HB3254 EngrossedLRB102 12526 CMG 17863 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 and by adding Section 28-22 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.
16Beginning on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act
1793-3), in all new applications to establish a charter school
18in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of
19the charter school shall be limited to one campus. The changes
20made to this Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter
21schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the
22effective date of Public Act 93-3).
23    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means

 

 

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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    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
15its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
16provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter
17school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and
18the Open Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year
19after the effective date of Public Act 101-291), a charter
20school's board of directors or other governing body must
21include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently
22enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the
23charter school or a charter network election, appointment by
24the charter school's board of directors or other governing
25body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization
26or its equivalent.

 

 

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1    (c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the
2effective date of Public Act 101-291) or within the first year
3of his or her first term, every voting member of a charter
4school's board of directors or other governing body shall
5complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional development
6leadership training to ensure that each member has sufficient
7familiarity with the board's or governing body's role and
8responsibilities, including financial oversight and
9accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and
10school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information
11Act and the Open Meetings Act, and compliance with education
12and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her term, a
13voting member of a charter school's board of directors or
14other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of
15professional development training in these same areas. The
16training under this subsection may be provided or certified by
17a statewide charter school membership association or may be
18provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by
19the State Board of Education.
20    (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular
21health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
22requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
23preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
24students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or
25prevent threats to the health and safety of students and
26school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety

 

 

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1requirement" does not include any course of study or
2specialized instructional requirement for which the State
3Board has established goals and learning standards or which is
4designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students
5to master and apply as an outcome of their education.
6    A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
7health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
8under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before September
91, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its
10Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
11requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall
12be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
13contract between a charter school and its authorizer must
14contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow
15the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
16promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
17and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
18during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
19precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health
20and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are
21not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
22including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
23authorizing local school board.
24    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
25charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
26charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,

 

 

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1instructional materials, and student activities.
2    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
3management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
4not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
5charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
6outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
7school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
8public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
9operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
10and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
11990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
12Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
13proper financial oversight of the charter school, an
14authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from
15each charter school.
16    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
17this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act,
18all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public
19schools that pertain to special education and the instruction
20of English learners, and its charter. A charter school is
21exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
22governing public schools and local school board policies;
23however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
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;
3        (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and
4    34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of students;
5        (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
6    Tort Immunity Act;
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;
10        (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
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;
14        (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school
15    report cards;
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
7school district, the governing body of a State college or
8university or public community college, or any other public or
9for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
10school building and grounds or any other real property or
11facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
12for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
13maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
14activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required
15to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
16However, a charter school that is established on or after
17April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that
18operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
19not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the
20school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
21effective date of Public Act 93-3) and concludes at the end of
22the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection
23(i) of this Section, a school district may charge a charter
24school reasonable rent for the use of the district's
25buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a
26charter school contracts with a school district shall be

 

 

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1provided by the district at cost. Any services for which a
2charter school contracts with a local school board or with the
3governing body of a State college or university or public
4community college shall be provided by the public entity at
5cost.
6    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
7by converting an existing school or attendance center to
8charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
9deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
10agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
11costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
12facilities that are used by the charter school shall be
13subject to negotiation between the charter school and the
14local school board and shall be set forth in the charter.
15    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age
16or grade level.
17    (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or
18Commission, then the charter school is its own local education
19agency.
20(Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18;
21100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff.
226-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50,
23eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20;
24101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; 101-654, eff.
253-8-21.)
 

 

 

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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
4Law.
5    (b) To ensure that students in grades kindergarten through
612 receive exposure to diverse peoples, cultures, and
7backgrounds to better develop tolerance, understanding,
8appreciation, and acceptance of others, a school district
9shall require that books that are included as a part of any
10course, material, instruction, reading assignment, or other
11school curricula related to literature during the school year
12or that appear on summer reading lists must include books that
13are written by diverse authors, including, but not limited to,
14authors who are African American, women, Native American,
15LatinX, and Asian. Reading material may not perpetuate bias
16against persons based on, but not limited to, any of the
17following 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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1Title I, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary
2Education Act of 1965, the selection of each book to be
3included in a reading assignment, course material and
4instruction, or other school curricula related to literature
5must first receive prior approval from the school board before
6the book may be included. The criteria for the approval or
7denial of a book shall be determined by school board policy,
8but the minimum requirement is that the book may not be
9approved by the school board if the book contains language or
10material that is derogatory or racist or incites hate against
11any persons.
12    (d) A school board is authorized to adopt a policy
13pursuant to this Section based on guidelines established by
14the State Board of Education.
15    (e) The State Board of Education shall adopt any rules and
16guidelines necessary to implement this Section.
 
17    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
18becoming law.