HB2810ham001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch

Filed: 3/20/2015

09900HB2810ham001 LRB099 06861 NHT 32905 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2810

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2810 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections 27A-9 and 27A-11 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 the Commission, 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 the Commission, 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.

(2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward achievement of the content standards or pupil performance standards identified in the charter.

(3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management.

(4) Violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not exempted.

In the case of revocation, the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a written plan to the local school board or the Commission, whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or education of the charter school's students is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a school year. Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall be construed to prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years in duration.

(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 Commission and the State Board. The Commission may reverse a local board's decision if the Commission 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 Commission 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; however, the Commission shall have no authority to agree to funding in an amount less than or more than the permissible range of funding for district-authorized charter schools specified in Section 27A-11 of this Code. Final decisions of the Commission shall be subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Law.

(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if the Commission on appeal reverses a local board's decision or if a charter school is approved by referendum, the Commission shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter school. The Commission shall approve the charter and shall perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board shall determine whether the charter proposal approved by the Commission is consistent with the provisions of this Article and, if the approved proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to this Article. 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 Commission 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 charter school shall report to the Commission the number of students enrolled as of July 15, October 1, December 15, and March 1 in each year by district of residence, which enrollment must be certified in accordance with subsection (g) of this Section. 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.

(g) On or before July 31, October 15, December 31, and March 15 of each year For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the student enrollment for each of its charter schools, as collected for that quarter pursuant to subsection (f) of this Section. Upon receipt of each quarterly report, the State Board shall compute and pay to the charter school a per capita amount that shall be calculated by multiplying the number of students who are enrolled in the charter school for that quarter by the per capita student tuition of the school district of residence. Payments computed under this subsection (g) shall be paid directly to charter schools from funds appropriated for general State Aid payments to all school districts under Section 18-8.05 of this Code and may not be withheld from funds otherwise due to the student's district of residence. A charter school may not receive per capita funds under this subsection (g) for any student who is enrolled in the charter school but does not reside within the geographic boundaries of the district or districts in which the charter school is approved to operate.

(h) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the State Board shall pay directly to a charter school any federal or State aid attributable to a student with a disability attending the school.

(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14.)

(105 ILCS 5/27A-11)

Sec. 27A-11. Local financing.

(a) For purposes of this the School Code, pupils enrolled in a charter school authorized by a local school board shall be included in the pupil enrollment of the school district within which the pupil resides, while pupils enrolled in a charter school authorized by the Commission shall be considered enrolled in that charter school only. Each charter school (i) shall determine the school district in which each pupil who is enrolled in the charter school resides, (ii) shall report the aggregate number of pupils resident of a school district who are enrolled in the charter school to the school district in which those pupils reside, and (iii) shall maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8 notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification.

(b) As Except for a charter school established by referendum under Section 27A-6.5, as part of a charter school contract between a charter school and a local school board, the parties charter school and the local school board shall agree on funding and any services to be provided by the school district to the charter school. Agreed funding that a charter school is to receive from the local school board for a school year shall be paid in equal quarterly installments with the payment of the installment for the first quarter being made not later than July 1, unless the charter establishes a different payment schedule. However, if a charter school dismisses a pupil from the charter school after receiving a quarterly payment, the charter school shall return to the school district, on a quarterly basis, the prorated portion of public funding provided for the education of that pupil for the time the student is not enrolled at the charter school. Likewise, if a pupil transfers to a charter school between quarterly payments, the school district shall provide, on a quarterly basis, a prorated portion of the public funding to the charter school to provide for the education of that pupil.

All services centrally or otherwise provided by the school district including, but not limited to, rent, food services, custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services, libraries, transportation, and warehousing shall be subject to negotiation between a charter school and the local school board and paid for out of the revenues negotiated pursuant to this subsection (b); provided that the local school board shall not attempt, by negotiation or otherwise, to obligate a charter school to provide pupil transportation for pupils for whom a district is not required to provide transportation under the criteria set forth in subsection (a)(13) of Section 27A-7.

In no event shall the funding be less than 75% or more than 125% of the school district's per capita student tuition multiplied by the number of students residing in the district who are enrolled in the charter school.

It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and service agreements under this subsection (b) shall be neither a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the establishment of a charter school.

The charter school may set and collect reasonable fees. Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school shall be retained by the charter school.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this Section, the proportionate share of State and federal resources generated by students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be directed to charter schools enrolling those students by their school districts or administrative units. The proportionate share of moneys generated under other federal or State categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools serving students eligible for that aid.

(d) The governing body of a charter school is authorized to accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind made to the charter school and to expend or use gifts, donations, or grants in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the donor; however, a gift, donation, or grant may not be accepted by the governing body if it is subject to any condition contrary to applicable law or contrary to the terms of the contract between the charter school and the local school board. Charter schools shall be encouraged to solicit and utilize community volunteer speakers and other instructional resources when providing instruction on the Holocaust and other historical events.

(e) (Blank).

(f) The Commission shall provide technical assistance to persons and groups preparing or revising charter applications.

(g) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter, each charter school shall refund to the local board of education all unspent funds.

(h) A charter school is authorized to incur temporary, short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of receipt of funds from the local school board.

(Source: P.A. 98-640, eff. 6-9-14; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14; revised 10-1-14.)

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