Full Text of SB0205 103rd General Assembly
SB0205 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 SB0205 Introduced 1/31/2023, by Sen. Linda Holmes SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: | | 105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g | from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g |
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Amends the School Code. Makes technical and revisory changes in a Section concerning
waivers of School Code mandates.
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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 Section | 5 | | 2-3.25g as follows: | 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25g) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25g) | 7 | | Sec. 2-3.25g. Waiver or modification of mandates within | 8 | | the School
Code and administrative rules and regulations. | 9 | | (a) In this Section: | 10 | | "Board" means a school board or the
the governing | 11 | | board or administrative district, as the case may be, for | 12 | | a joint agreement. | 13 | | "Eligible applicant" means a school district, joint | 14 | | agreement made up of school districts, or regional | 15 | | superintendent of schools on behalf of schools and | 16 | | programs operated by the regional office of education.
| 17 | | "Implementation date" has the meaning set forth in | 18 | | Section 24A-2.5 of this Code. | 19 | | "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
| 20 | | (b) Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this School | 21 | | Code or any other law of this State to the
contrary, eligible | 22 | | applicants may petition the State Board of Education for the
| 23 | | waiver or modification of the mandates of this School Code or |
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| 1 | | of the
administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the | 2 | | State Board of
Education. Waivers or modifications of | 3 | | administrative rules and regulations
and modifications of | 4 | | mandates of this School Code may be requested when an eligible | 5 | | applicant demonstrates that it can address the intent of the | 6 | | rule or
mandate in a more effective, efficient, or economical | 7 | | manner or when necessary
to stimulate innovation or improve | 8 | | student performance. Waivers of
mandates of
the School Code | 9 | | may be requested when the waivers are necessary to stimulate
| 10 | | innovation or improve student performance or when the | 11 | | applicant demonstrates that it can address the intent of the | 12 | | mandate of the School Code in a more effective, efficient, or | 13 | | economical manner. Waivers may not be requested
from laws, | 14 | | rules, and regulations pertaining to special education, | 15 | | teacher educator licensure, teacher tenure and seniority, or | 16 | | Section 5-2.1 of this Code or from compliance with the Every | 17 | | Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95). Eligible applicants | 18 | | may not seek a waiver or seek a modification of a mandate | 19 | | regarding the requirements for (i) student performance data to | 20 | | be a significant factor in teacher or principal evaluations or | 21 | | (ii) teachers and principals to be rated using the 4 | 22 | | categories of "excellent", "proficient", "needs improvement", | 23 | | or "unsatisfactory". On September 1, 2014, any previously | 24 | | authorized waiver or modification from such requirements shall | 25 | | terminate. | 26 | | (c) Eligible applicants, as a matter of inherent |
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| 1 | | managerial policy, and any
Independent Authority established | 2 | | under Section 2-3.25f-5 of this Code may submit an
application | 3 | | for a waiver or modification authorized under this Section. | 4 | | Each
application must include a written request by the | 5 | | eligible applicant or
Independent Authority and must | 6 | | demonstrate that the intent of the mandate can
be addressed in | 7 | | a more effective, efficient, or economical manner
or be based
| 8 | | upon a specific plan for improved student performance and | 9 | | school improvement.
Any eligible applicant requesting a waiver | 10 | | or modification for the reason that intent
of the mandate can | 11 | | be addressed in a more economical manner shall include in
the | 12 | | application a fiscal analysis showing current expenditures on | 13 | | the mandate
and projected savings resulting from the waiver
or | 14 | | modification. Applications
and plans developed by eligible | 15 | | applicants must be approved by the board or regional | 16 | | superintendent of schools applying on behalf of schools or | 17 | | programs operated by the regional office of education | 18 | | following a public hearing on the application and plan and the
| 19 | | opportunity for the board or regional superintendent to hear | 20 | | testimony from staff
directly involved in
its implementation, | 21 | | parents, and students. The time period for such testimony | 22 | | shall be separate from the time period established by the | 23 | | eligible applicant for public comment on other matters. | 24 | | (c-5) If the applicant is a school district, then the | 25 | | district shall post information that sets forth the time, | 26 | | date, place, and general subject matter of the public hearing |
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| 1 | | on its Internet website at least 14 days prior to the hearing. | 2 | | If the district is requesting to increase the fee charged for | 3 | | driver education authorized pursuant to Section 27-24.2 of | 4 | | this Code, the website information shall include the proposed | 5 | | amount of the fee the district will request. All school | 6 | | districts must publish a notice of the public hearing at least | 7 | | 7 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of general | 8 | | circulation within the school district that sets forth the | 9 | | time, date, place, and general subject matter of the hearing. | 10 | | Districts requesting to increase the fee charged for driver | 11 | | education shall include in the published notice the proposed | 12 | | amount of the fee the district will request. If the applicant | 13 | | is a joint agreement or regional superintendent, then the | 14 | | joint agreement or regional superintendent shall post | 15 | | information that sets forth the time, date, place, and general | 16 | | subject matter of the public hearing on its Internet website | 17 | | at least 14 days prior to the hearing. If the joint agreement | 18 | | or regional superintendent is requesting to increase the fee | 19 | | charged for driver education authorized pursuant to Section | 20 | | 27-24.2 of this Code, the website information shall include | 21 | | the proposed amount of the fee the applicant will request. All | 22 | | joint agreements and regional superintendents must publish a | 23 | | notice of the public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | 24 | | hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in each school | 25 | | district that is a member of the joint agreement or that is | 26 | | served by the educational service region that sets forth the |
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| 1 | | time, date, place, and general subject matter of the hearing, | 2 | | provided that a notice appearing in a newspaper generally | 3 | | circulated in more than one school district shall be deemed to | 4 | | fulfill this requirement with respect to all of the affected | 5 | | districts. Joint agreements or regional superintendents | 6 | | requesting to increase the fee charged for driver education | 7 | | shall include in the published notice the proposed amount of | 8 | | the fee the applicant will request. The
eligible applicant | 9 | | must notify either electronically or in writing the affected | 10 | | exclusive collective
bargaining agent and those State | 11 | | legislators representing the eligible applicant's territory of
| 12 | | its
intent to seek approval of a
waiver or
modification and of | 13 | | the hearing to be held to take testimony from staff.
The | 14 | | affected exclusive collective bargaining agents shall be | 15 | | notified of such
public hearing at least 7 days prior to the | 16 | | date of the hearing and shall be
allowed to attend
such public | 17 | | hearing. The eligible applicant shall attest to compliance | 18 | | with all of
the notification and procedural requirements set | 19 | | forth in this Section. | 20 | | (d) A request for a waiver or modification of | 21 | | administrative rules and
regulations or for a modification of | 22 | | mandates contained in this School Code
shall be submitted to | 23 | | the State Board of Education within 15 days after
approval by | 24 | | the board or regional superintendent of schools. The | 25 | | application as submitted to the
State Board of Education shall | 26 | | include a description of the public hearing.
Following receipt |
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| 1 | | of the waiver or modification request, the
State Board shall | 2 | | have 45 days to review the application and request. If the
| 3 | | State Board fails to disapprove the application within that | 4 | | 45-day period, the
waiver or modification shall be deemed | 5 | | granted. The State Board
may disapprove
any request if it is | 6 | | not based upon sound educational practices, endangers the
| 7 | | health or safety of students or staff, compromises equal | 8 | | opportunities for
learning, or fails to demonstrate that the | 9 | | intent of the rule or mandate can be
addressed in a more | 10 | | effective, efficient, or economical manner or have improved
| 11 | | student performance as a primary goal. Any request disapproved | 12 | | by the State
Board may be appealed to the General Assembly by | 13 | | the eligible applicant
as outlined in this Section. | 14 | | A request for a waiver from mandates contained in this | 15 | | School Code shall be
submitted to the State Board within 15 | 16 | | days after approval by the board or regional superintendent of | 17 | | schools.
The application as submitted to the State Board of | 18 | | Education
shall include a description of the public hearing. | 19 | | The description shall
include, but need not be limited to, the | 20 | | means of notice, the number of people
in attendance, the | 21 | | number of people who spoke as proponents or opponents of the
| 22 | | waiver, a brief description of their comments, and whether | 23 | | there were any
written statements submitted.
The State Board | 24 | | shall review the applications and requests for
completeness | 25 | | and shall compile the requests in reports to be filed with the
| 26 | | General Assembly. The State Board shall file
reports outlining |
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| 1 | | the waivers
requested by eligible applicants
and appeals by | 2 | | eligible applicants of requests
disapproved by the State Board | 3 | | with the Senate and the House of
Representatives before each | 4 | | March 1 and
October
1. | 5 | | The report shall be reviewed by a panel of 4 members | 6 | | consisting of: | 7 | | (1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives; | 8 | | (2) the Minority Leader of the House of | 9 | | Representatives; | 10 | | (3) the President of the Senate; and | 11 | | (4) the Minority Leader of the Senate. | 12 | | The State Board of Education may provide the panel | 13 | | recommendations on waiver requests. The members of the panel | 14 | | shall review the report submitted by the State Board of | 15 | | Education and submit to the State Board of Education any | 16 | | notice of further consideration to any waiver request within | 17 | | 14 days after the member receives the report. If 3 or more of | 18 | | the panel members submit a notice of further consideration to | 19 | | any waiver request contained within the report, the State | 20 | | Board of Education shall submit the waiver request to the | 21 | | General Assembly for consideration. If less than 3 panel | 22 | | members submit a notice of further consideration to a waiver | 23 | | request, the waiver may be approved, denied, or modified by | 24 | | the State Board. If the State Board does not act on a waiver | 25 | | request within 10 days, then the waiver request is approved. | 26 | | If the waiver request is denied by the State Board, it shall |
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| 1 | | submit the waiver request to the General Assembly for | 2 | | consideration. | 3 | | The General Assembly may disapprove any waiver request | 4 | | submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to this subsection | 5 | | (d) in whole
or in part within 60 calendar days after each | 6 | | house of the General Assembly
next
convenes after the waiver | 7 | | request is submitted by adoption of a resolution by a record | 8 | | vote
of the majority of members elected in each house. If the | 9 | | General Assembly
fails to disapprove any waiver request or | 10 | | appealed request within such 60-day period, the waiver or | 11 | | modification shall be deemed granted. Any resolution
adopted | 12 | | by the General Assembly disapproving a report of the State | 13 | | Board in
whole or in part shall be binding on the State Board. | 14 | | (e) An approved waiver or modification may remain in | 15 | | effect for a period not to
exceed 5 school years and may be | 16 | | renewed upon application by the
eligible applicant. However, | 17 | | such waiver or modification may be changed within that
5-year | 18 | | period by a board or regional superintendent of schools | 19 | | applying on behalf of schools or programs operated by the | 20 | | regional office of education following the procedure as set
| 21 | | forth in this Section for the initial waiver or modification | 22 | | request. If
neither the State Board of Education nor the | 23 | | General Assembly disapproves, the
change is deemed granted. | 24 | | (f) (Blank). | 25 | | (Source: P.A. 100-465, eff. 8-31-17; 100-782, eff. 1-1-19; | 26 | | 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.) |
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