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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | ||||||
5 | 10-22.31 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/10-22.31) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.31)
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7 | Sec. 10-22.31. Special education.
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8 | (a) To enter into joint agreements with other school boards | ||||||
9 | to provide
the needed special educational facilities and to | ||||||
10 | employ a director and
other professional workers as defined in | ||||||
11 | Section 14-1.10 and to establish
facilities as defined in | ||||||
12 | Section 14-1.08 for the types of children described
in Sections | ||||||
13 | 14-1.02 through 14-1.07. The director (who may be employed | ||||||
14 | under
a multi-year contract as provided in subsection (c) of | ||||||
15 | this Section)
and other professional workers may be employed by | ||||||
16 | one district, which
shall be reimbursed on a mutually agreed | ||||||
17 | basis by other districts
that are parties to the joint | ||||||
18 | agreement. Such agreements may provide that
one district may | ||||||
19 | supply professional workers for a joint program conducted
in | ||||||
20 | another district. Such agreement shall provide that any | ||||||
21 | full-time school
psychologist who is employed by a joint | ||||||
22 | agreement program and spends over
50% of his or her time in one | ||||||
23 | school district shall not be required to work
a different |
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1 | teaching schedule than the other school psychologists in that
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2 | district. Such agreement shall include, but not be limited to, | ||||||
3 | provisions
for administration, staff, programs, financing, | ||||||
4 | housing, transportation, an
advisory body, and the withdrawal | ||||||
5 | of
districts from
the joint agreement. Except as otherwise | ||||||
6 | provided in this Section and Section 10-22.31.1, the
withdrawal | ||||||
7 | of districts from the joint agreement shall be by petition to | ||||||
8 | the
regional board of school trustees. Such
agreement may be | ||||||
9 | amended at any time as provided in the joint agreement or,
if | ||||||
10 | the joint agreement does not so provide, then such agreement | ||||||
11 | may be
amended at any time upon the adoption of concurring | ||||||
12 | resolutions by the
school boards of all member districts. Such | ||||||
13 | an amendment may include the removal of a school district from | ||||||
14 | or the addition of a school district to the joint agreement | ||||||
15 | without a petition as otherwise required in this Section if all | ||||||
16 | member districts adopt concurring resolutions to that effect. A | ||||||
17 | fully executed copy of any such
agreement or amendment entered | ||||||
18 | into on or after January 1, 1989 shall be
filed with the State | ||||||
19 | Board of Education. Petitions Such petitions for withdrawal
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20 | shall be made to the regional board or boards of school | ||||||
21 | trustees exercising oversight or governance over any of all | ||||||
22 | counties
having jurisdiction over one or more of the districts | ||||||
23 | in the joint
agreement. Upon receipt of a petition for | ||||||
24 | withdrawal, the regional board boards
of school trustees having | ||||||
25 | jurisdiction over the cooperating districts shall
publish | ||||||
26 | notice of and conduct a joint hearing or, in instances in which |
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1 | more than one regional board of school trustees exercises | ||||||
2 | oversight or governance over any of the districts in the joint | ||||||
3 | agreement, a joint hearing, in accordance with rules adopted by | ||||||
4 | the State Board of Education. In instances in which a single | ||||||
5 | regional board of school trustees holds the hearing, approval | ||||||
6 | of the petition must be by a two-thirds majority vote of the | ||||||
7 | school trustees. In instances in which a joint hearing of 2 or | ||||||
8 | more regional boards of school trustees is required, approval | ||||||
9 | of the petition must be by a two-thirds majority of all those | ||||||
10 | school trustees present and voting. Notwithstanding the | ||||||
11 | provisions of Article 6 of this Code, in instances in which the | ||||||
12 | competent regional board or boards of school trustees has been | ||||||
13 | abolished, petitions for withdrawal shall be made to the school | ||||||
14 | boards of those districts that fall under the oversight or | ||||||
15 | governance of the abolished regional board of school trustees | ||||||
16 | in accordance with rules adopted by the State Board of | ||||||
17 | Education on the issue as provided
in Section 7-6 . No such | ||||||
18 | petition may be considered, however, unless in
compliance with | ||||||
19 | Section 7-8. If any petition is approved pursuant to this | ||||||
20 | subsection (a) by a 2/3 vote of all trustees
of those regional | ||||||
21 | boards, at a joint meeting , the withdrawal takes effect
as | ||||||
22 | provided in Section 7-9 of this Act. The changes to this | ||||||
23 | Section made by this amendatory Act of the 96th General | ||||||
24 | Assembly apply to all changes to special education joint | ||||||
25 | agreement membership initiated after July 1, 2009.
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26 | (b) To either (1) designate an administrative district to |
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1 | act as fiscal
and legal agent for the districts that are | ||||||
2 | parties to the joint
agreement, or (2) designate a governing | ||||||
3 | board composed of one member of
the school board of each | ||||||
4 | cooperating district and designated by such
boards to act in | ||||||
5 | accordance with the joint agreement. No such governing
board | ||||||
6 | may levy taxes and no such governing board may incur any
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7 | indebtedness except within an annual budget for the joint | ||||||
8 | agreement
approved by the governing board and by the boards of | ||||||
9 | at least a majority
of the cooperating school districts or a | ||||||
10 | number of districts greater
than a majority if required by
the | ||||||
11 | joint agreement. The governing board may appoint an executive | ||||||
12 | board of at
least 7 members to administer the joint agreement | ||||||
13 | in accordance with
its terms. However, if 7 or more school | ||||||
14 | districts are parties to a joint agreement that does not have | ||||||
15 | an
administrative district: (i) at least a majority of the | ||||||
16 | members appointed by
the governing board to the executive
board | ||||||
17 | shall
be members of the school boards of the cooperating | ||||||
18 | districts; or
(ii) if the
governing
board wishes to appoint | ||||||
19 | members who are not school board members, they shall be
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20 | superintendents from the
cooperating districts.
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21 | (c) To employ a director of a joint agreement program under | ||||||
22 | a one-year or multi-year
contract. No such contract can be | ||||||
23 | offered or accepted for less than one year or
more than 3 | ||||||
24 | years, except for a person serving as a director of a
special | ||||||
25 | education joint agreement for the first time in Illinois. In | ||||||
26 | such
a case, the initial contract shall be for a 2 year period. |
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1 | Such contract
may be discontinued at any time by mutual | ||||||
2 | agreement of the contracting
parties, or may be extended for an | ||||||
3 | additional 3 years at the end of any year.
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4 | The contract year is July 1 through the following June | ||||||
5 | 30th, unless the
contract specifically provides otherwise. | ||||||
6 | Notice of intent not to renew a
contract when given by a | ||||||
7 | controlling board or administrative district must
be in writing | ||||||
8 | stating the specific reason therefor. Notice of intent not
to | ||||||
9 | renew the contract must be given by the controlling board or | ||||||
10 | the
administrative district at least 90 days before the | ||||||
11 | contract expires.
Failure to do so will automatically extend | ||||||
12 | the contract for one
additional year.
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13 | By accepting the terms of the multi-year contract, the | ||||||
14 | director of a
special education joint agreement waives all | ||||||
15 | rights granted under Sections
24-11 through 24-16 for the | ||||||
16 | duration of his or her employment as a director
of a special | ||||||
17 | education joint agreement.
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18 | (d) To designate a district that is a party to the joint | ||||||
19 | agreement as the
issuer of bonds or notes for the purposes and | ||||||
20 | in the manner provided in
this Section. It is not necessary for | ||||||
21 | such district to also be the
administrative district for the | ||||||
22 | joint agreement, nor is it necessary for
the same district to | ||||||
23 | be designated as the issuer of all series of bonds or
notes | ||||||
24 | issued hereunder. Any district so designated may, from time to | ||||||
25 | time,
borrow money and, in evidence of its obligation to repay | ||||||
26 | the borrowing,
issue its negotiable bonds or notes for the |
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1 | purpose of acquiring,
constructing, altering, repairing, | ||||||
2 | enlarging and equipping any building or
portion thereof, | ||||||
3 | together with any land or interest therein, necessary to
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4 | provide special educational facilities and services as defined | ||||||
5 | in Section
14-1.08. Title in and to any such facilities shall | ||||||
6 | be held in accordance
with the joint agreement.
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7 | Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution | ||||||
8 | of the board
of education of the issuing district. The | ||||||
9 | resolution may contain such
covenants as may be deemed | ||||||
10 | necessary or advisable by the district to
assure the payment of | ||||||
11 | the bonds or notes. The resolution shall be
effective | ||||||
12 | immediately upon its adoption.
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13 | Prior to the issuance of such bonds or notes, each school | ||||||
14 | district that
is a party to the joint agreement shall agree, | ||||||
15 | whether by amendment to the
joint agreement or by resolution of | ||||||
16 | the board of education, to be jointly
and severally liable for | ||||||
17 | the payment of the bonds and notes. The bonds or
notes shall be | ||||||
18 | payable solely and only from the payments made pursuant to
such | ||||||
19 | agreement.
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20 | Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the | ||||||
21 | bonds or notes under
any joint agreement shall constitute an | ||||||
22 | indebtedness of any district,
including the issuing district, | ||||||
23 | within the meaning of any constitutional or
statutory | ||||||
24 | limitation.
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25 | As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, | ||||||
26 | the agreement
by a district to pay the bonds and notes shall be |
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1 | irrevocable
notwithstanding the district's withdrawal from | ||||||
2 | membership in the joint
special education program.
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3 | (e) If a district whose employees are on strike was, prior | ||||||
4 | to the strike,
sending students with disabilities to special | ||||||
5 | educational
facilities and services
in another district or | ||||||
6 | cooperative, the district affected by the strike
shall continue | ||||||
7 | to send such students during the strike and shall be
eligible | ||||||
8 | to receive appropriate State reimbursement.
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9 | (f) With respect to those joint agreements that have a | ||||||
10 | governing board
composed of one member of the school board of | ||||||
11 | each cooperating district and
designated by those boards to act | ||||||
12 | in accordance with the joint agreement, the
governing board | ||||||
13 | shall have, in addition to its other powers under this Section,
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14 | the authority to issue bonds or notes for the purposes and in | ||||||
15 | the manner
provided in this subsection. The governing board of | ||||||
16 | the joint agreement
may from time to time borrow money and, in | ||||||
17 | evidence of its
obligation to repay the borrowing,
issue its | ||||||
18 | negotiable bonds or notes for the purpose of acquiring,
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19 | constructing, altering, repairing, enlarging and equipping any | ||||||
20 | building or
portion thereof, together with any land or interest | ||||||
21 | therein, necessary to
provide special educational facilities | ||||||
22 | and services as defined in Section
14-1.08 and including also | ||||||
23 | facilities for activities of administration and
educational | ||||||
24 | support personnel employees. Title in and to any such | ||||||
25 | facilities
shall be held in accordance with the joint | ||||||
26 | agreement.
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1 | Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution | ||||||
2 | of the
governing board. The resolution may contain such
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3 | covenants as may be deemed necessary or advisable by the | ||||||
4 | governing board
to assure the payment of the bonds or notes and | ||||||
5 | interest accruing thereon.
The resolution shall be effective | ||||||
6 | immediately upon its adoption.
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7 | Each school district that
is a party to the joint agreement | ||||||
8 | shall be automatically liable, by virtue of
its membership in | ||||||
9 | the joint agreement, for its proportionate share of the
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10 | principal amount of the bonds and notes plus interest accruing | ||||||
11 | thereon, as
provided in the resolution. Subject to the joint | ||||||
12 | and several liability
hereinafter provided for, the resolution | ||||||
13 | may provide for different payment
schedules for different | ||||||
14 | districts except that the aggregate amount of scheduled
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15 | payments for each district shall be equal to its proportionate | ||||||
16 | share of the
debt service in the bonds or notes based upon the | ||||||
17 | fraction that its
equalized assessed valuation bears to the | ||||||
18 | total equalized assessed valuation of
all the district members | ||||||
19 | of the joint agreement as adjusted in the manner
hereinafter | ||||||
20 | provided. In computing that fraction the most recent available
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21 | equalized assessed valuation at the time of the issuance of the | ||||||
22 | bonds and notes
shall be used, and the equalized assessed | ||||||
23 | valuation of any district maintaining
grades K to 12 shall be | ||||||
24 | doubled in both the numerator and denominator of the
fraction | ||||||
25 | used for all of the districts that are members of the joint
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26 | agreement. In case of default in payment by any
member, each |
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1 | school district that is a party to the joint agreement shall
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2 | automatically be jointly and severally liable for the amount of | ||||||
3 | any
deficiency. The bonds or
notes and interest thereon shall | ||||||
4 | be payable solely and only from the
funds made available | ||||||
5 | pursuant to the procedures set forth in this
subsection. No | ||||||
6 | project authorized under this subsection may require an
annual | ||||||
7 | contribution for bond payments from any member district in | ||||||
8 | excess of
0.15% of the value of taxable property as equalized | ||||||
9 | or assessed by the
Department of Revenue in the case of | ||||||
10 | districts maintaining grades K-8 or 9-12
and 0.30% of the value | ||||||
11 | of taxable property as equalized or assessed by the
Department | ||||||
12 | of
Revenue in the case of districts maintaining grades K-12. | ||||||
13 | This limitation on
taxing authority is expressly applicable to | ||||||
14 | taxing authority provided under
Section 17-9 and other | ||||||
15 | applicable Sections of this Act. Nothing contained in
this | ||||||
16 | subsection shall be construed as an exception to the property | ||||||
17 | tax
limitations contained in Section 17-2, 17-2.2a, 17-5, or
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18 | any other applicable Section of this Act.
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19 | Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the | ||||||
20 | bonds or notes
under any joint agreement shall constitute an | ||||||
21 | indebtedness of any district
within the meaning of any | ||||||
22 | constitutional or statutory limitation.
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23 | As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, | ||||||
24 | the obligation
of a district to pay its proportionate share of | ||||||
25 | the principal of and
interest on the bonds and notes as | ||||||
26 | required in this Section shall be a
general obligation of the |
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1 | district payable from any and all sources of revenue
designated | ||||||
2 | for that purpose by the board of education of the district and | ||||||
3 | shall
be irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal | ||||||
4 | from membership in the
joint special education program.
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5 | (Source: P.A. 89-397, eff. 8-20-95; 89-613, eff. 8-9-96; | ||||||
6 | 89-626, eff. 8-9-96;
90-103, eff. 7-11-97; 90-515, eff. | ||||||
7 | 8-22-97; 90-637, eff. 7-24-98; 90-655, eff.
7-30-98.)
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8 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
9 | becoming law. |