Full Text of SB2344 100th General Assembly
SB2344eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 | | 10-22.31 as follows:
| 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/10-22.31) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.31)
| 7 | | Sec. 10-22.31. Special education.
| 8 | | (a) To enter into joint agreements with other school boards | 9 | | to provide
the needed special educational facilities and to | 10 | | employ a director and
other professional workers as defined in | 11 | | Section 14-1.10 and to establish
facilities as defined in | 12 | | Section 14-1.08 for the types of children described
in Sections | 13 | | 14-1.02 and 14-1.03a. The director (who may be employed under
a | 14 | | contract as provided in subsection (c) of this Section)
and | 15 | | other professional workers may be employed by one district, | 16 | | which
shall be reimbursed on a mutually agreed basis by other | 17 | | districts
that are parties to the joint agreement. Such | 18 | | agreements may provide that
one district may supply | 19 | | professional workers for a joint program conducted
in another | 20 | | district. Such agreement shall provide that any full-time | 21 | | professional worker who is employed by a joint agreement | 22 | | program and spends over
50% of his or her time in one school | 23 | | district shall not be required to work
a different teaching |
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| 1 | | schedule than the other professional worker in that
district. | 2 | | Such agreement shall include, but not be limited to, provisions
| 3 | | for administration, staff, programs, financing, housing, | 4 | | transportation, an
advisory body, and the method or methods to | 5 | | be employed for disposing of property upon the withdrawal of a | 6 | | school district or dissolution of the joint agreement and shall | 7 | | specify procedures for the withdrawal of
districts from
the | 8 | | joint agreement as long as these procedures are consistent with | 9 | | this Section. Such
agreement may be amended at any time as | 10 | | provided in the joint agreement or,
if the joint agreement does | 11 | | not so provide, then such agreement may be
amended at any time | 12 | | upon the adoption of concurring resolutions by the
school | 13 | | boards of all member districts, provided that no later than 6 | 14 | | months after August 28, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act | 15 | | 96-783), all existing agreements shall be amended to be | 16 | | consistent with Public Act 96-783. Such an amendment may | 17 | | include the removal of a school district from or the addition | 18 | | of a school district to the joint agreement without a petition | 19 | | as otherwise required in this Section if all member districts | 20 | | adopt concurring resolutions to that effect. A fully executed | 21 | | copy of any such
agreement or amendment entered into on or | 22 | | after January 1, 1989 shall be
filed with the State Board of | 23 | | Education. Petitions for withdrawal
shall be made to the | 24 | | regional board or boards of school trustees exercising | 25 | | oversight or governance over any of the districts in the joint
| 26 | | agreement. Upon receipt of a petition for withdrawal, the |
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| 1 | | regional board
of school trustees shall
publish notice of and | 2 | | conduct a hearing or, in instances in which more than one | 3 | | regional board of school trustees exercises oversight or | 4 | | governance over any of the districts in the joint agreement, a | 5 | | joint hearing, in accordance with rules adopted by the State | 6 | | Board of Education. In instances in which a single regional | 7 | | board of school trustees holds the hearing, approval of the | 8 | | petition must be by a two-thirds majority vote of the school | 9 | | trustees. In instances in which a joint hearing of 2 or more | 10 | | regional boards of school trustees is required, approval of the | 11 | | petition must be by a two-thirds majority of all those school | 12 | | trustees present and voting. Notwithstanding the provisions of | 13 | | Article 6 of this Code, in instances in which the competent | 14 | | regional board or boards of school trustees has been abolished, | 15 | | petitions for withdrawal shall be made to the school boards of | 16 | | those districts that fall under the oversight or governance of | 17 | | the abolished regional board of school trustees in accordance | 18 | | with rules adopted by the State Board of Education. If any | 19 | | petition is approved pursuant to this subsection (a), the | 20 | | withdrawal takes effect
as provided in Section 7-9 of this Act. | 21 | | The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-769 apply to | 22 | | all changes to special education joint agreement membership | 23 | | initiated after July 1, 2009.
| 24 | | (b) To either (1) designate an administrative district to | 25 | | act as fiscal
and legal agent for the districts that are | 26 | | parties to the joint
agreement, or (2) designate a governing |
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| 1 | | board composed of one member of
the school board of each | 2 | | cooperating district and designated by such
boards to act in | 3 | | accordance with the joint agreement. No such governing
board | 4 | | may levy taxes and no such governing board may incur any
| 5 | | indebtedness except within an annual budget for the joint | 6 | | agreement
approved by the governing board and by the boards of | 7 | | at least a majority
of the cooperating school districts or a | 8 | | number of districts greater
than a majority if required by
the | 9 | | joint agreement. The governing board may appoint an executive | 10 | | board of at
least 7 members to administer the joint agreement | 11 | | in accordance with
its terms. However, if 7 or more school | 12 | | districts are parties to a joint agreement that does not have | 13 | | an
administrative district: (i) at least a majority of the | 14 | | members appointed by
the governing board to the executive
board | 15 | | shall
be members of the school boards of the cooperating | 16 | | districts; or
(ii) if the
governing
board wishes to appoint | 17 | | members who are not school board members, they shall be
| 18 | | superintendents from the
cooperating districts.
| 19 | | (c) To employ a full-time director of special education of | 20 | | the joint agreement program under a one-year or multi-year
| 21 | | contract. No such contract can be offered or accepted for less | 22 | | than one year. Such contract
may be discontinued at any time by | 23 | | mutual agreement of the contracting
parties, or may be extended | 24 | | for an additional one-year or multi-year period at the end of | 25 | | any year.
| 26 | | The contract year is July 1 through the following June |
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| 1 | | 30th, unless the
contract specifically provides otherwise. | 2 | | Notice of intent not to renew a
contract when given by a | 3 | | controlling board or administrative district must
be in writing | 4 | | stating the specific reason therefor. Notice of intent not
to | 5 | | renew the contract must be given by the controlling board or | 6 | | the
administrative district at least 90 days before the | 7 | | contract expires.
Failure to do so will automatically extend | 8 | | the contract for one
additional year.
| 9 | | By accepting the terms of the contract, the director of a
| 10 | | special education joint agreement waives all rights granted | 11 | | under Sections
24-11 through 24-16 for the duration of his or | 12 | | her employment as a director
of a special education joint | 13 | | agreement.
| 14 | | (d) To designate a district that is a party to the joint | 15 | | agreement as the
issuer of bonds or notes for the purposes and | 16 | | in the manner provided in
this Section. It is not necessary for | 17 | | such district to also be the
administrative district for the | 18 | | joint agreement, nor is it necessary for
the same district to | 19 | | be designated as the issuer of all series of bonds or
notes | 20 | | issued hereunder. Any district so designated may, from time to | 21 | | time,
borrow money and, in evidence of its obligation to repay | 22 | | the borrowing,
issue its negotiable bonds or notes for the | 23 | | purpose of acquiring,
constructing, altering, repairing, | 24 | | enlarging and equipping any building or
portion thereof, | 25 | | together with any land or interest therein, necessary to
| 26 | | provide special educational facilities and services as defined |
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| 1 | | in Section
14-1.08. Title in and to any such facilities shall | 2 | | be held in accordance
with the joint agreement.
| 3 | | Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution | 4 | | of the board
of education of the issuing district. The | 5 | | resolution may contain such
covenants as may be deemed | 6 | | necessary or advisable by the district to
assure the payment of | 7 | | the bonds or notes. The resolution shall be
effective | 8 | | immediately upon its adoption.
| 9 | | Prior to the issuance of such bonds or notes, each school | 10 | | district that
is a party to the joint agreement shall agree, | 11 | | whether by amendment to the
joint agreement or by resolution of | 12 | | the board of education, to be jointly
and severally liable for | 13 | | the payment of the bonds and notes. The bonds or
notes shall be | 14 | | payable solely and only from the payments made pursuant to
such | 15 | | agreement.
| 16 | | Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the | 17 | | bonds or notes under
any joint agreement shall constitute an | 18 | | indebtedness of any district,
including the issuing district, | 19 | | within the meaning of any constitutional or
statutory | 20 | | limitation.
| 21 | | As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, | 22 | | the agreement
by a district to pay the bonds and notes shall be | 23 | | irrevocable
notwithstanding the district's withdrawal from | 24 | | membership in the joint
special education program.
| 25 | | (e) If a district whose employees are on strike was, prior | 26 | | to the strike,
sending students with disabilities to special |
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| 1 | | educational
facilities and services
in another district or | 2 | | cooperative, the district affected by the strike
shall continue | 3 | | to send such students during the strike and shall be
eligible | 4 | | to receive appropriate State reimbursement.
| 5 | | (f) With respect to those joint agreements that have a | 6 | | governing board
composed of one member of the school board of | 7 | | each cooperating district and
designated by those boards to act | 8 | | in accordance with the joint agreement, the
governing board | 9 | | shall have, in addition to its other powers under this Section,
| 10 | | the authority to issue bonds or notes for the purposes and in | 11 | | the manner
provided in this subsection. The governing board of | 12 | | the joint agreement
may from time to time borrow money and, in | 13 | | evidence of its
obligation to repay the borrowing,
issue its | 14 | | negotiable bonds or notes for the purpose of acquiring,
| 15 | | constructing, altering, repairing, enlarging and equipping any | 16 | | building or
portion thereof, together with any land or interest | 17 | | therein, necessary to
provide special educational facilities | 18 | | and services as defined in Section
14-1.08 and including also | 19 | | facilities for activities of administration and
educational | 20 | | support personnel employees. Title in and to any such | 21 | | facilities
shall be held in accordance with the joint | 22 | | agreement.
| 23 | | Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution | 24 | | of the
governing board. The resolution may contain such
| 25 | | covenants as may be deemed necessary or advisable by the | 26 | | governing board
to assure the payment of the bonds or notes and |
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| 1 | | interest accruing thereon.
The resolution shall be effective | 2 | | immediately upon its adoption.
| 3 | | Each school district that
is a party to the joint agreement | 4 | | shall be automatically liable, by virtue of
its membership in | 5 | | the joint agreement, for its proportionate share of the
| 6 | | principal amount of the bonds and notes plus interest accruing | 7 | | thereon, as
provided in the resolution. Subject to the joint | 8 | | and several liability
hereinafter provided for, the resolution | 9 | | may provide for different payment
schedules for different | 10 | | districts except that the aggregate amount of scheduled
| 11 | | payments for each district shall be equal to its proportionate | 12 | | share of the
debt service in the bonds or notes based upon the | 13 | | fraction that its
equalized assessed valuation bears to the | 14 | | total equalized assessed valuation of
all the district members | 15 | | of the joint agreement as adjusted in the manner
hereinafter | 16 | | provided. In computing that fraction the most recent available
| 17 | | equalized assessed valuation at the time of the issuance of the | 18 | | bonds and notes
shall be used, and the equalized assessed | 19 | | valuation of any district maintaining
grades K to 12 shall be | 20 | | doubled in both the numerator and denominator of the
fraction | 21 | | used for all of the districts that are members of the joint
| 22 | | agreement. In case of default in payment by any
member, each | 23 | | school district that is a party to the joint agreement shall
| 24 | | automatically be jointly and severally liable for the amount of | 25 | | any
deficiency. The bonds or
notes and interest thereon shall | 26 | | be payable solely and only from the
funds made available |
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| 1 | | pursuant to the procedures set forth in this
subsection. No | 2 | | project authorized under this subsection may require an
annual | 3 | | contribution for bond payments from any member district in | 4 | | excess of
0.15% of the value of taxable property as equalized | 5 | | or assessed by the
Department of Revenue in the case of | 6 | | districts maintaining grades K-8 or 9-12
and 0.30% of the value | 7 | | of taxable property as equalized or assessed by the
Department | 8 | | of
Revenue in the case of districts maintaining grades K-12. | 9 | | This limitation on
taxing authority is expressly applicable to | 10 | | taxing authority provided under
Section 17-9 and other | 11 | | applicable Sections of this Act. Nothing contained in
this | 12 | | subsection shall be construed as an exception to the property | 13 | | tax
limitations contained in Section 17-2, 17-2.2a, 17-5, or
| 14 | | any other applicable Section of this Act.
| 15 | | Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the | 16 | | bonds or notes
under any joint agreement shall constitute an | 17 | | indebtedness of any district
within the meaning of any | 18 | | constitutional or statutory limitation.
| 19 | | As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid, | 20 | | the obligation
of a district to pay its proportionate share of | 21 | | the principal of and
interest on the bonds and notes as | 22 | | required in this Section shall be a
general obligation of the | 23 | | district payable from any and all sources of revenue
designated | 24 | | for that purpose by the board of education of the district and | 25 | | shall
be irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal | 26 | | from membership in the
joint special education program.
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| 1 | | (g) A member district wishing to withdraw from a joint | 2 | | agreement may obtain from its school board a written resolution | 3 | | approving the withdrawal. The withdrawing district must then | 4 | | present a written petition for withdrawal from the joint | 5 | | agreement to the other member districts within such timelines | 6 | | designated by the joint agreement. A member district wishing to | 7 | | withdraw from a joint agreement under this subsection (g) must | 8 | | present to its school board and the other member districts | 9 | | evidence that withdrawing from the joint agreement is in the | 10 | | best needs of a child. Upon approval by school board written | 11 | | resolution of all of the remaining member districts, the | 12 | | petitioning member district shall be withdrawn from the joint | 13 | | agreement effective the following July 1 and shall notify the | 14 | | State Board of Education of the approved withdrawal in writing. | 15 | | If the petition for withdrawal is not approved and the | 16 | | petitioning member district is a part of a Class II county | 17 | | school unit outside of a city of 500,000 or more inhabitants, | 18 | | the petitioning member district may appeal the disapproval | 19 | | decision to the trustees of schools of the township that has | 20 | | jurisdiction and authority over the withdrawing district. If a | 21 | | withdrawing district is not under the jurisdiction and | 22 | | authority of the trustees of schools of a township, a hearing | 23 | | panel shall be established by the chief administrative officer | 24 | | of the intermediate service center having jurisdiction over the | 25 | | withdrawing district. The hearing panel shall be made up of 3 | 26 | | persons who have a demonstrated interest and background in |
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| 1 | | education. Each hearing panel member must reside within an | 2 | | educational service region of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants but | 3 | | not within the withdrawing district and may not be a current | 4 | | school board member or employee of the withdrawing district or | 5 | | hold any county office. None of the hearing panel members may | 6 | | reside within the same school district. The hearing panel shall | 7 | | serve without remuneration; however, the necessary expenses, | 8 | | including travel, attendant upon any meeting or hearing in | 9 | | relation to these proceedings must be paid. If the trustees of | 10 | | schools of the township having jurisdiction and authority over | 11 | | the withdrawing district or the hearing panel established by | 12 | | the chief administrative officer of the intermediate service | 13 | | center having jurisdiction over the withdrawing district | 14 | | approves the petition for withdrawal, then the petitioning | 15 | | member district shall be withdrawn from the joint agreement | 16 | | effective the following July 1 and shall notify the State Board | 17 | | of Education of the approved withdrawal in writing. | 18 | | (g-5) If a member district withdraws from a joint agreement | 19 | | under subsection (g) of this Section and the district was, | 20 | | prior to the withdrawal, sending students with disabilities to | 21 | | special educational facilities and services in another | 22 | | district under the joint agreement, the student may continue to | 23 | | use the facilities and services of the other district, | 24 | | regardless of the district in which the student resides, and | 25 | | the district in which the student resides shall pay the cost of | 26 | | those services. |
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| 1 | | (h) The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-783 | 2 | | apply to withdrawals from or dissolutions of special education | 3 | | joint agreements initiated after August 28, 2009 (the effective | 4 | | date of Public Act 96-783). | 5 | | (i) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (g), and (h) of this | 6 | | Section or any other provision of this Code to the contrary, an | 7 | | elementary school district that maintains grades up to and | 8 | | including grade 8, that had a 2014-2015 best 3 months' average | 9 | | daily attendance of 5,209.57, and that had a 2014 equalized | 10 | | assessed valuation of at least $451,500,000, but not more than | 11 | | $452,000,000, may withdraw from its special education joint | 12 | | agreement program consisting of 6 school districts upon | 13 | | submission and approval of the comprehensive plan, in | 14 | | compliance with the applicable requirements of Section 14-4.01 | 15 | | of this Code, in addition to the approval by the school board | 16 | | of the elementary school district and notification to and the | 17 | | filing of an intent to withdraw statement with the governing | 18 | | board of the joint agreement program. Such notification and | 19 | | statement shall specify the effective date of the withdrawal, | 20 | | which in no case shall be less than 60 days after the date of | 21 | | the filing of the notification and statement. Upon receipt of | 22 | | the notification and statement, the governing board of the | 23 | | joint agreement program shall distribute a copy to each member | 24 | | district of the joint agreement and shall initiate any | 25 | | appropriate allocation of assets and liabilities among the | 26 | | remaining member districts to take effect upon the date of the |
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| 1 | | withdrawal. The withdrawal shall take effect upon the date | 2 | | specified in the notification and statement. | 3 | | (Source: P.A. 99-729, eff. 8-5-16; 100-66, eff. 8-11-17.)
| 4 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 5 | | becoming law.
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