101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB3659

 

Introduced , by Rep. Aaron M. Ortiz

 

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

    Amends the Charter Schools Article of the School Code. Provides that, no later than one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act, a charter school's board of directors or other governing body must include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the charter school or a charter network election, appointment by the charter school's board of directors or other governing body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization or its equivalent. Provides that, no later than one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act or within the first year of his or her first term, every voting member of a charter school's board of directors or other governing body shall complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional development leadership training to ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity with the board's or governing body's role and responsibilities, including financial oversight and accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Acts, and compliance with education and labor law. Provides that in each subsequent year of his or her term, a voting member of a charter school's board of directors or other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of professional development training in those same areas.


LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3659LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 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 Section
527A-5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
7    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
8    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
9nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
10school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
11corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
12authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
13    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
14by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
15school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning
16on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3), in
17all new applications to establish a charter school in a city
18having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of the charter
19school shall be limited to one campus. The changes made to this
20Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter schools
21existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the effective
22date of Public Act 93-3).
23    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means

 

 

HB3659- 2 -LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

1a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and
2instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with
3their teachers at remote locations and with students
4participating at different times.
5    From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a
6moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
7virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
8school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
9moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
10virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
11April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
12school with virtual-schooling components already approved
13prior to April 1, 2013.
14    On or before March 1, 2014, the Commission shall submit to
15the General Assembly a report on the effect of
16virtual-schooling, including without limitation the effect on
17student performance, the costs associated with
18virtual-schooling, and issues with oversight. The report shall
19include policy recommendations for virtual-schooling.
20    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
21its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
22provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
23shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
24Meetings Act. No later than one year after the effective date
25of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly, a charter
26school's board of directors or other governing body must

 

 

HB3659- 3 -LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

1include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently
2enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the
3charter school or a charter network election, appointment by
4the charter school's board of directors or other governing
5body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization or
6its equivalent.
7    (c-5) No later than one year after the effective date of
8this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly or within the
9first year of his or her first term, every voting member of a
10charter school's board of directors or other governing body
11shall complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional development
12leadership training to ensure that each member has sufficient
13familiarity with the board's or governing body's role and
14responsibilities, including financial oversight and
15accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and
16school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information
17Act and the Open Meetings Acts, and compliance with education
18and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her term, a
19voting member of a charter school's board of directors or other
20governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of
21professional development training in these same areas. The
22training under this subsection may be provided or certified by
23a statewide charter school membership association or may be
24provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by
25the State Board of Education.
26    (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular

 

 

HB3659- 4 -LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

1health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
2requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
3preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
4students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or
5prevent threats to the health and safety of students and school
6personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety requirement" does
7not include any course of study or specialized instructional
8requirement for which the State Board has established goals and
9learning standards or which is designed primarily to impart
10knowledge and skills for students to master and apply as an
11outcome of their education.
12    A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
13health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
14under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before September
151, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its
16Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
17requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall be
18updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
19contract between a charter school and its authorizer must
20contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow
21the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
22promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
23and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
24during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
25precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health
26and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are

 

 

HB3659- 5 -LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

1not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
2including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
3authorizing local school board.
4    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
5charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
6charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
7instructional materials, and student activities.
8    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
9management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
10not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
11charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
12outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
13school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
14public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
15operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
16and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
17990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
18Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
19proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer
20may require quarterly financial statements from each charter
21school.
22    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
23this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, all
24federal and State laws and rules applicable to public schools
25that pertain to special education and the instruction of
26English learners, and its charter. A charter school is exempt

 

 

HB3659- 6 -LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

1from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
2governing public schools and local school board policies;
3however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
4        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code regarding
5    criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide
6    Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent
7    Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for
8    employment;
9        (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and
10    34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of students;
11        (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
12    Tort Immunity Act;
13        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
14    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
15    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
16        (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
17        (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and
18    subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code;
19        (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
20        (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school report
21    cards;
22        (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
23        (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying
24    prevention;
25        (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student
26    discipline reporting;

 

 

HB3659- 7 -LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

1        (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code;
2        (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code;
3        (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code; and
4        (14) Section 26-18 of this Code; and
5        (15) Section 22-30 of this Code.
6    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g)
7is declaratory of existing law.
8    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
9school district, the governing body of a State college or
10university or public community college, or any other public or
11for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
12school building and grounds or any other real property or
13facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
14for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
15maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
16activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to
17perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
18However, a charter school that is established on or after April
1916, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that
20operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
21not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the
22school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
23effective date of Public Act 93-3) and concludes at the end of
24the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection (i)
25of this Section, a school district may charge a charter school
26reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings,

 

 

HB3659- 8 -LRB101 11126 AXK 56352 b

1grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter
2school contracts with a school district shall be provided by
3the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school
4contracts with a local school board or with the governing body
5of a State college or university or public community college
6shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
7    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
8by converting an existing school or attendance center to
9charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
10deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
11agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
12costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
13facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
14to negotiation between the charter school and the local school
15board and shall be set forth in the charter.
16    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
17grade level.
18    (k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission,
19then the Commission charter school is its own local education
20agency.
21(Source: P.A. 99-30, eff. 7-10-15; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-245,
22eff. 8-3-15; 99-325, eff. 8-10-15; 99-456, eff. 9-15-16;
2399-642, eff. 7-28-16; 99-927, eff. 6-1-17; 100-29, eff. 1-1-18;
24100-156, eff. 1-1-18; 100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff.
251-1-18; 100-468, eff. 6-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863,
26eff. 8-14-18; revised 10-5-18.)