HB1043 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 07996 NHT 38086 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB1043

Introduced , by Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr. - Jay Hoffman

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

See Index

Amends the School Code. Includes among the purposes for which moneys in the School District Emergency Financial Assistance Fund may be appropriated to the Illinois Finance Authority and the State Board of Education those purposes authorized under the provision concerning State interventions. Provides that the appropriation may be allocated and expended by the State Board for contractual services to provide technical assistance or consultation to school districts to assess their financial condition and to Financial Oversight Panels that petition for emergency financial assistance grants and as necessary to fulfill the goals and obligations of an intergovernmental agreement between a school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority under the provision concerning State interventions (instead of just to provide technical assistance or consultation to school districts to assess their financial condition and to Financial Oversight Panels that petition for emergency financial assistance grants). Makes corresponding changes. Provides that an emergency financial assistance grant shall not exceed $2,000 (instead of $1,000) times the number of certain pupils. In the provision concerning State interventions, includes among the possible actions that the State Board of Education shall take, if after 3 years following its placement on academic watch status a school district or school remains on academic watch status, entering into an intergovernmental agreement, pursuant to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, with the school board for the school district or school for management oversight of the planning and operations of the school district or school by the State Board of Education. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

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 1B-8 and 2-3.25f as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/1B-8) (from Ch. 122, par. 1B-8)

Sec. 1B-8. There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the School District Emergency Financial Assistance Fund (the "Fund"). The School District Emergency Financial Assistance Fund shall consist of appropriations, loan repayments, grants from the federal government, and donations from any public or private source. Moneys in the Fund may be appropriated only to the Illinois Finance Authority and the State Board for those purposes authorized under this Article and Articles 1F and 1H and Section 2-3.25f of this Code. The appropriation may be allocated and expended by the State Board for contractual services to provide technical assistance or consultation to school districts to assess their financial condition and to Financial Oversight Panels that petition for emergency financial assistance grants and as necessary to fulfill the goals and obligations of an intergovernmental agreement between a school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority under Section 2-3.25f of this Code. The Illinois Finance Authority may provide loans to school districts which are the subject of an approved petition for emergency financial assistance under Section 1B-4, 1F-62, or 1H-65, or 2-3.25f of this Code. Neither the State Board of Education nor the Illinois Finance Authority may collect any fees for providing these services.

From the amount allocated to each such school district under this Article the State Board shall identify a sum sufficient to cover all approved costs of the Financial Oversight Panel or intergovernmental agreement between a school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority established for the respective school district. If the State Board and State Superintendent of Education have not approved emergency financial assistance in conjunction with the appointment of a Financial Oversight Panel or the entry into an intergovernmental agreement between a school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority, the Panel's approved costs shall be paid from deductions from the district's general State aid.

The Financial Oversight Panel or a school board that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority may prepare and file with the State Superintendent a proposal for emergency financial assistance for the school district and for its operations budget. No expenditures from the Fund shall be authorized by the State Superintendent until he or she has approved the request of the Panel or the school board, either as submitted or in such lesser amount determined by the State Superintendent.

The maximum amount of an emergency financial assistance loan which may be allocated to any school district under this Article, including moneys necessary for the operations of any Financial Oversight the Panel, shall not exceed $4,000 times the number of pupils enrolled in the school district during the school year ending June 30 prior to the date of approval by the State Board of the petition for emergency financial assistance, as certified to the school local board or and the Panel or both by the State Superintendent. An emergency financial assistance grant shall not exceed $2,000 $1,000 times the number of such pupils. A school district may receive both a loan and a grant.

The payment of an emergency State financial assistance grant or loan shall be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. Payment of the emergency State financial assistance loan is subject to the applicable provisions of the Illinois Finance Authority Act. Emergency State financial assistance allocated and paid to a school district under this Article may be applied to any fund or funds from which the local board of education of that district is authorized to make expenditures by law.

Any emergency financial assistance grant proposed by the Financial Oversight Panel or the school board that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority and approved by the State Superintendent may be paid in its entirety during the initial year of the Panel's existence or the term of the intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority or spread in equal or declining amounts over a period of years not to exceed the period of the Panel's existence or the term of the intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority. An emergency financial assistance loan proposed by the Financial Oversight Panel or the school board that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority and approved by the Illinois Finance Authority may be paid in its entirety during the initial year of the Panel's existence or the term of the intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority or spread in equal or declining amounts over a period of years not to exceed the period of the Panel's existence or the term of the intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority. All loans made by the Illinois Finance Authority for a school district shall be required to be repaid, with simple interest over the term of the loan at a rate equal to 50% of the one-year Constant Maturity Treasury (CMT) yield as last published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System before the date on which the district's loan is approved by the Illinois Finance Authority, not later than the date the Financial Oversight Panel ceases to exist or the expiration of the intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority. The Panel or the school board that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority shall establish and the Illinois Finance Authority shall approve the terms and conditions, including the schedule, of repayments. The schedule shall provide for repayments commencing July 1 of each year or upon each fiscal year's receipt of moneys from a tax levy for emergency financial assistance. Repayment shall be incorporated into the annual budget of the school district and may be made from any fund or funds of the district in which there are moneys available. An emergency financial assistance loan to the Panel or school district shall not be considered part of the calculation of a school district's debt for purposes of the limitation specified in Section 19-1 of this Code. Default on repayment is subject to the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act. When moneys are repaid as provided herein they shall not be made available to the school local board for further use as emergency financial assistance under this Article at any time thereafter. All repayments required to be made by a school district shall be received by the State Board and deposited in the School District Emergency Financial Assistance Fund.

In establishing the terms and conditions for the repayment obligation of the school district, the Panel or the school board that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority shall annually determine whether a separate local property tax levy is required. The school board of any school district with a tax rate for educational purposes for the prior year of less than 120% of the maximum rate for educational purposes authorized by Section 17-2 shall provide for a separate tax levy for emergency financial assistance repayment purposes. Such tax levy shall not be subject to referendum approval. The amount of the levy shall be equal to the amount necessary to meet the annual repayment obligations of the school district as established by the Panel or the school board that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement between the school district and the State Board of Education for management oversight or an independent authority, or 20% of the amount levied for educational purposes for the prior year, whichever is less. However, no school district shall be required to levy the tax if the district's operating tax rate as determined under Section 18-8 or 18-8.05 exceeds 200% of the district's tax rate for educational purposes for the prior year.

(Source: P.A. 97-429, eff. 8-16-11.)

(105 ILCS 5/2-3.25f) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25f)

Sec. 2-3.25f. State interventions.

(a) The State Board of Education shall provide technical assistance to assist with the development and implementation of School and District Improvement Plans.

Schools or school districts that fail to make reasonable efforts to implement an approved Improvement Plan may suffer loss of State funds by school district, attendance center, or program as the State Board of Education deems appropriate.

(a-5) In this subsection (a-5), "school" means any of the following named public schools or their successor name:

(1) Dirksen Middle School in Dolton School District 149.

(2) Diekman Elementary School in Dolton School District 149.

(3) Caroline Sibley Elementary School in Dolton School District 149.

(4) Berger-Vandenberg Elementary School in Dolton School District 149.

(5) Carol Moseley Braun School in Dolton School District 149.

(6) New Beginnings Learning Academy in Dolton School District 149.

(7) McKinley Junior High School in South Holland School District 150.

(8) Greenwood Elementary School in South Holland School District 150.

(9) McKinley Elementary School in South Holland School District 150.

(10) Eisenhower School in South Holland School District 151.

(11) Madison School in South Holland School District 151.

(12) Taft School in South Holland School District 151.

(13) Wolcott School in Thornton School District 154.

(14) Memorial Junior High School in Lansing School District 158.

(15) Oak Glen Elementary School in Lansing School District 158.

(16) Lester Crawl Primary Center in Lansing School District 158.

(17) Brookwood Junior High School in Brookwood School District 167.

(18) Brookwood Middle School in Brookwood School District 167.

(19) Hickory Bend Elementary School in Brookwood School District 167.

(20) Medgar Evers Primary Academic Center in Ford Heights School District 169.

(21) Nathan Hale Elementary School in Sunnybrook School District 171.

(22) Ira F. Aldridge Elementary School in City of Chicago School District 299.

(23) William E.B. DuBois Elementary School in City of Chicago School District 299.

If, after 2 years following its placement on academic watch status, a school remains on academic watch status, then, subject to federal appropriation money being available, the State Board of Education shall allow the school board to opt in the process of operating that school on a pilot full-year school plan approved by the State Board of Education upon expiration of its teachers' current collective bargaining agreement until the expiration of the next collective bargaining agreement. A school board must notify the State Board of Education of its intent to opt in the process of operating a school on a pilot full-year school plan.

(b) In addition, if after 3 years following its placement on academic watch status a school district or school remains on academic watch status, the State Board of Education shall take one of the following actions for the district or school:

(1) The State Board of Education may authorize the State Superintendent of Education to direct the regional superintendent of schools to remove school board members pursuant to Section 3-14.28 of this Code. Prior to such direction the State Board of Education shall permit members of the local board of education to present written and oral comments to the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education may direct the State Superintendent of Education to appoint an Independent Authority that shall exercise such powers and duties as may be necessary to operate a school or school district for purposes of improving pupil performance and school improvement. The State Superintendent of Education shall designate one member of the Independent Authority to serve as chairman. The Independent Authority shall serve for a period of time specified by the State Board of Education upon the recommendation of the State Superintendent of Education.

(2) The State Board of Education may (A) change the recognition status of the school district or school to nonrecognized, or (B) authorize the State Superintendent of Education to direct the reassignment of pupils or direct the reassignment or replacement of school district personnel who are relevant to the failure to meet adequate yearly progress criteria. If a school district is nonrecognized in its entirety, it shall automatically be dissolved on July 1 following that nonrecognition and its territory realigned with another school district or districts by the regional board of school trustees in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 7-11 of the School Code. The effective date of the nonrecognition of a school shall be July 1 following the nonrecognition.

(3) The State Board of Education may enter into an intergovernmental agreement, pursuant to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, with the school board for the school district or school for management oversight of the planning and operations of the school district or school by the State Board of Education. A school board that enters into an intergovernmental agreement with the State Board of Education under this paragraph (3) may prepare and file with the State Superintendent of Education a proposal for emergency financial assistance for the school district in accordance with Section 1B-8 of this Code. A school district may receive both a loan and a grant.

(c) All federal requirements apply to schools and school districts utilizing federal funds under Title I, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(Source: P.A. 97-370, eff. 1-1-12.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.