SB1956eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1956 Engrossed LRB095 18715 NHT 44818 b

AN ACT concerning education.

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

Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections 27A-4 and 27A-5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27A-4)

Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.

(a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation plan in effect for any school district. A charter school shall be subject to all federal and State laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, religion, ancestry, marital status, or need for special education services.

(b) The total number of charter schools operating under this Article at any one time shall not exceed 60. Not more than 30 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any city having a population exceeding 500,000; not more than 15 charter schools shall operate at any one time in the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook County that is located outside a city having a population exceeding 500,000, with not more than one charter school that has been initiated by a board of education, or by an intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of education, operating at any one time in the school district where the charter school is located; and not more than 15 charter schools shall operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not more than one charter school that has been initiated by a board of education, or by an intergovernmental agreement between or among boards of education, operating at any one time in the school district where the charter school is located. The following provisions apply notwithstanding the other provisions of this subsection (b):

(1) If 14 charter schools are operating at any one time in the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook County that is located outside a city having a population exceeding 500,000, then one additional charter school, which must be exclusively for truants or dropouts and may contain up to 25 campuses, may operate in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, and the limit on the number of charter schools that may operate at any one time in the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook County that is located outside a city having a population exceeding 500,000 shall be reduced to 14 if an additional charter school is established in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 under the authority of this paragraph (1).

(2) If 13 charter schools are operating at any one time in the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook County that is located outside a city having a population exceeding 500,000, then 2 additional charter schools, which must be exclusively for truants or dropouts and may each contain up to 25 campuses, may operate in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, and the limit on the number of charter schools that may operate at any one time in the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook County that is located outside a city having a population exceeding 500,000 shall be reduced by the number of additional charter schools established in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 under the authority of this paragraph (2).

(3) If 12 or fewer charter schools are operating at any one time in the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook County that is located outside a city having a population exceeding 500,000, then 3 additional charter schools, which must be exclusively for truants or dropouts and may each contain up to 25 campuses, may operate in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, and the limit on the number of charter schools that may operate at any one time in the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and that portion of Cook County that is located outside a city having a population exceeding 500,000 shall be reduced by the number of additional charter schools established in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 under the authority of this paragraph (3).

(4) If 14 charter schools are operating at any one time in that part of the State outside of the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and Cook County, then one additional charter school, which must be exclusively for truants or dropouts and may contain up to 25 campuses, may operate in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, and the limit on the number of charter schools that may operate at any one time in that part of the State outside of the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and Cook County shall be reduced to 14 if an additional charter school is established in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 under the authority of this paragraph (4).

(5) If 13 or fewer charter schools are operating at any one time in that part of the State outside of the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and Cook County, then 2 additional charter schools, which must be exclusively for truants or dropouts and may each contain up to 25 campuses, may operate in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, and the limit on the number of charter schools that may operate at any one time in that part of the State outside of the counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and Cook County shall be reduced by the number of additional charter schools established in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 under the authority of this paragraph (5).

If a charter school established under the authority of paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this subsection (b) is not used exclusively for truants or dropouts, then the State Board shall withhold and the charter school shall forfeit all State funding designated for that school.

For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives under Section 27A-6 for its review and certification, based on the chronological order in which the submission is received by it. The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools authorized to operate have been reached.

(c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public school to a charter school.

(d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area served by the local school board, provided that the board of education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to attend the charter school.

(e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local school boards from jointly issuing a charter to a single shared charter school, provided that all of the provisions of this Article are met as to those local school boards.

(f) No local school board shall require any employee of the school district to be employed in a charter school.

(g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a charter school.

(h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in a charter school than there are spaces available, successful applicants shall be selected by lottery. However, priority shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school the previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated by the board of education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000. Dual enrollment at both a charter school and a public school or non-public school shall not be allowed. A pupil who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed to be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the school district in which the pupil resides.

(i) (Blank).

(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a school district in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain with an exclusive representative of its employees over decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing, diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights, guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 14, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.

(Source: P.A. 92-16, eff. 6-28-01; 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 93-861, eff. 1-1-05.)

(105 ILCS 5/27A-5)

Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.

(a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.

(b) A charter school may be established under this Article by creating a new school or by converting an existing public school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, except as otherwise permitted under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (b) of Section 27A-4 of this Code, in all new applications submitted to the State Board or a local school board to establish a charter school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus. The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory Act.

(c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by its board of directors or other governing body in the manner provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act.

(d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable health and safety requirements applicable to public schools under the laws of the State of Illinois.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks, instructional materials, and student activities.

(f) A charter school shall be responsible for the management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an outside, independent contractor retained by the charter school.

(g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of this Article and its charter. A charter school is exempt from all other State laws and regulations in the School Code governing public schools and local school board policies, except the following:

(1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code regarding criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex Offender Database of applicants for employment;

(2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code regarding discipline of students;

(3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act;

(4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of officers, directors, employees, and agents;

(5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;

(6) The Illinois School Student Records Act; and

(7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school report cards.

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

(i) In no event shall a charter school that is established by converting an existing school or attendance center to charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other costs for the operation and maintenance of school district facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject to negotiation between the charter school and the local school board and shall be set forth in the charter.

(j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or grade level.

(Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 93-909, eff. 8-12-04; 94-219, eff. 7-14-05.)