Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB3254
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Full Text of HB3254  102nd General Assembly

HB3254ham001 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. La Shawn K. Ford

Filed: 4/20/2021

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3254

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3254 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
527A-5 and by adding Section 28-22 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.
16Beginning on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act

 

 

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193-3), in all new applications to establish a charter school
2in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of
3the charter school shall be limited to one campus. The changes
4made to this Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter
5schools existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the
6effective date of Public Act 93-3).
7    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means
8a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and
9instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with
10their teachers at remote locations and with students
11participating at different times.
12    From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a
13moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
14virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
15school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
16moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
17virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
18April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
19school with virtual-schooling components already approved
20prior to April 1, 2013.
21    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
22its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
23provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter
24school shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and
25the Open Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year
26after the effective date of Public Act 101-291), a charter

 

 

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

 

 

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1    (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular
2health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
3requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
4preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
5students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or
6prevent threats to the health and safety of students and
7school personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety
8requirement" does not include any course of study or
9specialized instructional requirement for which the State
10Board has established goals and learning standards or which is
11designed primarily to impart knowledge and skills for students
12to master and apply as an outcome of their education.
13    A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
14health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
15under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before September
161, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its
17Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
18requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall
19be updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
20contract between a charter school and its authorizer must
21contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow
22the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
23promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
24and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
25during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
26precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health

 

 

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1and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are
2not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
3including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
4authorizing local school board.
5    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
6charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
7charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
8instructional materials, and student activities.
9    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
10management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
11not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
12charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
13outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
14school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
15public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
16operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
17and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
18990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
19Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
20proper financial oversight of the charter school, an
21authorizer may require quarterly financial statements from
22each charter school.
23    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
24this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act,
25all federal and State laws and rules applicable to public
26schools that pertain to special education and the instruction

 

 

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1of English learners, and its charter. A charter school is
2exempt from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
3governing public schools and local school board policies;
4however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
5        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code
6    regarding criminal history records checks and checks of
7    the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer
8    and Violent Offender Against Youth Database of applicants
9    for employment;
10        (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and
11    34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of students;
12        (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
13    Tort Immunity Act;
14        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
15    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
16    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
17        (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
18        (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and
19    subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code;
20        (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
21        (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school
22    report cards;
23        (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
24        (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying
25    prevention;
26        (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student

 

 

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1    discipline reporting;
2        (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code;
3        (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code;
4        (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code;
5        (14) Section 26-18 of this Code;
6        (15) Section 22-30 of this Code;
7        (16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code;
8        (17) the Seizure Smart School Act; and
9        (18) Section 2-3.64a-10 of this Code; and .
10        (19) Section 28-22 of this Code.
11    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection
12(g) is declaratory of existing law.
13    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
14school district, the governing body of a State college or
15university or public community college, or any other public or
16for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
17school building and grounds or any other real property or
18facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
19for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
20maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
21activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required
22to perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
23However, a charter school that is established on or after
24April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that
25operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
26not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the

 

 

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1school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
2effective date of Public Act 93-3) and concludes at the end of
3the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection
4(i) of this Section, a school district may charge a charter
5school reasonable rent for the use of the district's
6buildings, grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a
7charter school contracts with a school district shall be
8provided by the district at cost. Any services for which a
9charter school contracts with a local school board or with the
10governing body of a State college or university or public
11community college shall be provided by the public entity at
12cost.
13    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
14by converting an existing school or attendance center to
15charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
16deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
17agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
18costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
19facilities that are used by the charter school shall be
20subject to negotiation between the charter school and the
21local school board and shall be set forth in the charter.
22    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age
23or grade level.
24    (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or
25Commission, then the charter school is its own local education
26agency.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18;
2100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff.
36-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50,
4eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20;
5101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; 101-654, eff.
63-8-21.)
 
7    (105 ILCS 5/28-22 new)
8    Sec. 28-22. Literature selection requirements.
9    (a) This Section may be referred to as the Pierce Twins
10Law.
11    (b) To ensure that students in grades kindergarten through
1212 receive exposure to diverse peoples, cultures, and
13backgrounds to better develop tolerance, understanding,
14appreciation, and acceptance of others, a school district
15shall require that books that are included as a part of any
16course, material, instruction, reading assignment, or other
17school curricula related to literature during the school year
18or that appear on summer reading lists must include books that
19are written by diverse authors, including, but not limited to,
20authors who are African American, women, Native American,
21LatinX, and Asian. Reading material may not perpetuate bias
22against persons based on, but not limited to, any of the
23following the categories:
24        (1) Ability.
25        (2) Race.

 

 

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1        (3) Language.
2        (4) Beliefs.
3        (5) Gender.
4        (6) Culture.
5        (7) Family dynamics.
6        (8) Socioeconomic status.
7    (c) For any school district utilizing federal funds under
8Title I, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary
9Education Act of 1965, the selection of each book to be
10included in a reading assignment, course material and
11instruction, or other school curricula related to literature
12must first receive prior approval from the school board before
13the book may be included. The criteria for the approval or
14denial of a book shall be determined by school board policy,
15but the minimum requirement is that the book may not be
16approved by the school board if the book contains language or
17material that is derogatory or racist or incites hate against
18any persons.
19    (d) A school board is authorized to adopt a policy
20pursuant to this Section based on guidelines established by
21the State Board of Education.
22    (e) The State Board of Education shall adopt any rules and
23guidelines necessary to implement this Section.
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.".