Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB0605
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Full Text of SB0605  102nd General Assembly

SB0605enr 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
SB0605 EnrolledLRB102 11423 CMG 16756 b

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 adding Section
522-90 and by changing Sections 26-13 and 27A-5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/22-90 new)
7    Sec. 22-90. Absenteeism and truancy policy.
8    (a) Each school district, charter school, or alternative
9school or any school receiving public funds shall develop and
10communicate to its students and their parent or guardian, on
11an annual basis, an absenteeism and truancy policy, including
12at least the following elements:
13        (1) A definition of a valid cause for absence in
14    accordance with Section 26-2a of this Code.
15        (2) A description of diagnostic procedures to be used
16    for identifying the causes of unexcused student
17    absenteeism, which shall, at a minimum, include interviews
18    with the student, his or her parent or guardian, and any
19    school officials who may have information about the
20    reasons for the student's attendance problem.
21        (3) The identification of supportive services to be
22    made available to truant or chronically truant students.
23    These services shall include, but need not be limited to,

 

 

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1    parent conferences, student counseling, family counseling,
2    and information about existing community services that are
3    available to truant and chronically truant students and
4    relevant to their needs.
5        (4) Incorporation of the provisions relating to
6    chronic absenteeism in accordance with Section 26-18 of
7    this Code.
8    (b) The absenteeism and truancy policy must be updated
9every 2 years and filed with the State Board of Education and
10the regional superintendent of schools.
 
11    (105 ILCS 5/26-13)  (from Ch. 122, par. 26-13)
12    Sec. 26-13. Absenteeism and truancy policies. School
13districts shall adopt policies, consistent with rules adopted
14by the State Board of Education and Section 22-90, which
15identify the appropriate supportive services and available
16resources which are provided for truants and chronic truants.
17(Source: P.A. 84-1420.)
 
18    (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
19    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
20    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
21nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
22school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
23corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
24authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.

 

 

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1    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
2by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
3school or attendance center to charter school status.
4Beginning on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act
593-3), in all new applications to establish a charter school
6in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of
7the charter school shall be limited to one campus. The changes
8made to this Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter
9schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the
10effective date of Public Act 93-3).
11    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means
12a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and
13instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with
14their teachers at remote locations and with students
15participating at different times.
16    From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a
17moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
18virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
19school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
20moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
21virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
22April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
23school with virtual-schooling components already approved
24prior to April 1, 2013.
25    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
26its board of directors or other governing body in the manner

 

 

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1provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter
2school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and
3the Open Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year
4after the effective date of Public Act 101-291) this
5amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly, a charter
6school's board of directors or other governing body must
7include at least one parent or guardian of a pupil currently
8enrolled in the charter school who may be selected through the
9charter school or a charter network election, appointment by
10the charter school's board of directors or other governing
11body, or by the charter school's Parent Teacher Organization
12or its equivalent.
13    (c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the
14effective date of Public Act 101-291) this amendatory Act of
15the 101st General Assembly or within the first year of his or
16her first term, every voting member of a charter school's
17board of directors or other governing body shall complete a
18minimum of 4 hours of professional development leadership
19training to ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity
20with the board's or governing body's role and
21responsibilities, including financial oversight and
22accountability of the school, evaluating the principal's and
23school's performance, adherence to the Freedom of Information
24Act and the Open Meetings Act Acts, and compliance with
25education and labor law. In each subsequent year of his or her
26term, a voting member of a charter school's board of directors

 

 

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1or other governing body shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of
2professional development training in these same areas. The
3training under this subsection may be provided or certified by
4a statewide charter school membership association or may be
5provided or certified by other qualified providers approved by
6the State Board of Education.
7    (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular
8health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
9requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
10preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
11students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or
12prevent threats to the health and safety of students and
13school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety
14requirement" does not include any course of study or
15specialized instructional requirement for which the State
16Board has established goals and learning standards or which is
17designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students
18to master and apply as an outcome of their education.
19    A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
20health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
21under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before September
221, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its
23Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
24requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall
25be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
26contract between a charter school and its authorizer must

 

 

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1contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow
2the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
3promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
4and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
5during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
6precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health
7and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are
8not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
9including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
10authorizing local school board.
11    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
12charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
13charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
14instructional materials, and student activities.
15    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
16management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
17not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
18charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
19outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
20school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
21public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
22operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
23and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
24990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
25Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
26proper financial oversight of the charter school, an

 

 

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1authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from
2each charter school.
3    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
4this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act,
5all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public
6schools that pertain to special education and the instruction
7of English learners, and its charter. A charter school is
8exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
9governing public schools and local school board policies;
10however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
11        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code
12    regarding criminal history records checks and checks of
13    the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer
14    and Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants
15    for employment;
16        (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and
17    34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of students;
18        (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
19    Tort Immunity Act;
20        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
21    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
22    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
23        (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
24        (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and
25    subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code;
26        (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;

 

 

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1        (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school
2    report cards;
3        (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
4        (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying
5    prevention;
6        (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student
7    discipline reporting;
8        (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code;
9        (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code;
10        (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code;
11        (14) Sections 22-90 and Section 26-18 of this Code;
12        (15) Section 22-30 of this Code; and
13        (16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code; and .
14        (17) the (16) The Seizure Smart School Act.
15    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection
16(g) is declaratory of existing law.
17    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
18school district, the governing body of a State college or
19university or public community college, or any other public or
20for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
21school building and grounds or any other real property or
22facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
23for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
24maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
25activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required
26to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.

 

 

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1However, a charter school that is established on or after
2April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that
3operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
4not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the
5school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
6effective date of Public Act 93-3) and concludes at the end of
7the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection
8(i) of this Section, a school district may charge a charter
9school reasonable rent for the use of the district's
10buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a
11charter school contracts with a school district shall be
12provided by the district at cost. Any services for which a
13charter school contracts with a local school board or with the
14governing body of a State college or university or public
15community college shall be provided by the public entity at
16cost.
17    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
18by converting an existing school or attendance center to
19charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
20deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
21agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
22costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
23facilities that are used by the charter school shall be
24subject to negotiation between the charter school and the
25local school board and shall be set forth in the charter.
26    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age

 

 

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1or grade level.
2    (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or
3Commission, then the charter school is its own local education
4agency.
5(Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18;
6100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff.
76-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50,
8eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20;
9101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; revised 8-4-20.)
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
112022.