Full Text of HB4840 103rd General Assembly
HB4840 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 HB4840 Introduced 2/7/2024, by Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: | | 105 ILCS 5/27A-9 | | 105 ILCS 5/34-18.69 | |
| Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that an initial charter shall be granted for a period of no more than 3 school years (instead of for a period of 5 school years). Provides that a charter may be renewed in incremental periods not to exceed 3 (instead of 10) school years. Makes conforming changes. Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. Specifies that nothing in the provisions concerning a moratorium on school closings, consolidations, and phase-outs affects the Chicago Board of Education's ability to not renew its authorization of a charter or contract school. |
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| | A BILL FOR |
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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 Sections | 5 | | 27A-9 and 34-18.69 as follows: | 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/27A-9) | 7 | | Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal. | 8 | | (a) An initial charter granted before the effective date | 9 | | of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly shall be | 10 | | granted for a period of 5 school years. An initial charter | 11 | | granted on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act | 12 | | of the 103rd General Assembly shall be granted for a period of | 13 | | no more than 3 school years. A charter may be renewed before | 14 | | the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General | 15 | | Assembly in incremental periods not to exceed 10 school years. | 16 | | A charter may be renewed on or after the effective date of this | 17 | | amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly in incremental | 18 | | periods not to exceed 3 school years. Authorizers shall ensure | 19 | | that every charter granted on or after January 1, 2017 | 20 | | includes standards and goals for academic, organizational, and | 21 | | financial performance. A charter must meet all standards and | 22 | | goals for academic, organizational, and financial performance | 23 | | set forth by the authorizer in order to be renewed for a term |
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| 1 | | in excess of 5 years but not more than 10 years for a charter | 2 | | renewed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 3 | | the 103rd General Assembly or for a full 3-year term for a | 4 | | charter renewed on or after the effective date of this | 5 | | amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly . If an authorizer | 6 | | fails to establish standards and goals, a charter shall not be | 7 | | renewed for a term in excess of 5 years for a charter renewed | 8 | | before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd | 9 | | General Assembly or in excess of one year for a charter renewed | 10 | | on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | 11 | | 103rd General Assembly . Nothing contained in this Section | 12 | | shall require an authorizer to grant a full 10-year renewal | 13 | | term to any particular charter school, but , for a charter | 14 | | renewed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 15 | | the 103rd General Assembly, an authorizer may award a full | 16 | | 10-year renewal term to charter schools that have a | 17 | | demonstrated track record of improving student performance. | 18 | | (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the | 19 | | local school board or the State Board, as the chartering | 20 | | entity, shall contain: | 21 | | (1) a report on the progress of the charter school in | 22 | | achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance | 23 | | standards, content standards, and other terms of the | 24 | | initial approved charter proposal; and | 25 | | (2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of | 26 | | administration, instruction, and other spending categories |
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| 1 | | for the charter school that is understandable to the | 2 | | general public and that will allow comparison of those | 3 | | costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, | 4 | | in a format required by the State Board. | 5 | | (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local | 6 | | school board or the State Board, as the chartering entity, | 7 | | clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the | 8 | | following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements | 9 | | of this law: | 10 | | (1) Committed a material violation of any of the | 11 | | conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the | 12 | | charter. | 13 | | (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward | 14 | | achievement of the content standards or pupil performance | 15 | | standards identified in the charter. | 16 | | (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of | 17 | | fiscal management. | 18 | | (4) Violated any provision of law from which the | 19 | | charter school was not exempted. | 20 | | In the case of revocation, the local school board or the | 21 | | State Board, as the chartering entity, shall notify the | 22 | | charter school in writing of the reason why the charter is | 23 | | subject to revocation. The charter school shall submit a | 24 | | written plan to the local school board or the State Board, | 25 | | whichever is applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan | 26 | | shall include a timeline for implementation, which shall not |
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| 1 | | exceed 2 years or the date of the charter's expiration, | 2 | | whichever is earlier. If the local school board or the State | 3 | | Board, as the chartering entity, finds that the charter school | 4 | | has failed to implement the plan of remediation and adhere to | 5 | | the timeline, then the chartering entity shall revoke the | 6 | | charter. Except in situations of an emergency where the | 7 | | health, safety, or education of the charter school's students | 8 | | is at risk, the revocation shall take place at the end of a | 9 | | school year. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to | 10 | | prohibit an implementation timetable that is less than 2 years | 11 | | in duration. No local school board may arbitrarily or | 12 | | capriciously revoke or not renew a charter. Except for | 13 | | extenuating circumstances outlined in this Section, if a local | 14 | | school board revokes or does not renew a charter, it must | 15 | | ensure that all students currently enrolled in the charter | 16 | | school are placed in schools that are higher performing than | 17 | | that charter school, as defined in the State's federal Every | 18 | | Student Succeeds Act accountability plan. In determining | 19 | | whether extenuating circumstances exist, a local school board | 20 | | must detail, by clear and convincing evidence, that factors | 21 | | unrelated to the charter school's accountability designation | 22 | | outweigh the charter school's academic performance. | 23 | | (d) (Blank). | 24 | | (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny, | 25 | | revoke, or not renew a charter shall be provided to the State | 26 | | Board. |
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| 1 | | The State Board may reverse a local board's decision to | 2 | | revoke or not renew a charter if the State Board finds that the | 3 | | charter school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance | 4 | | with this Article and (ii) is in the best interests of the | 5 | | students it is designed to serve. The State Board may | 6 | | condition the granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the | 7 | | charter school of funding in an amount less than that | 8 | | requested in the proposal submitted to the local school board. | 9 | | The State Board must appoint and utilize a hearing officer for | 10 | | any appeals conducted under this subsection. Final decisions | 11 | | of the State Board are subject to judicial review under the | 12 | | Administrative Review Law. | 13 | | (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if | 14 | | the State Board on appeal reverses a local board's decision or | 15 | | if a charter school is approved by referendum, the State Board | 16 | | shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter | 17 | | school and shall perform all functions under this Article | 18 | | otherwise performed by the local school board. The State Board | 19 | | shall report the aggregate number of charter school pupils | 20 | | resident in a school district to that district and shall | 21 | | notify the district of the amount of funding to be paid by the | 22 | | State Board to the charter school enrolling such students. The | 23 | | charter school shall maintain accurate records of daily | 24 | | attendance and student enrollment and shall enter data on the | 25 | | students served, their characteristics, their particular | 26 | | needs, the programs in which they participate, and their |
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| 1 | | academic achievement into the statewide student information | 2 | | system established by the State Board. The State Board shall | 3 | | withhold from funds otherwise due the district the funds | 4 | | authorized by this Article to be paid to the charter school and | 5 | | shall pay such amounts to the charter school in quarterly | 6 | | installments, calculated as follows: | 7 | | (1) The amount of the first quarterly payment shall be | 8 | | based on the projected number of students who will be | 9 | | enrolled in the charter school in the upcoming school | 10 | | year, multiplied by one-fourth of the resident district's | 11 | | per capita tuition amount. Each charter school shall | 12 | | submit its projected enrollment by no later than August 1 | 13 | | of each year on a form provided by the State Board for this | 14 | | purpose. | 15 | | (2) The amount of the second quarterly payment shall | 16 | | be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the first | 17 | | and second quarterly installments is equal to the number | 18 | | of students reported as enrolled at the charter school on | 19 | | October 1 in the State Board's student information system, | 20 | | multiplied by one-half of the resident district's per | 21 | | capita tuition amount. | 22 | | (3) The amount of the third quarterly payment shall be | 23 | | based on the number of students enrolled in the charter | 24 | | school on January 1, multiplied by one-fourth of the | 25 | | resident district's per capita tuition amount. Each | 26 | | charter school shall submit its January 1 enrollment by no |
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| 1 | | later than January 5 of each year on a form provided by the | 2 | | State Board for this purpose. | 3 | | (4) The amount of the fourth quarterly payment shall | 4 | | be calculated such that the aggregate amount of the third | 5 | | and fourth installments is equal to the number of students | 6 | | reported as enrolled at the charter school on March 1 in | 7 | | the State Board's student information system, multiplied | 8 | | by one-half of the resident district's per capita tuition | 9 | | amount. | 10 | | (g) (Blank). | 11 | | (h) The State Board shall pay directly to a charter school | 12 | | it authorizes any federal or State funding attributable to a | 13 | | student with a disability attending the school. | 14 | | (Source: P.A. 103-175, eff. 6-30-23.) | 15 | | (105 ILCS 5/34-18.69) | 16 | | Sec. 34-18.69. Moratorium on school closings, | 17 | | consolidations, and phase-outs. The Board shall not approve | 18 | | any school closings, consolidations, or phase-outs until the | 19 | | Board of Education is seated on January 15, 2025. Nothing in | 20 | | this Section affects the Board's ability to not renew its | 21 | | authorization of a charter or contract school. | 22 | | (Source: P.A. 102-177, eff. 12-17-21 (See Section 15 of P.A. | 23 | | 102-691 for the effective date of P.A. 102-177).) |
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