Rep. Jay Hoffman

Filed: 3/25/2014

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4775

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4775 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
510-22.6, 27A-5, and 34-19 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/10-22.6)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.6)
7    Sec. 10-22.6. Suspension or expulsion of pupils; school
8searches.
9    (a) To expel pupils guilty of gross disobedience or
10misconduct, including gross disobedience or misconduct
11perpetuated by electronic means, or to expel pupils as provided
12in subsection (d-10) of this Section, and no action shall lie
13against them for such expulsion. Expulsion shall take place
14only after the parents have been requested to appear at a
15meeting of the board, or with a hearing officer appointed by
16it, to discuss their child's behavior. Such request shall be

 

 

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1made by registered or certified mail and shall state the time,
2place and purpose of the meeting. The board, or a hearing
3officer appointed by it, at such meeting shall state the
4reasons for dismissal and the date on which the expulsion is to
5become effective. If a hearing officer is appointed by the
6board he shall report to the board a written summary of the
7evidence heard at the meeting and the board may take such
8action thereon as it finds appropriate. An expelled pupil may
9be immediately transferred to an alternative program in the
10manner provided in Article 13A or 13B of this Code. A pupil
11must not be denied transfer because of the expulsion, except in
12cases in which such transfer is deemed to cause a threat to the
13safety of students or staff in the alternative program.
14    (b) To suspend or by policy to authorize the superintendent
15of the district or the principal, assistant principal, or dean
16of students of any school to suspend pupils guilty of gross
17disobedience or misconduct, or to suspend pupils guilty of
18gross disobedience or misconduct on the school bus from riding
19the school bus, or to suspend pupils as provided in subsection
20(d-10) of this Section, and no action shall lie against them
21for such suspension. The board may by policy authorize the
22superintendent of the district or the principal, assistant
23principal, or dean of students of any school to suspend pupils
24guilty of such acts for a period not to exceed 10 school days.
25If a pupil is suspended due to gross disobedience or misconduct
26on a school bus, the board may suspend the pupil in excess of

 

 

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110 school days for safety reasons. Any suspension shall be
2reported immediately to the parents or guardian of such pupil
3along with a full statement of the reasons for such suspension
4and a notice of their right to a review. The school board must
5be given a summary of the notice, including the reason for the
6suspension and the suspension length. Upon request of the
7parents or guardian the school board or a hearing officer
8appointed by it shall review such action of the superintendent
9or principal, assistant principal, or dean of students. At such
10review the parents or guardian of the pupil may appear and
11discuss the suspension with the board or its hearing officer.
12If a hearing officer is appointed by the board he shall report
13to the board a written summary of the evidence heard at the
14meeting. After its hearing or upon receipt of the written
15report of its hearing officer, the board may take such action
16as it finds appropriate. A pupil who is suspended in excess of
1720 school days may be immediately transferred to an alternative
18program in the manner provided in Article 13A or 13B of this
19Code. A pupil must not be denied transfer because of the
20suspension, except in cases in which such transfer is deemed to
21cause a threat to the safety of students or staff in the
22alternative program.
23    (c) The Department of Human Services shall be invited to
24send a representative to consult with the board at such meeting
25whenever there is evidence that mental illness may be the cause
26for expulsion or suspension.

 

 

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1    (d) The board may expel a student for a definite period of
2time not to exceed 2 calendar years, as determined on a
3case-by-case case by case basis. A student who is determined to
4have brought one of the following objects to school, any
5school-sponsored activity or event, or any activity or event
6that bears a reasonable relationship to school shall be
7expelled for a period of not less than one year:
8        (1) A firearm. For the purposes of this Section,
9    "firearm" means any gun, rifle, shotgun, weapon as defined
10    by Section 921 of Title 18 of the United States Code,
11    firearm as defined in Section 1.1 of the Firearm Owners
12    Identification Card Act, or firearm as defined in Section
13    24-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012. The expulsion period
14    under this subdivision (1) may be modified by the
15    superintendent, and the superintendent's determination may
16    be modified by the board on a case-by-case basis.
17        (2) A knife, brass knuckles or other knuckle weapon
18    regardless of its composition, a billy club, or any other
19    object if used or attempted to be used to cause bodily
20    harm, including "look alikes" of any firearm as defined in
21    subdivision (1) of this subsection (d). The expulsion
22    requirement under this subdivision (2) may be modified by
23    the superintendent, and the superintendent's determination
24    may be modified by the board on a case-by-case basis.
25Expulsion or suspension shall be construed in a manner
26consistent with the Federal Individuals with Disabilities

 

 

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1Education Act. A student who is subject to suspension or
2expulsion as provided in this Section may be eligible for a
3transfer to an alternative school program in accordance with
4Article 13A of the School Code. The provisions of this
5subsection (d) apply in all school districts, including special
6charter districts and districts organized under Article 34.
7    (d-5) The board may suspend or by regulation authorize the
8superintendent of the district or the principal, assistant
9principal, or dean of students of any school to suspend a
10student for a period not to exceed 10 school days or may expel
11a student for a definite period of time not to exceed 2
12calendar years, as determined on a case-by-case case by case
13basis, if (i) that student has been determined to have made an
14explicit threat on an Internet website against a school
15employee, a student, or any school-related personnel, (ii) the
16Internet website through which the threat was made is a site
17that was accessible within the school at the time the threat
18was made or was available to third parties who worked or
19studied within the school grounds at the time the threat was
20made, and (iii) the threat could be reasonably interpreted as
21threatening to the safety and security of the threatened
22individual because of his or her duties or employment status or
23status as a student inside the school. The provisions of this
24subsection (d-5) apply in all school districts, including
25special charter districts and districts organized under
26Article 34 of this Code.

 

 

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1    (d-10) In this subsection (d-10), "violent felony" means a
2violent felony as defined in Section 5 of the Medical School
3Matriculant Criminal History Records Check Act.
4    Subject to subsections (a) and (b) of this Section, the
5board may suspend or, by policy, authorize the superintendent
6of the district or the principal, assistant principal, or dean
7of students of a school to suspend a student for a period not
8to exceed 10 school days or may expel a student for a definite
9period of time not to exceed 2 calendar years, as determined on
10a case-by-case basis, if (i) the student has been convicted of
11a violent felony and (ii) the board or, as authorized by board
12policy, the superintendent of the district or the principal,
13assistant principal, or dean of students of the school
14determines that the student's continued presence in school
15would have a substantial detrimental effect on the general
16welfare of the school. The board may also authorize the
17superintendent of the district to immediately refer or transfer
18the student to another attendance center or alternative school,
19as specified in Article 13A of this Code, if the student has
20been charged with a violent felony.
21    The provisions of this subsection (d-10) apply in all
22school districts, including special charter districts and
23districts organized under Article 34 of this Code.
24    (e) To maintain order and security in the schools, school
25authorities may inspect and search places and areas such as
26lockers, desks, parking lots, and other school property and

 

 

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1equipment owned or controlled by the school, as well as
2personal effects left in those places and areas by students,
3without notice to or the consent of the student, and without a
4search warrant. As a matter of public policy, the General
5Assembly finds that students have no reasonable expectation of
6privacy in these places and areas or in their personal effects
7left in these places and areas. School authorities may request
8the assistance of law enforcement officials for the purpose of
9conducting inspections and searches of lockers, desks, parking
10lots, and other school property and equipment owned or
11controlled by the school for illegal drugs, weapons, or other
12illegal or dangerous substances or materials, including
13searches conducted through the use of specially trained dogs.
14If a search conducted in accordance with this Section produces
15evidence that the student has violated or is violating either
16the law, local ordinance, or the school's policies or rules,
17such evidence may be seized by school authorities, and
18disciplinary action may be taken. School authorities may also
19turn over such evidence to law enforcement authorities. The
20provisions of this subsection (e) apply in all school
21districts, including special charter districts and districts
22organized under Article 34.
23    (f) Suspension or expulsion may include suspension or
24expulsion from school and all school activities and a
25prohibition from being present on school grounds.
26    (g) A school district may adopt a policy providing that if

 

 

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1a student is suspended or expelled for any reason from any
2public or private school in this or any other state, the
3student must complete the entire term of the suspension or
4expulsion in an alternative school program under Article 13A of
5this Code or an alternative learning opportunities program
6under Article 13B of this Code before being admitted into the
7school district if there is no threat to the safety of students
8or staff in the alternative program. This subsection (g)
9applies to all school districts, including special charter
10districts and districts organized under Article 34 of this
11Code.
12(Source: P.A. 96-633, eff. 8-24-09; 96-998, eff. 7-2-10;
1397-340, eff. 1-1-12; 97-495, eff. 1-1-12; 97-813, eff. 7-13-12;
1497-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
 
15    (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
16    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
17    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
18nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
19school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
20corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
21authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
22    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
23by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
24school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning
25on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd

 

 

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1General Assembly, in all new applications submitted to the
2State Board or a local school board to establish a charter
3school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000,
4operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus.
5The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the
693rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing
7or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory
8Act.
9    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means
10the teaching of courses through online methods with online
11instructors, rather than the instructor and student being at
12the same physical location. "Virtual-schooling" includes
13without limitation instruction provided by full-time, online
14virtual schools.
15    From April 1, 2013 through April 1, 2014, there is a
16moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
17virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
18school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
19moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
20virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
21April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
22school with virtual-schooling components already approved
23prior to April 1, 2013.
24    On or before March 1, 2014, the Commission shall submit to
25the General Assembly a report on the effect of
26virtual-schooling, including without limitation the effect on

 

 

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1student performance, the costs associated with
2virtual-schooling, and issues with oversight. The report shall
3include policy recommendations for virtual-schooling.
4    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
5its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
6provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
7shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
8Meetings Act.
9    (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable
10health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
11under the laws of the State of Illinois.
12    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
13charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
14charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
15instructional materials, and student activities.
16    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
17management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
18not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
19charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
20outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
21school. Annually, by December 1, every charter school must
22submit to the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the
23Form 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
24Internal Revenue Service.
25    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
26this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, and

 

 

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1its charter. A charter school is exempt from all other State
2laws and regulations in the School Code governing public
3schools and local school board policies, except the following:
4        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code
5    regarding criminal history records checks and checks of the
6    Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and
7    Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for
8    employment;
9        (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code
10    regarding discipline of students;
11        (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
12    Tort Immunity Act;
13        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
14    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
15    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
16        (5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
17        (6) The Illinois School Student Records Act;
18        (7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school
19    report cards; and
20        (8) The P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
21    and .
22        (9) Subsection (d-10) of Section 10-22.6 of the School
23    Code regarding students charged with or convicted of a
24    violent felony.
25    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g)
26is declaratory of existing law.

 

 

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1    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
2school district, the governing body of a State college or
3university or public community college, or any other public or
4for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
5school building and grounds or any other real property or
6facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
7for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
8maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
9activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to
10perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
11However, a charter school that is established on or after the
12effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
13Assembly and that operates in a city having a population
14exceeding 500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
15manage or operate the school during the period that commences
16on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
17General Assembly and concludes at the end of the 2004-2005
18school year. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this
19Section, a school district may charge a charter school
20reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings,
21grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter
22school contracts with a school district shall be provided by
23the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school
24contracts with a local school board or with the governing body
25of a State college or university or public community college
26shall be provided by the public entity at cost.

 

 

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1    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
2by converting an existing school or attendance center to
3charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
4deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
5agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
6costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
7facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
8to negotiation between the charter school and the local school
9board and shall be set forth in the charter.
10    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
11grade level.
12    (k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission,
13then the Commission charter school is its own local education
14agency.
15(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12;
1697-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-16, eff. 5-24-13.)
 
17    (105 ILCS 5/34-19)  (from Ch. 122, par. 34-19)
18    Sec. 34-19. By-laws, rules and regulations; business
19transacted at regular meetings; voting; records. The board
20shall, subject to the limitations in this Article, establish
21by-laws, rules and regulations, which shall have the force of
22ordinances, for the proper maintenance of a uniform system of
23discipline for both employees and pupils, and for the entire
24management of the schools, and may fix the school age of
25pupils, the minimum of which in kindergartens shall not be

 

 

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1under 4 years, except that, based upon an assessment of the
2child's readiness, children who have attended a non-public
3preschool and continued their education at that school through
4kindergarten, were taught in kindergarten by an appropriately
5certified teacher, and will attain the age of 6 years on or
6before December 31 of the year of the 2009-2010 school term and
7each school term thereafter may attend first grade upon
8commencement of such term, and in grade schools shall not be
9under 6 years. It may expel, suspend or, subject to the
10limitations of all policies established or adopted under
11Section 14-8.05, otherwise discipline any pupil found guilty of
12gross disobedience, misconduct or other violation of the
13by-laws, rules and regulations, including gross disobedience
14or misconduct perpetuated by electronic means, and may expel,
15suspend, or transfer pupils as provided in subsection (d-10) of
16Section 10-22.6 of this Code. An expelled pupil may be
17immediately transferred to an alternative program in the manner
18provided in Article 13A or 13B of this Code. A pupil must not
19be denied transfer because of the expulsion, except in cases in
20which such transfer is deemed to cause a threat to the safety
21of students or staff in the alternative program. A pupil who is
22suspended in excess of 20 school days may be immediately
23transferred to an alternative program in the manner provided in
24Article 13A or 13B of this Code. A pupil must not be denied
25transfer because of the suspension, except in cases in which
26such transfer is deemed to cause a threat to the safety of

 

 

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1students or staff in the alternative program. The bylaws, rules
2and regulations of the board shall be enacted, money shall be
3appropriated or expended, salaries shall be fixed or changed,
4and textbooks, electronic textbooks, and courses of
5instruction shall be adopted or changed only at the regular
6meetings of the board and by a vote of a majority of the full
7membership of the board; provided that notwithstanding any
8other provision of this Article or the School Code, neither the
9board or any local school council may purchase any textbook for
10use in any public school of the district from any textbook
11publisher that fails to furnish any computer diskettes as
12required under Section 28-21. Funds appropriated for textbook
13purchases must be available for electronic textbook purchases
14and the technological equipment necessary to gain access to and
15use electronic textbooks at the local school council's
16discretion. The board shall be further encouraged to provide
17opportunities for public hearing and testimony before the
18adoption of bylaws, rules and regulations. Upon all
19propositions requiring for their adoption at least a majority
20of all the members of the board the yeas and nays shall be
21taken and reported. The by-laws, rules and regulations of the
22board shall not be repealed, amended or added to, except by a
23vote of 2/3 of the full membership of the board. The board
24shall keep a record of all its proceedings. Such records and
25all by-laws, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, may be
26proved by a copy thereof certified to be such by the secretary

 

 

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1of the board, but if they are printed in book or pamphlet form
2which are purported to be published by authority of the board
3they need not be otherwise published and the book or pamphlet
4shall be received as evidence, without further proof, of the
5records, by-laws, rules and regulations, or any part thereof,
6as of the dates thereof as shown in such book or pamphlet, in
7all courts and places where judicial proceedings are had.
8    Notwithstanding any other provision in this Article or in
9the School Code, the board may delegate to the general
10superintendent or to the attorney the authorities granted to
11the board in the School Code, provided such delegation and
12appropriate oversight procedures are made pursuant to board
13by-laws, rules and regulations, adopted as herein provided,
14except that the board may not delegate its authorities and
15responsibilities regarding (1) budget approval obligations;
16(2) rule-making functions; (3) desegregation obligations; (4)
17real estate acquisition, sale or lease in excess of 10 years as
18provided in Section 34-21; (5) the levy of taxes; or (6) any
19mandates imposed upon the board by "An Act in relation to
20school reform in cities over 500,000, amending Acts herein
21named", approved December 12, 1988 (P.A. 85-1418).
22(Source: P.A. 96-864, eff. 1-21-10; 96-1403, eff. 7-29-10;
2397-340, eff. 1-1-12; 97-495, eff. 1-1-12; 97-813, eff.
247-13-12.)
 
25    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

 

 

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1becoming law.".