97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB3871

 

Introduced 11/2/2011, by Rep. Luis Arroyo

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/1D-1

    Amends the School Code. Provides that any school district receiving a block grant under the provision concerning block grant funding for districts with over 500,000 inhabitants shall be required to testify every year before the General Assembly regarding their overall annual budget and their budget request to the General Assembly for the following fiscal year. Provides that the testimony shall include plans to build or repair schools and to close or consolidate schools.


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A BILL FOR

 

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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
51D-1 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
7    Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
8    (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,
9the State Board of Education shall award to a school district
10having a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants a general
11education block grant and an educational services block grant,
12determined as provided in this Section, in lieu of distributing
13to the district separate State funding for the programs
14described in subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this
15Section, however, do not apply to any federal funds that the
16district is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section
172-3.32, all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore,
18block grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be
19recorded to the appropriate fund code for the designated block
20grant.
21    (b) The general education block grant shall include the
22following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool
23At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support,

 

 

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1Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse
2Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development,
3Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12
4Continued Reading Improvement, Truants' Optional Education,
5Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education, Parental Education,
6Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and Criminal Background
7Investigations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
8all amounts paid under the general education block grant from
9State appropriations to a school district in a city having a
10population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be appropriated
11and expended by the board of that district for any of the
12programs included in the block grant or any of the board's
13lawful purposes.
14    (c) The educational services block grant shall include the
15following programs: Regular and Vocational Transportation,
16State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program, Special Education
17(Personnel, Transportation, Orphanage, Private Tuition),
18funding for children requiring special education services,
19Summer School, Educational Service Centers, and
20Administrator's Academy. This subsection (c) does not relieve
21the district of its obligation to provide the services required
22under a program that is included within the educational
23services block grant. It is the intention of the General
24Assembly in enacting the provisions of this subsection (c) to
25relieve the district of the administrative burdens that impede
26efficiency and accompany single-program funding. The General

 

 

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1Assembly encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers
2pursuant to Section 2-3.25g.
3    The funding program included in the educational services
4block grant for funding for children requiring special
5education services in each fiscal year shall be treated in that
6fiscal year as a payment to the school district in respect of
7services provided or costs incurred in the prior fiscal year,
8calculated in each case as provided in this Section. Nothing in
9this Section shall change the nature of payments for any
10program that, apart from this Section, would be or, prior to
11adoption or amendment of this Section, was on the basis of a
12payment in a fiscal year in respect of services provided or
13costs incurred in the prior fiscal year, calculated in each
14case as provided in this Section.
15    (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,
16the amount of the district's block grants shall be determined
17as follows: (i) with respect to each program that is included
18within each block grant, the district shall receive an amount
19equal to the same percentage of the current fiscal year
20appropriation made for that program as the percentage of the
21appropriation received by the district from the 1995 fiscal
22year appropriation made for that program, and (ii) the total
23amount that is due the district under the block grant shall be
24the aggregate of the amounts that the district is entitled to
25receive for the fiscal year with respect to each program that
26is included within the block grant that the State Board of

 

 

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1Education shall award the district under this Section for that
2fiscal year. In the case of the Summer Bridges program, the
3amount of the district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of
4the amount of the current fiscal year appropriation made for
5that program.
6    (e) The district is not required to file any application or
7other claim in order to receive the block grants to which it is
8entitled under this Section. The State Board of Education shall
9make payments to the district of amounts due under the
10district's block grants on a schedule determined by the State
11Board of Education.
12    (f) A school district to which this Section applies shall
13report to the State Board of Education on its use of the block
14grants in such form and detail as the State Board of Education
15may specify. In addition, the report must include the following
16description for the district, which must also be reported to
17the General Assembly: block grant allocation and expenditures
18by program; population and service levels by program; and
19administrative expenditures by program. The State Board of
20Education shall ensure that the reporting requirements for the
21district are the same as for all other school districts in this
22State.
23    (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block
24grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the amount
25of block grants for a district under this Section. Those block
26grants under Article 1C are, for this purpose, treated as

 

 

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1included in the amount of appropriation for the various
2programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The appropriation in
3each current fiscal year for each block grant under Article 1C
4shall be treated for these purposes as appropriations for the
5individual program included in that block grant. The proportion
6of each block grant so allocated to each such program included
7in it shall be the proportion which the appropriation for that
8program was of all appropriations for such purposes now in that
9block grant, in fiscal 1995.
10    Payments to the school district under this Section with
11respect to each program for which payments to school districts
12generally, as of the date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd
13General Assembly, are on a reimbursement basis shall continue
14to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis, pursuant
15to the provisions of this Code governing those programs.
16    (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school
17district receiving a block grant under this Section may
18classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a
19particular fiscal year from any block grant authorized under
20this Code or from general State aid pursuant to Section 18-8.05
21of this Code (other than supplemental general State aid) as
22funds received in connection with any funding program for which
23it is entitled to receive funds from the State in that fiscal
24year (including, without limitation, any funding program
25referred to in subsection (c) of this Section), regardless of
26the source or timing of the receipt. The district may not

 

 

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1classify more funds as funds received in connection with the
2funding program than the district is entitled to receive in
3that fiscal year for that program. Any classification by a
4district must be made by a resolution of its board of
5education. The resolution must identify the amount of any block
6grant or general State aid to be classified under this
7subsection (h) and must specify the funding program to which
8the funds are to be treated as received in connection
9therewith. This resolution is controlling as to the
10classification of funds referenced therein. A certified copy of
11the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
12Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though a
13copy of the resolution has not been sent to the State
14Superintendent of Education in a timely manner. No
15classification under this subsection (h) by a district shall
16affect the total amount or timing of money the district is
17entitled to receive under this Code. No classification under
18this subsection (h) by a district shall in any way relieve the
19district from or affect any requirements that otherwise would
20apply with respect to the block grant as provided in this
21Section, including any accounting of funds by source, reporting
22expenditures by original source and purpose, reporting
23requirements, or requirements of provision of services.
24    (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school
25district receiving a block grant under this Section shall be
26required to testify every year before the General Assembly

 

 

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1regarding their overall annual budget and their budget request
2to the General Assembly for the following fiscal year. Such
3testimony shall include plans to build or repair schools and to
4close or consolidate schools.
5(Source: P.A. 97-238, eff. 8-2-11; 97-324, eff. 8-12-11;
6revised 9-21-11.)