98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB2441

 

Introduced , by Rep. Ed Sullivan, Jr.

 

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

    Amends the School Code. Removes language that provides that the Block Grants Article does not apply to the Chicago school district. Amends the Block Grants for Chicago Article. Removes provisions concerning the treatment of block grants under the Block Grants Article for purposes of calculating the amount of block grants for the Chicago school district under the Block Grants for Chicago Article. Removes language that provides that payments to the Chicago school district with respect to each program for which payments to school districts generally, as of June 26, 2002, are on a reimbursement basis shall continue to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis, pursuant to the provisions of the Code governing those programs. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

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 Sections
51C-1 and 1D-1 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/1C-1)
7    Sec. 1C-1. Purpose. The purpose of this Article is to
8permit greater flexibility and efficiency in the distribution
9and use of certain State funds available to local education
10agencies for the improvement of the quality of educational
11services pursuant to locally established priorities.
12    This Article does not apply to school districts having a
13population in excess of 500,000 inhabitants.
14(Source: P.A. 88-555, eff. 7-27-94; 89-15, eff. 5-30-95;
1589-397, eff. 8-20-95; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96.)
 
16    (105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
17    Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
18    (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,
19the State Board of Education shall award to a school district
20having a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants a general
21education block grant and an educational services block grant,
22determined as provided in this Section, in lieu of distributing

 

 

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1to the district separate State funding for the programs
2described in subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this
3Section, however, do not apply to any federal funds that the
4district is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section
52-3.32, all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore,
6block grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be
7recorded to the appropriate fund code for the designated block
8grant.
9    (b) The general education block grant shall include the
10following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool
11At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support,
12Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse
13Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development,
14Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12
15Continued Reading Improvement, Truants' Optional Education,
16Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education, Parental Education,
17Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and Criminal Background
18Investigations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
19all amounts paid under the general education block grant from
20State appropriations to a school district in a city having a
21population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be appropriated
22and expended by the board of that district for any of the
23programs included in the block grant or any of the board's
24lawful purposes.
25    (c) The educational services block grant shall include the
26following programs: Regular and Vocational Transportation,

 

 

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1State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program, Special Education
2(Personnel, Transportation, Orphanage, Private Tuition),
3funding for children requiring special education services,
4Summer School, Educational Service Centers, and
5Administrator's Academy. This subsection (c) does not relieve
6the district of its obligation to provide the services required
7under a program that is included within the educational
8services block grant. It is the intention of the General
9Assembly in enacting the provisions of this subsection (c) to
10relieve the district of the administrative burdens that impede
11efficiency and accompany single-program funding. The General
12Assembly encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers
13pursuant to Section 2-3.25g.
14    The funding program included in the educational services
15block grant for funding for children requiring special
16education services in each fiscal year shall be treated in that
17fiscal year as a payment to the school district in respect of
18services provided or costs incurred in the prior fiscal year,
19calculated in each case as provided in this Section. Nothing in
20this Section shall change the nature of payments for any
21program that, apart from this Section, would be or, prior to
22adoption or amendment of this Section, was on the basis of a
23payment in a fiscal year in respect of services provided or
24costs incurred in the prior fiscal year, calculated in each
25case as provided in this Section.
26    (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,

 

 

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1the amount of the district's block grants shall be determined
2as follows: (i) with respect to each program that is included
3within each block grant, the district shall receive an amount
4equal to the same percentage of the current fiscal year
5appropriation made for that program as the percentage of the
6appropriation received by the district from the 1995 fiscal
7year appropriation made for that program, and (ii) the total
8amount that is due the district under the block grant shall be
9the aggregate of the amounts that the district is entitled to
10receive for the fiscal year with respect to each program that
11is included within the block grant that the State Board of
12Education shall award the district under this Section for that
13fiscal year. In the case of the Summer Bridges program, the
14amount of the district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of
15the amount of the current fiscal year appropriation made for
16that program.
17    (e) The district is not required to file any application or
18other claim in order to receive the block grants to which it is
19entitled under this Section. The State Board of Education shall
20make payments to the district of amounts due under the
21district's block grants on a schedule determined by the State
22Board of Education.
23    (f) A school district to which this Section applies shall
24report to the State Board of Education on its use of the block
25grants in such form and detail as the State Board of Education
26may specify. In addition, the report must include the following

 

 

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1description for the district, which must also be reported to
2the General Assembly: block grant allocation and expenditures
3by program; population and service levels by program; and
4administrative expenditures by program. The State Board of
5Education shall ensure that the reporting requirements for the
6district are the same as for all other school districts in this
7State.
8    (g) (Blank). This paragraph provides for the treatment of
9block grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the
10amount of block grants for a district under this Section. Those
11block grants under Article 1C are, for this purpose, treated as
12included in the amount of appropriation for the various
13programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The appropriation in
14each current fiscal year for each block grant under Article 1C
15shall be treated for these purposes as appropriations for the
16individual program included in that block grant. The proportion
17of each block grant so allocated to each such program included
18in it shall be the proportion which the appropriation for that
19program was of all appropriations for such purposes now in that
20block grant, in fiscal 1995.
21    Payments to the school district under this Section with
22respect to each program for which payments to school districts
23generally, as of the date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd
24General Assembly, are on a reimbursement basis shall continue
25to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis, pursuant
26to the provisions of this Code governing those programs.

 

 

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1    (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school
2district receiving a block grant under this Section may
3classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a
4particular fiscal year from any block grant authorized under
5this Code or from general State aid pursuant to Section 18-8.05
6of this Code (other than supplemental general State aid) as
7funds received in connection with any funding program for which
8it is entitled to receive funds from the State in that fiscal
9year (including, without limitation, any funding program
10referred to in subsection (c) of this Section), regardless of
11the source or timing of the receipt. The district may not
12classify more funds as funds received in connection with the
13funding program than the district is entitled to receive in
14that fiscal year for that program. Any classification by a
15district must be made by a resolution of its board of
16education. The resolution must identify the amount of any block
17grant or general State aid to be classified under this
18subsection (h) and must specify the funding program to which
19the funds are to be treated as received in connection
20therewith. This resolution is controlling as to the
21classification of funds referenced therein. A certified copy of
22the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
23Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though a
24copy of the resolution has not been sent to the State
25Superintendent of Education in a timely manner. No
26classification under this subsection (h) by a district shall

 

 

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1affect the total amount or timing of money the district is
2entitled to receive under this Code. No classification under
3this subsection (h) by a district shall in any way relieve the
4district from or affect any requirements that otherwise would
5apply with respect to the block grant as provided in this
6Section, including any accounting of funds by source, reporting
7expenditures by original source and purpose, reporting
8requirements, or requirements of provision of services.
9(Source: P.A. 97-238, eff. 8-2-11; 97-324, eff. 8-12-11;
1097-813, eff. 7-13-12.)
 
11    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12becoming law.