093_HB3480

 
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 1        AN ACT relating to schools.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by changing
 5    Section 18-12 as follows:

 6        (105 ILCS 5/18-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 18-12)
 7        Sec. 18-12.  Dates for  filing  State  aid  claims.   The
 8    school  board of each school district shall require teachers,
 9    principals, or superintendents to furnish from  records  kept
10    by  them  such  data  as it needs in preparing and certifying
11    under oath or affirmation to the regional superintendent  its
12    school  district  report  of claims provided in Sections 18-8
13    through  18-10  on  blanks  to  be  provided  by  the   State
14    Superintendent  of  Education.   The  district claim shall be
15    based on the latest available  equalized  assessed  valuation
16    and  tax  rates, as provided in Section 18-8.05 and shall use
17    the average daily attendance  as  determined  by  the  method
18    outlined  in Section 18-8.05 and shall be certified and filed
19    with the regional superintendent by July 1.   Failure  to  so
20    file  by  July  1  constitutes  a  forfeiture of the right to
21    receive payment by the State until such claim  is  filed  and
22    vouchered   for  payment.   The  regional  superintendent  of
23    schools shall certify the county report of claims by July 15;
24    and the State Superintendent of Education shall  voucher  for
25    payment  those claims to the State Comptroller as provided in
26    Section 18-11.
27        Except as otherwise provided  in  this  Section,  if  any
28    school  district  fails  to  provide  the minimum school term
29    specified in Section 10-19, the State aid claim for that year
30    shall be reduced by the State Superintendent of Education  in
31    an  amount  equivalent  to .56818% for each day less than the
 
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 1    number of days required by this Code.
 2        If the State Superintendent of Education determines  that
 3    the failure to provide the minimum school term was occasioned
 4    by  an  act  or  acts of God, or was occasioned by conditions
 5    beyond the control of  the  school  district  which  posed  a
 6    hazardous  threat  to  the  health  and safety of pupils, the
 7    State aid claim need not be reduced.
 8        If the State Superintendent of Education determines  that
 9    the  failure  to provide the minimum school term was due to a
10    school being closed on or after September 11, 2001  for  more
11    than  one-half  day  of  attendance  due to a bioterrorism or
12    terrorism threat that was investigated by a  law  enforcement
13    agency, the State aid claim shall not be reduced.
14        If,  during  any  school  day,  (i) a school district has
15    provided at least one clock  hour  of  instruction  but  must
16    close the schools due to adverse weather conditions or due to
17    a  condition  beyond  the control of the school district that
18    poses a hazardous threat to  the  health  or  and  safety  of
19    pupils  prior  to  providing the minimum hours of instruction
20    required for a full day of attendance,  or  (ii)  the  school
21    district  must  delay  the  start  of  the  school day due to
22    adverse weather conditions or due to a threat to  the  health
23    or safety of pupils and this delay prevents the district from
24    providing  the  minimum  hours  of instruction required for a
25    full day of attendance, the partial day of attendance may  be
26    counted  as  a  full  day  of  attendance. The partial day of
27    attendance and the reasons therefor  shall  be  certified  in
28    writing within a month of the closing or delayed start by the
29    local   school   district   superintendent  to  the  Regional
30    Superintendent  of  Schools  for  forwarding  to  the   State
31    Superintendent of Education for approval.
32        If  a  school  building  is  ordered  to be closed by the
33    school board, in consultation with a local emergency response
34    agency, due to a condition that poses a hazardous  threat  to
 
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 1    the  health  and  safety  of pupils, then the school district
 2    shall have a grace period of 4  days  in  which  the  general
 3    State  aid  claim  shall  not  be reduced so that alternative
 4    housing of the pupils may be located.
 5        No exception to the requirement of  providing  a  minimum
 6    school  term  may  be approved by the State Superintendent of
 7    Education pursuant to this Section unless a  school  district
 8    has first used all emergency days provided for in its regular
 9    calendar.
10        If the State Superintendent of Education declares that an
11    energy shortage exists during any part of the school year for
12    the  State  or  a designated portion of the State, a district
13    may operate the school attendance centers within the district
14    4 days of the  week  during  the  time  of  the  shortage  by
15    extending  each  existing  school  day  by  one clock hour of
16    school work, and the State aid claim shall  not  be  reduced,
17    nor shall the employees of that district suffer any reduction
18    in  salary  or  benefits  as a result thereof. A district may
19    operate all attendance centers on this revised  schedule,  or
20    may apply the schedule to selected attendance centers, taking
21    into  consideration  such  factors  as  pupil  transportation
22    schedules  and  patterns and sources of energy for individual
23    attendance centers.
24        No State aid claim may be filed for any  district  unless
25    the clerk or secretary of the school board executes and files
26    with   the   State  Superintendent  of  Education,  on  forms
27    prescribed by the Superintendent, a sworn statement that  the
28    district  has  complied  with  the  requirements  of  Section
29    10-22.5  in regard to the nonsegregation of pupils on account
30    of color, creed, race, sex or nationality.
31        No State aid claim may be filed for any  district  unless
32    the clerk or secretary of the school board executes and files
33    with   the   State  Superintendent  of  Education,  on  forms
34    prescribed by the Superintendent, a sworn statement  that  to
 
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 1    the  best  of his or her knowledge or belief the employing or
 2    assigning personnel have complied with Section  24-4  in  all
 3    respects.
 4    (Source: P.A. 92-661, eff. 7-16-02.)

 5        Section  99.   Effective  date.  This Act takes effect on
 6    July 1, 2003.