Public Act 097-0151
 
HB2401 EnrolledLRB097 07704 NHT 47815 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 Section 
27A-4 as follows:
 



    (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)



    Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions. 

    (a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend 
the provisions
of any court-ordered desegregation plan in 
effect for any school district.  A
charter school shall be 
subject to all federal and State laws and
constitutional 
provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of

disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, 
religion, ancestry,
marital status, or need for special 
education services.

    (b) The total number of charter schools operating under 
this Article at any
one time shall not exceed 120.  Not more 
than 70 charter
schools
shall operate at any one time in any 
city having a population exceeding
500,000 and not more than 45

charter schools shall operate at any one time in the remainder 
of the State, with not
more than one charter school that
has 
been initiated by a board of education, or
by an 
intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of 
education,
operating at any one
time in the school district 
where the charter school is located. In addition to these 
charter schools, up to but no more than 5 charter schools 
devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school dropouts may 
operate at any one time in any city having a population 
exceeding 500,000.  Notwithstanding any provision to the 
contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each 
such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the 
city.  Any of these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875 
enrollment seats, any one of the campuses of  the dropout 
charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each 
campus of the dropout charter must be operated, through a 
contract or payroll, by the same legal entity as that for which 
the charter is approved and certified. 

    For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board 
shall assign a
number to each charter submission it receives 
under Section 27A-6 for its
review and certification, based on 
the chronological order in which the
submission is received by 
it.  The State Board shall promptly notify local
school boards 
when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools 
authorized
to operate have been reached.

    (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that 
would convert any
existing private, parochial, or non-public 
school to a charter school.

    (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any 
pupil who resides
within the geographic boundaries of the area 
served by the local school board, provided that the board of 
education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may 
designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of 
the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of 
education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to 
relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk 
students.  Students residing within an attendance boundary may 
be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to 
attend the charter school.

    (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local 
school boards from
jointly
issuing a charter to a single shared 
charter school, provided that all of the
provisions of this 
Article are met as to those local school boards.

    (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the 
school district
to be employed in a charter school.

    (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing 
within the
geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a 
charter school.

    (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in 
a charter school
than there are spaces available, successful 
applicants shall be selected by
lottery.  However, priority 
shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in
the charter 
school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school 
the
previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and 
priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter 
school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated 
by the board of education in a city having a population 
exceeding 500,000.  Dual enrollment at both a
charter school and 
a public school or non-public school shall not be allowed.
A 
pupil who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall 
be deemed to
be suspended or expelled from the public schools 
of the school district in
which the pupil resides. 
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this subsection 
(h), any charter school with a mission exclusive to educating 
high school dropouts may restrict admission to students who are 
high school dropouts. 

    (i) (Blank).

    (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the 
contrary, a
school district in a city having a population 
exceeding 500,000 shall not
have a duty to collectively bargain 
with an exclusive representative of its
employees over 
decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal
under 
Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a 
charter
under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of 
these decisions,
provided that nothing in this Section shall 
have the effect of negating,
abrogating, replacing, reducing, 
diminishing, or limiting in any way
employee rights, 
guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8,
10, 
14, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

(Source: P.A. 96-105, eff. 7-30-09.)