99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB1301

 

Introduced 2/18/2015, by Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/27A-9
105 ILCS 5/27A-11

    Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that payments made by the State Board of Education or a school board to a charter school shall be prorated and paid at the same percentage as general State aid payments to school districts in a fiscal year. Makes related changes.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB1301LRB099 09047 NHT 29235 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
527A-9 and 27A-11 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
7    Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
8    (a) A charter may be granted for a period not less than 5
9and not more than 10 school years. A charter may be renewed in
10incremental periods not to exceed 5 school years.
11    (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
12local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
13shall contain:
14        (1) A report on the progress of the charter school in
15    achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
16    standards, content standards, and other terms of the
17    initial approved charter proposal; and
18        (2) A financial statement that discloses the costs of
19    administration, instruction, and other spending categories
20    for the charter school that is understandable to the
21    general public and that will allow comparison of those
22    costs to other schools or other comparable organizations,
23    in a format required by the State Board.

 

 

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1    (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
2school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
3clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the
4following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements
5of this law:
6        (1) Committed a material violation of any of the
7    conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
8    charter.
9        (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward
10    achievement of the content standards or pupil performance
11    standards identified in the charter.
12        (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
13    fiscal management.
14        (4) Violated any provision of law from which the
15    charter school was not exempted.
16    In the case of revocation, the local school board or the
17Commission, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter
18school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to
19revocation. The charter school shall submit a written plan to
20the local school board or the Commission, whichever is
21applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a
22timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or
23the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If
24the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering
25entity, finds that the charter school has failed to implement
26the plan of remediation and adhere to the timeline, then the

 

 

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1chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in
2situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or
3education of the charter school's students is at risk, the
4revocation shall take place at the end of a school year.
5Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly
6shall be construed to prohibit an implementation timetable that
7is less than 2 years in duration.
8    (d) (Blank).
9    (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
10revoke or not to renew a charter shall be provided to the
11Commission and the State Board. The Commission may reverse a
12local board's decision if the Commission finds that the charter
13school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with
14this Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students
15it is designed to serve. The Commission may condition the
16granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the charter school
17of funding in an amount less than that requested in the
18proposal submitted to the local school board. Final decisions
19of the Commission shall be subject to judicial review under the
20Administrative Review Law.
21    (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
22the Commission on appeal reverses a local board's decision or
23if a charter school is approved by referendum, the Commission
24shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter
25school. The Commission shall approve the charter and shall
26perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by

 

 

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1the local school board. The State Board shall determine whether
2the charter proposal approved by the Commission is consistent
3with the provisions of this Article and, if the approved
4proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to this
5Article. The State Board shall report the aggregate number of
6charter school pupils resident in a school district to that
7district and shall notify the district of the amount of funding
8to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling
9such students. The Commission shall require the charter school
10to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be
11deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8.05
12notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section
13regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification. The
14State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise due the
15district the funds authorized by this Article to be paid to the
16charter school and shall pay such amounts to the charter
17school. All payments made by the State Board to a charter
18school pursuant to this subsection (f) shall be prorated and
19paid at the same percentage as general State aid payments to
20school districts in that fiscal year.
21    (g) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
22Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the
23student enrollment for each of its charter schools.
24    (h) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
25State Board shall pay directly to a charter school any federal
26or State aid attributable to a student with a disability

 

 

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1attending the school.
2(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14.)
 
3    (105 ILCS 5/27A-11)
4    Sec. 27A-11. Local financing.
5    (a) For purposes of the School Code, pupils enrolled in a
6charter school shall be included in the pupil enrollment of the
7school district within which the pupil resides. Each charter
8school (i) shall determine the school district in which each
9pupil who is enrolled in the charter school resides, (ii) shall
10report the aggregate number of pupils resident of a school
11district who are enrolled in the charter school to the school
12district in which those pupils reside, and (iii) shall maintain
13accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed
14sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8 notwithstanding
15any other requirements of that Section regarding hours of
16instruction and teacher certification.
17    (b) Except for a charter school established by referendum
18under Section 27A-6.5, as part of a charter school contract,
19the charter school and the local school board shall agree on
20funding and any services to be provided by the school district
21to the charter school. Agreed funding that a charter school is
22to receive from the local school board for a school year shall
23be paid in equal quarterly installments with the payment of the
24installment for the first quarter being made not later than
25July 1, unless the charter establishes a different payment

 

 

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1schedule. If However, if a charter school dismisses a pupil
2from the charter school after receiving a quarterly payment,
3the charter school shall return to the school district, on a
4quarterly basis, the prorated portion of public funding
5provided for the education of that pupil for the time the
6student is not enrolled at the charter school. Likewise, if a
7pupil transfers to a charter school between quarterly payments,
8the school district shall provide, on a quarterly basis, a
9prorated portion of the public funding to the charter school to
10provide for the education of that pupil. All payments made by a
11local school board to a charter school pursuant to this
12subsection (b) shall be prorated and paid at the same
13percentage as general State aid payments to school districts in
14that fiscal year.
15    All services centrally or otherwise provided by the school
16district including, but not limited to, rent, food services,
17custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services,
18libraries, transportation, and warehousing shall be subject to
19negotiation between a charter school and the local school board
20and paid for out of the revenues negotiated pursuant to this
21subsection (b); provided that the local school board shall not
22attempt, by negotiation or otherwise, to obligate a charter
23school to provide pupil transportation for pupils for whom a
24district is not required to provide transportation under the
25criteria set forth in subsection (a)(13) of Section 27A-7.
26    In no event shall the funding as calculated prior to any

 

 

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1proration pursuant to this subsection (b) be less than 75% or
2more than 125% of the school district's per capita student
3tuition multiplied by the number of students residing in the
4district who are enrolled in the charter school.
5    It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and
6service agreements under this subsection (b) shall be neither a
7financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the
8establishment of a charter school.
9    The charter school may set and collect reasonable fees.
10Fees collected from students enrolled at a charter school shall
11be retained by the charter school.
12    (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this Section, the
13proportionate share of State and federal resources generated by
14students with disabilities or staff serving them shall be
15directed to charter schools enrolling those students by their
16school districts or administrative units. The proportionate
17share of moneys generated under other federal or State
18categorical aid programs shall be directed to charter schools
19serving students eligible for that aid.
20    (d) The governing body of a charter school is authorized to
21accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind made to the
22charter school and to expend or use gifts, donations, or grants
23in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the donor;
24however, a gift, donation, or grant may not be accepted by the
25governing body if it is subject to any condition contrary to
26applicable law or contrary to the terms of the contract between

 

 

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1the charter school and the local school board. Charter schools
2shall be encouraged to solicit and utilize community volunteer
3speakers and other instructional resources when providing
4instruction on the Holocaust and other historical events.
5    (e) (Blank).
6    (f) The Commission shall provide technical assistance to
7persons and groups preparing or revising charter applications.
8    (g) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter, each
9charter school shall refund to the local board of education all
10unspent funds.
11    (h) A charter school is authorized to incur temporary,
12short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of
13receipt of funds from the local school board.
14(Source: P.A. 98-640, eff. 6-9-14; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14;
15revised 10-1-14.)