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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 | 27A-5 and by adding Section 28-22 as follows:
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6 | (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
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7 | Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
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8 | (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, | ||||||
9 | nonreligious, non-home
based, and non-profit school. A charter | ||||||
10 | school shall be organized and operated
as a nonprofit | ||||||
11 | corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
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12 | authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
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13 | (b) A charter school may be established under this Article | ||||||
14 | by creating a new
school or by converting an existing public | ||||||
15 | school or attendance center to
charter
school status.
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16 | Beginning on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act | ||||||
17 | 93-3), in all new
applications to establish
a charter
school | ||||||
18 | in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of | ||||||
19 | the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. The changes | ||||||
20 | made to this Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter | ||||||
21 | schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the
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22 | effective date of Public Act 93-3). | ||||||
23 | (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means |
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1 | a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and | ||||||
2 | instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with | ||||||
3 | their teachers at remote locations and with students | ||||||
4 | participating at different times. | ||||||
5 | From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a | ||||||
6 | moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with | ||||||
7 | virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a | ||||||
8 | school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This | ||||||
9 | moratorium does not apply to a charter school with | ||||||
10 | virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to | ||||||
11 | April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter | ||||||
12 | school with virtual-schooling components already approved | ||||||
13 | prior to April 1, 2013.
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14 | (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by | ||||||
15 | its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner | ||||||
16 | provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter | ||||||
17 | school
shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and | ||||||
18 | the Open Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year | ||||||
19 | after the effective date of Public Act 101-291), a charter | ||||||
20 | school's board of directors or other governing body must | ||||||
21 | include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently | ||||||
22 | enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the | ||||||
23 | charter school or a charter network election, appointment by | ||||||
24 | the charter school's board of directors or other governing | ||||||
25 | body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization | ||||||
26 | or its equivalent. |
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1 | (c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the | ||||||
2 | effective date of Public Act 101-291) or within the first year | ||||||
3 | of his or her first term, every voting member of a charter | ||||||
4 | school's board of directors or other governing body shall | ||||||
5 | complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional development | ||||||
6 | leadership training to ensure that each member has sufficient | ||||||
7 | familiarity with the board's or governing body's role and | ||||||
8 | responsibilities, including financial oversight and | ||||||
9 | accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and | ||||||
10 | school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information | ||||||
11 | Act and the Open Meetings Act, and compliance with education | ||||||
12 | and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her term, a | ||||||
13 | voting member of a charter school's board of directors or | ||||||
14 | other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of | ||||||
15 | professional development training in these same areas. The | ||||||
16 | training under this subsection may be provided or certified by | ||||||
17 | a statewide charter school membership association or may be | ||||||
18 | provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by | ||||||
19 | the State Board of Education.
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20 | (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular | ||||||
21 | health and safety requirement" means any health and safety | ||||||
22 | requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain, | ||||||
23 | preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for | ||||||
24 | students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or | ||||||
25 | prevent threats to the health and safety of students and | ||||||
26 | school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety |
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1 | requirement" does not include any course of study or | ||||||
2 | specialized instructional requirement for which the State | ||||||
3 | Board has established goals and learning standards or which is | ||||||
4 | designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students | ||||||
5 | to master and apply as an outcome of their education. | ||||||
6 | A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular | ||||||
7 | health and safety
requirements applicable to public schools | ||||||
8 | under the laws of the State of
Illinois. On or before September | ||||||
9 | 1, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its | ||||||
10 | Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety | ||||||
11 | requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall | ||||||
12 | be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter | ||||||
13 | contract between a charter school and its authorizer must | ||||||
14 | contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow | ||||||
15 | the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements | ||||||
16 | promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health | ||||||
17 | and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list | ||||||
18 | during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d) | ||||||
19 | precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health | ||||||
20 | and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are | ||||||
21 | not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board, | ||||||
22 | including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the | ||||||
23 | authorizing local school board.
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24 | (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a | ||||||
25 | charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a | ||||||
26 | charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, |
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1 | instructional materials, and student activities.
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2 | (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the | ||||||
3 | management and operation
of its fiscal affairs including,
but | ||||||
4 | not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each | ||||||
5 | charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an | ||||||
6 | outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter | ||||||
7 | school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of | ||||||
8 | public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of | ||||||
9 | operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer | ||||||
10 | and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form | ||||||
11 | 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal | ||||||
12 | Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for | ||||||
13 | proper financial oversight of the charter school, an | ||||||
14 | authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from | ||||||
15 | each charter school.
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16 | (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of | ||||||
17 | this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, | ||||||
18 | all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public | ||||||
19 | schools that pertain to special education and the instruction | ||||||
20 | of English learners, and
its charter. A charter
school is | ||||||
21 | exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
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22 | governing public
schools and local school board policies; | ||||||
23 | however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
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24 | (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code | ||||||
25 | regarding criminal
history records checks and checks of | ||||||
26 | the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer |
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1 | and Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants | ||||||
2 | for employment;
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3 | (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and | ||||||
4 | 34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of
students;
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5 | (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees | ||||||
6 | Tort Immunity Act;
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7 | (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit | ||||||
8 | Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of | ||||||
9 | officers, directors, employees, and agents;
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10 | (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
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11 | (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and | ||||||
12 | subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code; | ||||||
13 | (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
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14 | (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school | ||||||
15 | report cards;
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16 | (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act; | ||||||
17 | (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying | ||||||
18 | prevention; | ||||||
19 | (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student | ||||||
20 | discipline reporting; | ||||||
21 | (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code; | ||||||
22 | (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code; | ||||||
23 | (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code; | ||||||
24 | (14) Section 26-18 of this Code; | ||||||
25 | (15) Section 22-30 of this Code; | ||||||
26 | (16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code; |
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1 | (17) the Seizure Smart School Act; and | ||||||
2 | (18) Section 2-3.64a-10 of this Code ; and . | ||||||
3 | (19) Section 28-22 of this Code. | ||||||
4 | The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection | ||||||
5 | (g) is declaratory of existing law. | ||||||
6 | (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a | ||||||
7 | school district, the
governing body of a State college or | ||||||
8 | university or public community college, or
any other public or | ||||||
9 | for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a | ||||||
10 | school building and grounds or any other real property or | ||||||
11 | facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert | ||||||
12 | for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and | ||||||
13 | maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, | ||||||
14 | activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required | ||||||
15 | to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
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16 | However, a charter school
that is established on
or
after | ||||||
17 | April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that | ||||||
18 | operates
in a city having a population exceeding
500,000 may | ||||||
19 | not contract with a for-profit entity to
manage or operate the | ||||||
20 | school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
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21 | effective date of Public Act 93-3) and
concludes at the end of | ||||||
22 | the 2004-2005 school year.
Except as provided in subsection | ||||||
23 | (i) of this Section, a school district may
charge a charter | ||||||
24 | school reasonable rent for the use of the district's
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25 | buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a | ||||||
26 | charter school
contracts
with a school district shall be |
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1 | provided by the district at cost. Any services
for which a | ||||||
2 | charter school contracts with a local school board or with the
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3 | governing body of a State college or university or public | ||||||
4 | community college
shall be provided by the public entity at | ||||||
5 | cost.
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6 | (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established | ||||||
7 | by converting an
existing school or attendance center to | ||||||
8 | charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is | ||||||
9 | deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter | ||||||
10 | agreement,
in school district
facilities. However, all other | ||||||
11 | costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district | ||||||
12 | facilities that are used by the charter school shall be | ||||||
13 | subject
to negotiation between
the charter school and the | ||||||
14 | local school board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
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15 | (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age | ||||||
16 | or grade level.
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17 | (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or | ||||||
18 | Commission, then the charter school is its own local education | ||||||
19 | agency. | ||||||
20 | (Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18; | ||||||
21 | 100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff. | ||||||
22 | 6-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50, | ||||||
23 | eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20; | ||||||
24 | 101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; 101-654, eff. | ||||||
25 | 3-8-21.) |
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1 | (105 ILCS 5/28-22 new) | ||||||
2 | Sec. 28-22. Literature selection requirements. | ||||||
3 | (a) This Section may be referred to as the Pierce Twins | ||||||
4 | Law. | ||||||
5 | (b) To ensure that students in grades kindergarten through | ||||||
6 | 12 receive exposure to diverse peoples, cultures, and | ||||||
7 | backgrounds to better develop tolerance, understanding, | ||||||
8 | appreciation, and acceptance of others, a school district | ||||||
9 | shall require that books that are included as a part of any | ||||||
10 | course, material, instruction, reading assignment, or other | ||||||
11 | school curricula related to literature during the school year | ||||||
12 | or that appear on summer reading lists must include books that | ||||||
13 | are written by diverse authors, including, but not limited to, | ||||||
14 | authors who are African American, women, Native American, | ||||||
15 | LatinX, and Asian. Reading material may not perpetuate bias | ||||||
16 | against persons based on, but not limited to, any of the | ||||||
17 | following the categories: | ||||||
18 | (1) Ability. | ||||||
19 | (2) Race. | ||||||
20 | (3) Language. | ||||||
21 | (4) Beliefs. | ||||||
22 | (5) Gender. | ||||||
23 | (6) Culture. | ||||||
24 | (7) Family dynamics. | ||||||
25 | (8) Socioeconomic status. | ||||||
26 | (c) For any school district utilizing federal funds under |
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1 | Title I, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary | ||||||
2 | Education Act of 1965, the selection of each book to be | ||||||
3 | included in a reading assignment, course material and | ||||||
4 | instruction, or other school curricula related to literature | ||||||
5 | must first receive prior approval from the school board before | ||||||
6 | the book may be included. The criteria for the approval or | ||||||
7 | denial of a book shall be determined by school board policy, | ||||||
8 | but the minimum requirement is that the book may not be | ||||||
9 | approved by the school board if the book contains language or | ||||||
10 | material that is derogatory or racist or incites hate against | ||||||
11 | any persons. | ||||||
12 | (d) A school board is authorized to adopt a policy | ||||||
13 | pursuant to this Section based on guidelines established by | ||||||
14 | the State Board of Education. | ||||||
15 | (e) The State Board of Education shall adopt any rules and | ||||||
16 | guidelines necessary to implement this Section.
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17 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
18 | becoming law.
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