Rep. La Shawn K. Ford
Filed: 4/20/2021
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3254
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3254 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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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 |
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1 | 93-3), in all new
applications to establish
a charter
school | ||||||
2 | in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of | ||||||
3 | the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. The changes | ||||||
4 | made to this Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter | ||||||
5 | schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the
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6 | effective date of Public Act 93-3). | ||||||
7 | (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means | ||||||
8 | a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and | ||||||
9 | instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with | ||||||
10 | their teachers at remote locations and with students | ||||||
11 | participating at different times. | ||||||
12 | From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a | ||||||
13 | moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with | ||||||
14 | virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a | ||||||
15 | school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This | ||||||
16 | moratorium does not apply to a charter school with | ||||||
17 | virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to | ||||||
18 | April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter | ||||||
19 | school with virtual-schooling components already approved | ||||||
20 | prior to April 1, 2013.
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21 | (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by | ||||||
22 | its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner | ||||||
23 | provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter | ||||||
24 | school
shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and | ||||||
25 | the Open Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year | ||||||
26 | after the effective date of Public Act 101-291), a charter |
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1 | school's board of directors or other governing body must | ||||||
2 | include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently | ||||||
3 | enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the | ||||||
4 | charter school or a charter network election, appointment by | ||||||
5 | the charter school's board of directors or other governing | ||||||
6 | body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization | ||||||
7 | or its equivalent. | ||||||
8 | (c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the | ||||||
9 | effective date of Public Act 101-291) or within the first year | ||||||
10 | of his or her first term, every voting member of a charter | ||||||
11 | school's board of directors or other governing body shall | ||||||
12 | complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional development | ||||||
13 | leadership training to ensure that each member has sufficient | ||||||
14 | familiarity with the board's or governing body's role and | ||||||
15 | responsibilities, including financial oversight and | ||||||
16 | accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and | ||||||
17 | school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information | ||||||
18 | Act and the Open Meetings Act, and compliance with education | ||||||
19 | and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her term, a | ||||||
20 | voting member of a charter school's board of directors or | ||||||
21 | other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of | ||||||
22 | professional development training in these same areas. The | ||||||
23 | training under this subsection may be provided or certified by | ||||||
24 | a statewide charter school membership association or may be | ||||||
25 | provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by | ||||||
26 | the State Board of Education.
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1 | (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular | ||||||
2 | health and safety requirement" means any health and safety | ||||||
3 | requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain, | ||||||
4 | preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for | ||||||
5 | students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or | ||||||
6 | prevent threats to the health and safety of students and | ||||||
7 | school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety | ||||||
8 | requirement" does not include any course of study or | ||||||
9 | specialized instructional requirement for which the State | ||||||
10 | Board has established goals and learning standards or which is | ||||||
11 | designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students | ||||||
12 | to master and apply as an outcome of their education. | ||||||
13 | A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular | ||||||
14 | health and safety
requirements applicable to public schools | ||||||
15 | under the laws of the State of
Illinois. On or before September | ||||||
16 | 1, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its | ||||||
17 | Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety | ||||||
18 | requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall | ||||||
19 | be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter | ||||||
20 | contract between a charter school and its authorizer must | ||||||
21 | contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow | ||||||
22 | the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements | ||||||
23 | promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health | ||||||
24 | and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list | ||||||
25 | during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d) | ||||||
26 | precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health |
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1 | and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are | ||||||
2 | not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board, | ||||||
3 | including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the | ||||||
4 | authorizing local school board.
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5 | (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a | ||||||
6 | charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a | ||||||
7 | charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, | ||||||
8 | instructional materials, and student activities.
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9 | (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the | ||||||
10 | management and operation
of its fiscal affairs including,
but | ||||||
11 | not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each | ||||||
12 | charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an | ||||||
13 | outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter | ||||||
14 | school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of | ||||||
15 | public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of | ||||||
16 | operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer | ||||||
17 | and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form | ||||||
18 | 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal | ||||||
19 | Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for | ||||||
20 | proper financial oversight of the charter school, an | ||||||
21 | authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from | ||||||
22 | each charter school.
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23 | (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of | ||||||
24 | this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, | ||||||
25 | all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public | ||||||
26 | schools that pertain to special education and the instruction |
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1 | of English learners, and
its charter. A charter
school is | ||||||
2 | exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
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3 | governing public
schools and local school board policies; | ||||||
4 | however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
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5 | (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code | ||||||
6 | regarding criminal
history records checks and checks of | ||||||
7 | the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer | ||||||
8 | and Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants | ||||||
9 | for employment;
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10 | (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and | ||||||
11 | 34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of
students;
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12 | (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees | ||||||
13 | Tort Immunity Act;
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14 | (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit | ||||||
15 | Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of | ||||||
16 | officers, directors, employees, and agents;
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17 | (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
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18 | (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and | ||||||
19 | subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code; | ||||||
20 | (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
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21 | (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school | ||||||
22 | report cards;
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23 | (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act; | ||||||
24 | (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying | ||||||
25 | prevention; | ||||||
26 | (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student |
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1 | discipline reporting; | ||||||
2 | (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code; | ||||||
3 | (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code; | ||||||
4 | (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code; | ||||||
5 | (14) Section 26-18 of this Code; | ||||||
6 | (15) Section 22-30 of this Code; | ||||||
7 | (16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code; | ||||||
8 | (17) the Seizure Smart School Act; and | ||||||
9 | (18) Section 2-3.64a-10 of this Code ; and . | ||||||
10 | (19) Section 28-22 of this Code. | ||||||
11 | The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection | ||||||
12 | (g) is declaratory of existing law. | ||||||
13 | (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a | ||||||
14 | school district, the
governing body of a State college or | ||||||
15 | university or public community college, or
any other public or | ||||||
16 | for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a | ||||||
17 | school building and grounds or any other real property or | ||||||
18 | facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert | ||||||
19 | for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and | ||||||
20 | maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, | ||||||
21 | activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required | ||||||
22 | to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
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23 | However, a charter school
that is established on
or
after | ||||||
24 | April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that | ||||||
25 | operates
in a city having a population exceeding
500,000 may | ||||||
26 | not contract with a for-profit entity to
manage or operate the |
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1 | school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
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2 | effective date of Public Act 93-3) and
concludes at the end of | ||||||
3 | the 2004-2005 school year.
Except as provided in subsection | ||||||
4 | (i) of this Section, a school district may
charge a charter | ||||||
5 | school reasonable rent for the use of the district's
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6 | buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a | ||||||
7 | charter school
contracts
with a school district shall be | ||||||
8 | provided by the district at cost. Any services
for which a | ||||||
9 | charter school contracts with a local school board or with the
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10 | governing body of a State college or university or public | ||||||
11 | community college
shall be provided by the public entity at | ||||||
12 | cost.
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13 | (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established | ||||||
14 | by converting an
existing school or attendance center to | ||||||
15 | charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is | ||||||
16 | deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter | ||||||
17 | agreement,
in school district
facilities. However, all other | ||||||
18 | costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district | ||||||
19 | facilities that are used by the charter school shall be | ||||||
20 | subject
to negotiation between
the charter school and the | ||||||
21 | local school board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
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22 | (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age | ||||||
23 | or grade level.
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24 | (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or | ||||||
25 | Commission, then the charter school is its own local education | ||||||
26 | agency. |
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1 | (Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18; | ||||||
2 | 100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff. | ||||||
3 | 6-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50, | ||||||
4 | eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20; | ||||||
5 | 101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; 101-654, eff. | ||||||
6 | 3-8-21.) | ||||||
7 | (105 ILCS 5/28-22 new) | ||||||
8 | Sec. 28-22. Literature selection requirements. | ||||||
9 | (a) This Section may be referred to as the Pierce Twins | ||||||
10 | Law. | ||||||
11 | (b) To ensure that students in grades kindergarten through | ||||||
12 | 12 receive exposure to diverse peoples, cultures, and | ||||||
13 | backgrounds to better develop tolerance, understanding, | ||||||
14 | appreciation, and acceptance of others, a school district | ||||||
15 | shall require that books that are included as a part of any | ||||||
16 | course, material, instruction, reading assignment, or other | ||||||
17 | school curricula related to literature during the school year | ||||||
18 | or that appear on summer reading lists must include books that | ||||||
19 | are written by diverse authors, including, but not limited to, | ||||||
20 | authors who are African American, women, Native American, | ||||||
21 | LatinX, and Asian. Reading material may not perpetuate bias | ||||||
22 | against persons based on, but not limited to, any of the | ||||||
23 | following the categories: | ||||||
24 | (1) Ability. | ||||||
25 | (2) Race. |
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1 | (3) Language. | ||||||
2 | (4) Beliefs. | ||||||
3 | (5) Gender. | ||||||
4 | (6) Culture. | ||||||
5 | (7) Family dynamics. | ||||||
6 | (8) Socioeconomic status. | ||||||
7 | (c) For any school district utilizing federal funds under | ||||||
8 | Title I, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary | ||||||
9 | Education Act of 1965, the selection of each book to be | ||||||
10 | included in a reading assignment, course material and | ||||||
11 | instruction, or other school curricula related to literature | ||||||
12 | must first receive prior approval from the school board before | ||||||
13 | the book may be included. The criteria for the approval or | ||||||
14 | denial of a book shall be determined by school board policy, | ||||||
15 | but the minimum requirement is that the book may not be | ||||||
16 | approved by the school board if the book contains language or | ||||||
17 | material that is derogatory or racist or incites hate against | ||||||
18 | any persons. | ||||||
19 | (d) A school board is authorized to adopt a policy | ||||||
20 | pursuant to this Section based on guidelines established by | ||||||
21 | the State Board of Education. | ||||||
22 | (e) The State Board of Education shall adopt any rules and | ||||||
23 | guidelines necessary to implement this Section.
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24 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
25 | becoming law.".
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