HB0494ham001 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia

Filed: 3/19/2013

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 494

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 494 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
527A-5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
7    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
8    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
9nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
10school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
11corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
12authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
13    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
14by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
15school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning
16on 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):
10    "Virtual-blended" means virtual-schooling but with
11in-person components.
12    "Virtual-schooling" means the teaching of courses through
13online methods with online instructors, rather than the
14instructor and student being at the same physical location.
15"Virtual-schooling" includes without limitation instruction
16provided by full-time, online virtual schools or
17virtual-blended schools.
18    From April 1, 2013 through April 1, 2016, there is a
19moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
20virtual-schooling components. This moratorium does not apply
21to a charter school with virtual-schooling components existing
22or approved prior to April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the
23charter of a charter school with virtual-schooling components
24already approved prior 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 school
2shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
3Meetings Act.
4    (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable
5health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
6under the laws of the State of Illinois.
7    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
8charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
9charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
10instructional materials, and student activities.
11    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
12management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
13not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
14charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
15outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
16school. Annually, by December 1, every charter school must
17submit to the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the
18Form 990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
19Internal Revenue Service.
20    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
21this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, and
22its charter. A charter school is exempt from all other State
23laws and regulations in the School Code governing public
24schools and local school board policies, except the following:
25        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code
26    regarding criminal history records checks and checks of the

 

 

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1    Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and
2    Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for
3    employment;
4        (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code
5    regarding discipline of students;
6        (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
7    Tort Immunity Act;
8        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
9    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
10    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
11        (5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
12        (6) The Illinois School Student Records Act;
13        (7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school
14    report cards; and
15        (8) The P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act.
16    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g)
17is declaratory of existing law.
18    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
19school district, the governing body of a State college or
20university or public community college, or any other public or
21for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
22school building and grounds or any other real property or
23facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
24for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
25maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
26activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to

 

 

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

 

 

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1    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
2grade level.
3    (k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission,
4then the Commission charter school is its own local education
5agency.
6(Source: P.A. 96-104, eff. 1-1-10; 96-105, eff. 7-30-09;
796-107, eff. 7-30-09; 96-734, eff. 8-25-09; 96-1000, eff.
87-2-10; 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12; 97-813, eff.
97-13-12.)
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11becoming law.".