HB4913eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4913 Engrossed LRB095 15697 NHT 42557 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-9 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27A-9)

Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.

(a) A charter may be granted for a period not less than 5 and not more than 10 school years. A charter may be renewed in incremental periods not to exceed 5 school years.

(b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the local school board or State Board, as the chartering entity, shall contain:

(1) A report on the progress of the charter school in achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance standards, content standards, and other terms of the initial approved charter proposal; and

(2) A financial statement that discloses the costs of administration, instruction, and other spending categories for the charter school that is understandable to the general public and that will allow comparison of those costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, in a format required by the State Board.

(c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local school board or State Board, as the chartering entity, clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements of this law:

(1) Committed a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter, in which case the local school board or State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to revocation or nonrenewal, and the charter school shall submit a written plan to the local school board or State Board, whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem and begin implementation of the plan within one calendar year after notification.

(2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward achievement of the content standards or pupil performance standards identified in the charter, in which case the charter school must be held to the terms as written in the charter.

(3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management, in which case the local school board or State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to revocation or nonrenewal, and the charter school shall submit a written plan to the local school board or State Board, whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem and begin implementation of the plan within one calendar year after notification.

(4) Violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not exempted, in which case the local school board or State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to revocation or nonrenewal, and the charter school shall submit a written plan to the local school board or State Board, whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem and begin implementation of the plan within one calendar year after notification.

If the local school board or State Board, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school has not rectified the problem, then the charter must be revoked or not renewed.

Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that may exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head under the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to make or promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. If, however, the Governor believes that rules are necessary to implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the Governor may suggest rules to the General Assembly by filing them with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate and by requesting that the General Assembly authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those suggested rules into law, or take any other appropriate action in the General Assembly's discretion. Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise explicitly given. For the purposes of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, "rules" is given the meaning contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" are given the meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that such definitions apply to agencies or agency heads under the jurisdiction of the Governor.

(d) (Blank).

(e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny, revoke or not to renew a charter shall be provided to the State Board. The State Board may reverse a local board's decision if the State Board finds that the charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with this Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students it is designed to serve. The State Board may condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the charter school of funding in an amount less than that requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board. Final decisions of the State Board shall be subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.

(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision or if a charter school is approved by referendum, the State Board shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter school. The State Board shall approve and certify the charter and shall perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils resident in a school district to that district and shall notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The State Board shall require the charter school to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8.05 notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification. The State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and shall pay such amounts to the charter school.

(Source: P.A. 91-96, eff. 7-9-99; 91-407, eff. 8-3-99; 92-16, eff. 6-28-01.)

Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding Section 8.32 as follows:

(30 ILCS 805/8.32 new)

Sec. 8.32. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly.