95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB1474

 

Introduced 2/21/2007, by Rep. Rich Brauer

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/10-17a   from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a
105 ILCS 5/10-19   from Ch. 122, par. 10-19
105 ILCS 5/10-21.3a
30 ILCS 805/8.31 new

    Amends the School Code. Provides that if a school is not making adequate yearly progress, the school report card assessing the performance of a district's schools and students must be mailed to the registered parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school. Requires that the mailing include an explanation as to why the school failed to meet adequate yearly progress and a clear explanation of options available to the students under the law. Provides that the report card must be completed and disseminated prior to August 1 (instead of October 31). Provides that a school board must adopt and publish a school calendar for the upcoming school year no later than March 1st of each year. Provides that the opening date must be no earlier than the day after Labor Day. Provides that a request by a parent or guardian to transfer his or her child from one school to another within the school district pursuant to federal law must be made no later than 30 days before the start of the school year (instead of 30 days after the parent or guardian receives notice of the right to transfer pursuant to federal law). Provides that supplemental services for the transferring student must be available no later than the 6th day of the school year. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning education.
 
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 Sections
5 10-17a, 10-19, and 10-21.3a as follows:
 
6     (105 ILCS 5/10-17a)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a)
7     Sec. 10-17a. Better schools accountability.
8     (1) Policy and Purpose. It shall be the policy of the State
9 of Illinois that each school district in this State, including
10 special charter districts and districts subject to the
11 provisions of Article 34, shall submit to parents, taxpayers of
12 such district, the Governor, the General Assembly, and the
13 State Board of Education a school report card assessing the
14 performance of its schools and students. The report card shall
15 be an index of school performance measured against statewide
16 and local standards and will provide information to make prior
17 year comparisons and to set future year targets through the
18 school improvement plan.
19     (2) Reporting Requirements.
20     (a) Each school district shall prepare a report card in
21 accordance with the guidelines set forth in this Section which
22 describes the performance of its students by school attendance
23 centers and by district and the district's financial resources

 

 

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1 and use of financial resources. Such report card shall be
2 presented at a regular school board meeting subject to
3 applicable notice requirements, posted on the school
4 district's Internet web site, if the district maintains an
5 Internet web site, made available to a newspaper of general
6 circulation serving the district, and, upon request, sent home
7 to a parent (unless the district does not maintain an Internet
8 web site, in which case the report card shall be sent home to
9 parents without request or unless subdivision (b) of this
10 subsection (1) applies). If the district posts the report card
11 on its Internet web site, the district shall send a written
12 notice home to parents stating (i) that the report card is
13 available on the web site, (ii) the address of the web site,
14 (iii) that a printed copy of the report card will be sent to
15 parents upon request, and (iv) the telephone number that
16 parents may call to request a printed copy of the report card.
17 In addition, each school district shall submit the completed
18 report card to the office of the district's Regional
19 Superintendent which shall make copies available to any
20 individuals requesting them.
21     (b) If a school is not making adequate yearly progress, as
22 defined in the Illinois Accountability Workbook, the report
23 card must be mailed to the registered parent or guardian of
24 each student enrolled in the school. The mailing shall include
25 an explanation as to why the school failed to meet adequate
26 yearly progress and a clear explanation of options available to

 

 

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1 the students under the law, including transferring to another
2 school under subsection (a) of Section 10-21.3a of this Code.
3     The report card shall be completed and disseminated prior
4 to August 1 October 31 in each school year. The report card
5 shall contain, but not be limited to, actual local school
6 attendance center, school district and statewide data
7 indicating the present performance of the school, the State
8 norms and the areas for planned improvement for the school and
9 school district.
10     (3) (a) The report card shall include the following
11 applicable indicators of attendance center, district, and
12 statewide student performance: percent of students who exceed,
13 meet, or do not meet standards established by the State Board
14 of Education pursuant to Section 2-3.25a; composite and subtest
15 means on nationally normed achievement tests for college bound
16 students; student attendance rates; chronic truancy rate;
17 dropout rate; graduation rate; and student mobility, turnover
18 shown as a percent of transfers out and a percent of transfers
19 in.
20     (b) The report card shall include the following
21 descriptions for the school, district, and State: average class
22 size; amount of time per day devoted to mathematics, science,
23 English and social science at primary, middle and junior high
24 school grade levels; number of students taking the Prairie
25 State Achievement Examination under subsection (c) of Section
26 2-3.64, the number of those students who received a score of

 

 

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1 excellent, and the average score by school of students taking
2 the examination; pupil-teacher ratio; pupil-administrator
3 ratio; operating expenditure per pupil; district expenditure
4 by fund; average administrator salary; and average teacher
5 salary. The report card shall also specify the amount of money
6 that the district receives from all sources, including without
7 limitation subcategories specifying the amount from local
8 property taxes, the amount from general State aid, the amount
9 from other State funding, and the amount from other income.
10     (c) The report card shall include applicable indicators of
11 parental involvement in each attendance center. The parental
12 involvement component of the report card shall include the
13 percentage of students whose parents or guardians have had one
14 or more personal contacts with the students' teachers during
15 the school year concerning the students' education, and such
16 other information, commentary, and suggestions as the school
17 district desires. For the purposes of this paragraph, "personal
18 contact" includes, but is not limited to, parent-teacher
19 conferences, parental visits to school, school visits to home,
20 telephone conversations, and written correspondence. The
21 parental involvement component shall not single out or identify
22 individual students, parents, or guardians by name.
23     (d) The report card form shall be prepared by the State
24 Board of Education and provided to school districts by the most
25 efficient, economic, and appropriate means.
26 (Source: P.A. 92-604, eff. 7-1-02; 92-631, eff. 7-11-02;

 

 

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1 revised 7-26-02.)
 
2     (105 ILCS 5/10-19)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-19)
3     Sec. 10-19. Length of school term - experimental programs.
4 Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, a school board must
5 adopt and publish a school calendar for the upcoming school
6 year no later than March 1st of each year. The school board
7 shall be responsible for establishing the opening and closing
8 dates for the school year, with the opening date no earlier
9 than the day after Labor Day. Schools operating under a
10 year-round school calendar may not begin the first session
11 prior to the day after Labor Day. The school board shall ensure
12 the calendar provides Each school board shall annually prepare
13 a calendar for the school term, specifying the opening and
14 closing dates and providing a minimum term of at least 185 days
15 to ensure insure 176 days of actual pupil attendance,
16 computable under Section 18-8.05, except that for the 1980-1981
17 school year only 175 days of actual pupil attendance shall be
18 required because of the closing of schools pursuant to Section
19 24-2 on January 29, 1981 upon the appointment by the President
20 of that day as a day of thanksgiving for the freedom of the
21 Americans who had been held hostage in Iran. Any days allowed
22 by law for teachers' institute but not used as such or used as
23 parental institutes as provided in Section 10-22.18d shall
24 increase the minimum term by the school days not so used.
25 Except as provided in Section 10-19.1, the board may not extend

 

 

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1 the school term beyond such closing date unless that extension
2 of term is necessary to provide the minimum number of
3 computable days. In case of such necessary extension school
4 employees shall be paid for such additional time on the basis
5 of their regular contracts. A school board may specify a
6 closing date earlier than that set on the annual calendar when
7 the schools of the district have provided the minimum number of
8 computable days under this Section. Nothing in this Section
9 prevents the board from employing superintendents of schools,
10 principals and other nonteaching personnel for a period of 12
11 months, or in the case of superintendents for a period in
12 accordance with Section 10-23.8, or prevents the board from
13 employing other personnel before or after the regular school
14 term with payment of salary proportionate to that received for
15 comparable work during the school term.
16     A school board may make such changes in its calendar for
17 the school term as may be required by any changes in the legal
18 school holidays prescribed in Section 24-2. A school board may
19 make changes in its calendar for the school term as may be
20 necessary to reflect the utilization of teachers' institute
21 days as parental institute days as provided in Section
22 10-22.18d.
23     The calendar for the school term and any changes must be
24 submitted to and approved by the regional superintendent of
25 schools before the calendar or changes may take effect.
26     With the prior approval of the State Board of Education and

 

 

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1 subject to review by the State Board of Education every 3
2 years, any school board may, by resolution of its board and in
3 agreement with affected exclusive collective bargaining
4 agents, establish experimental educational programs, including
5 but not limited to programs for self-directed learning or
6 outside of formal class periods, which programs when so
7 approved shall be considered to comply with the requirements of
8 this Section as respects numbers of days of actual pupil
9 attendance and with the other requirements of this Act as
10 respects courses of instruction.
11 (Source: P.A. 93-1036, eff. 9-14-04.)
 
12     (105 ILCS 5/10-21.3a)
13     Sec. 10-21.3a. Transfer of students.
14     (a) Each school board shall establish and implement a
15 policy governing the transfer of a student from one attendance
16 center to another within the school district upon the request
17 of the student's parent or guardian. Any request by a parent or
18 guardian to transfer his or her child from one attendance
19 center to another within the school district pursuant to
20 Section 1116 of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education
21 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6316 6317) must be made no later
22 than 30 days before the start of the school year after the
23 parent or guardian receives notice of the right to transfer
24 pursuant to that law. A student may not transfer to any of the
25 following attendance centers, except by change in residence if

 

 

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1 the policy authorizes enrollment based on residence in an
2 attendance area or unless approved by the board on an
3 individual basis:
4         (1) An attendance center that exceeds or as a result of
5     the transfer would exceed its attendance capacity.
6         (2) An attendance center for which the board has
7     established academic criteria for enrollment if the
8     student does not meet the criteria, provided that the
9     transfer must be permitted if the attendance center is the
10     only attendance center serving the student's grade that has
11     not been identified for school improvement, corrective
12     action, or restructuring under Section 1116 of the federal
13     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
14     Sec. 6316 6317).
15         (3) Any attendance center if the transfer would prevent
16     the school district from meeting its obligations under a
17     State or federal law, court order, or consent decree
18     applicable to the school district.
19     Supplemental services for a student who transfers under
20 this subsection (a) must be available no later than the 6th day
21 of the school year.
22     (b) Each school board shall establish and implement a
23 policy governing the transfer of students within a school
24 district from a persistently dangerous school to another public
25 school in that district that is not deemed to be persistently
26 dangerous. In order to be considered a persistently dangerous

 

 

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1 school, the school must meet all of the following criteria for
2 2 consecutive years:
3         (1) Have greater than 3% of the students enrolled in
4     the school expelled for violence-related conduct.
5         (2) Have one or more students expelled for bringing a
6     firearm to school as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921.
7         (3) Have at least 3% of the students enrolled in the
8     school exercise the individual option to transfer schools
9     pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section.
10     (c) A student may transfer from one public school to
11 another public school in that district if the student is a
12 victim of a violent crime as defined in Section 3 of the Rights
13 of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act. The violent crime must have
14 occurred on school grounds during regular school hours or
15 during a school-sponsored event.
16     (d) Transfers made pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of
17 this Section shall be made in compliance with the federal No
18 Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110).
19 (Source: P.A. 92-604, eff. 7-1-02; 93-633, eff. 12-23-03.)
 
20     Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
21 Section 8.31 as follows:
 
22     (30 ILCS 805/8.31 new)
23     Sec. 8.31. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
24 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the

 

 

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1 implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of
2 the 95th General Assembly.
 
3     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4 becoming law.