HB0265 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 05354 MJP 15365 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB0265

Introduced , by Rep. Mary E. Flowers

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act
105 ILCS 5/10-17a	from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a
105 ILCS 5/34-18.24

Creates the Lead in Schools Reporting Act. Provides that on an annual basis the Department of Public Health, in coordination with local departments of public health serving the City of Chicago, shall conduct specified lead testing at public school facilities within the City. Provides that the results from such testing shall be transmitted to the State Board of Education. Provides that the Department shall notify the Board if a detected lead level meets a level that the Department deems unsafe. Amends the School Code. Provides that school report cards for cities with populations in excess of 500,000 shall include lead testing results and that students in such districts may transfer from one attendance center to another attendance center in that district if any lead levels at his or her current attendance center meets a level that the Department deems unsafe. Makes other changes to provisions concerning transfers to specified attendance centers.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Lead in Schools Reporting Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Department" means the Department of Public Health.

"Lead inspector" means an individual who has been trained by a Department-approved training program and is licensed by the Department to conduct lead inspections; to sample for the presence of lead in paint, dust, soil, and water; and to conduct compliance investigations.

Section 10. Lead testing and reporting. On an annual basis, the Department of Public Health, in coordination with local departments of public health serving the City of Chicago, shall employ lead inspectors to test all public school facilities within the City of Chicago for the presence of lead in paint, dust, soil, and water. The results of this lead testing shall be transmitted to the State Board of Education for the purpose of inclusion in school report cards. The Department shall notify the State Board of Education if a lead level detected in the paint, dust, soil, or water at a public school facility in the City of Chicago meets a level that the Department deems unsafe, including, but not limited to, the current State or federal action levels for lead in drinking water at the time results are transmitted by the Department to the State Board of Education.

Section 15. The School Code is amended by changing Sections 10-17a and 34-18.24 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/10-17a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a)

Sec. 10-17a. State, school district, and school report cards.

(1) By October 31, 2013 and October 31 of each subsequent school year, the State Board of Education, through the State Superintendent of Education, shall prepare a State report card, school district report cards, and school report cards, and shall by the most economic means provide to each school district in this State, including special charter districts and districts subject to the provisions of Article 34, the report cards for the school district and each of its schools.

(2) In addition to any information required by federal law, the State Superintendent shall determine the indicators and presentation of the school report card, which must include, at a minimum, the most current data possessed by the State Board of Education related to the following:

(A) school characteristics and student demographics, including average class size, average teaching experience, student racial/ethnic breakdown, and the percentage of students classified as low-income; the percentage of students classified as English learners; the percentage of students who have individualized education plans or 504 plans that provide for special education services; the percentage of students who annually transferred in or out of the school district; the per-pupil operating expenditure of the school district; and the per-pupil State average operating expenditure for the district type (elementary, high school, or unit);

(B) curriculum information, including, where applicable, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or equivalent courses, dual enrollment courses, foreign language classes, school personnel resources (including Career Technical Education teachers), before and after school programs, extracurricular activities, subjects in which elective classes are offered, health and wellness initiatives (including the average number of days of Physical Education per week per student), approved programs of study, awards received, community partnerships, and special programs such as programming for the gifted and talented, students with disabilities, and work-study students;

(C) student outcomes, including, where applicable, the percentage of students deemed proficient on assessments of State standards, the percentage of students in the eighth grade who pass Algebra, the percentage of students enrolled in post-secondary institutions (including colleges, universities, community colleges, trade/vocational schools, and training programs leading to career certification within 2 semesters of high school graduation), the percentage of students graduating from high school who are college and career ready, and the percentage of graduates enrolled in community colleges, colleges, and universities who are in one or more courses that the community college, college, or university identifies as a developmental course;

(D) student progress, including, where applicable, the percentage of students in the ninth grade who have earned 5 credits or more without failing more than one core class, a measure of students entering kindergarten ready to learn, a measure of growth, and the percentage of students who enter high school on track for college and career readiness;

(E) the school environment, including, where applicable, the percentage of students with less than 10 absences in a school year, the percentage of teachers with less than 10 absences in a school year for reasons other than professional development, leaves taken pursuant to the federal Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, long-term disability, or parental leaves, the 3-year average of the percentage of teachers returning to the school from the previous year, the number of different principals at the school in the last 6 years, 2 or more indicators from any school climate survey selected or approved by the State and administered pursuant to Section 2-3.153 of this Code, with the same or similar indicators included on school report cards for all surveys selected or approved by the State pursuant to Section 2-3.153 of this Code, and the combined percentage of teachers rated as proficient or excellent in their most recent evaluation; and

(F) a school district's and its individual schools' balanced accountability measure, in accordance with Section 2-3.25a of this Code; and .

(G) for a school district organized under Article 34 of this Code, the lead levels at each individual school as reported to the State Board of Education under the Lead in Schools Reporting Act, including whether any lead levels meet a level the Department of Public Health deems unsafe.

The school report card shall also provide information that allows for comparing the current outcome, progress, and environment data to the State average, to the school data from the past 5 years, and to the outcomes, progress, and environment of similar schools based on the type of school and enrollment of low-income students, special education students, and English learners.

(3) At the discretion of the State Superintendent, the school district report card shall include a subset of the information identified in paragraphs (A) through (E) of subsection (2) of this Section, as well as information relating to the operating expense per pupil and other finances of the school district, and the State report card shall include a subset of the information identified in paragraphs (A) through (E) of subsection (2) of this Section.

(4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, in consultation with key education stakeholders, the State Superintendent shall at any time have the discretion to amend or update any and all metrics on the school, district, or State report card.

(5) Annually, no more than 30 calendar days after receipt of the school district and school report cards from the State Superintendent of Education, each school district, including special charter districts and districts subject to the provisions of Article 34, shall present such report cards at a regular school board meeting subject to applicable notice requirements, post the report cards on the school district's Internet web site, if the district maintains an Internet web site, make the report cards available to a newspaper of general circulation serving the district, and, upon request, send the report cards home to a parent (unless the district does not maintain an Internet web site, in which case the report card shall be sent home to parents without request). If the district posts the report card on its Internet web site, the district shall send a written notice home to parents stating (i) that the report card is available on the web site, (ii) the address of the web site, (iii) that a printed copy of the report card will be sent to parents upon request, and (iv) the telephone number that parents may call to request a printed copy of the report card.

(6) Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly repeals, supersedes, invalidates, or nullifies final decisions in lawsuits pending on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly in Illinois courts involving the interpretation of Public Act 97-8.

(Source: P.A. 98-463, eff. 8-16-13; 98-648, eff. 7-1-14; 99-30, eff. 7-10-15; 99-193, eff. 7-30-15; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)

(105 ILCS 5/34-18.24)

Sec. 34-18.24. Transfer of students.

(a) The board shall establish and implement a policy governing the transfer of a student from one attendance center to another within the school district upon the request of the student's parent or guardian. Any request by a parent or guardian to transfer his or her child from one attendance center to another within the school district pursuant to Section 1116 of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6317) must be made no later than 30 days after the parent or guardian receives notice of the right to transfer pursuant to that law. A student may not transfer to any of the following attendance centers, except by change in residence if the policy authorizes enrollment based on residence in an attendance area, if subsection (e) applies, or unless approved by the board on an individual basis:

(1) An attendance center that exceeds or as a result of the transfer would exceed its attendance capacity.

(2) An attendance center for which the board has established academic criteria for enrollment in compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act or the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act if the student does not meet the criteria, provided that the transfer must be permitted if the attendance center is the only attendance center serving the student's grade that has not been identified for school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under Section 1116 of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6317).

(3) Any attendance center if the transfer would prevent the school district from meeting its obligations under a State or federal law, including the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; court order; , or consent decree applicable to the school district.

(b) The board shall establish and implement a policy governing the transfer of students within the school district from a persistently dangerous attendance center to another attendance center in that district that is not deemed to be persistently dangerous. In order to be considered a persistently dangerous attendance center, the attendance center must meet all of the following criteria for 2 consecutive years:

(1) Have greater than 3% of the students enrolled in the attendance center expelled for violence-related conduct.

(2) Have one or more students expelled for bringing a firearm to school as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921.

(3) Have at least 3% of the students enrolled in the attendance center exercise the individual option to transfer attendance centers pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section.

(c) A student may transfer from one attendance center to another attendance center within the district if the student is a victim of a violent crime as defined in Section 3 of the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act. The violent crime must have occurred on school grounds during regular school hours or during a school-sponsored event.

(d) Transfers made pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this Section shall be made in compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110).

(e) A student may transfer from one attendance center to another attendance center within or outside of the district if any lead levels at his or her current attendance center meet a level the Department of Public Health deems unsafe.

(Source: P.A. 92-604, eff. 7-1-02; 93-633, eff. 12-23-03.)