employment.
    The provisions of this amendatory Act of 1986 relating to
residency within any school district shall not apply to cities
having a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants.
    (b) In the case of a new school district or districts
formed in accordance with Article 11E of this Code, a school
district or districts that annex all of the territory of one or
more entire other school districts in accordance with Article 7
of this Code, or a school district receiving students from a
deactivated school facility in accordance with Section
10-22.22b of this Code, the employment of educational support
personnel in the new, annexing, or receiving school district
immediately following the reorganization shall be governed by
this subsection (b). Lists of the educational support personnel
employed in the individual districts for the school year
immediately prior to the effective date of the new district or
districts, annexation, or deactivation shall be combined for
the districts forming the new district or districts, for the
annexed and annexing districts, or for the deactivating and
receiving districts, as the case may be. The combined list
shall be categorized by positions, showing the length of
continuing service of each full-time educational support
personnel employee who is qualified to hold any such position.
If there are more full-time educational support personnel
employees on the combined list than there are available
positions in the new, annexing, or receiving school district,
then the employing school board shall first remove or dismiss
those educational support personnel employees with the shorter
length of continuing service within the respective category of
position, following the procedures outlined in subsection (a)
of this Section. The employment and position of each
educational support personnel employee on the combined list not
so removed or dismissed shall be transferred to the new,
annexing, or receiving school board, and the new, annexing, or
receiving school board is subject to this Code with respect to
any educational support personnel employee so transferred as if
the educational support personnel employee had been the new,
annexing, or receiving board's employee during the time the
educational support personnel employee was actually employed
by the school board of the district from which the employment
and position were transferred.
    The changes made by Public Act 95-148 shall not apply to
the formation of a new district or districts in accordance with
Article 11E of this Code, the annexation of one or more entire
districts in accordance with Article 7 of this Code, or the
deactivation of a school facility in accordance with Section
10-22.22b of this Code effective on or before July 1, 2007.
(Source: P.A. 95-148, eff. 8-14-07; 95-396, eff. 8-23-07;
95-876, eff. 8-21-08.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/24-23)  (from Ch. 122, par. 24-23)
    Sec. 24-23. Teacher transcript of credits. Each teacher
shall file with the superintendent of the school in which he is
teaching or, if there is no such superintendent, with the
Regional County Superintendent of Schools a complete
transcript of credits earned in recognized institutions of
higher learning attended by him. On or before September 1 of
each year thereafter, unless otherwise provided in a collective
bargaining agreement, every On each July 1st following the date
of filing such transcript each teacher shall so file a
transcript of any credits that have been so earned since the
date the last transcript was filed.
    Such record of credits shall be used as the base for
determining the minimum salary for such teachers as provided by
Section 24--8 of this Act.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance
    105 ILCS 5/8-16 from Ch. 122, par. 8-16
    105 ILCS 5/10-7 from Ch. 122, par. 10-7
    105 ILCS 5/10-9 from Ch. 122, par. 10-9
    105 ILCS 5/10-16.5
    105 ILCS 5/10-20.6 from Ch. 122, par. 10-20.6
    105 ILCS 5/10-20.19 from Ch. 122, par. 10-20.19
    105 ILCS 5/10-22.6 from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.6
    105 ILCS 5/10-23.5 from Ch. 122, par. 10-23.5
    105 ILCS 5/24-23 from Ch. 122, par. 24-23