Full Text of SB2943 94th General Assembly
SB2943 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 SB2943
Introduced 1/20/2006, by Sen. Dan Cronin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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105 ILCS 5/27A-3 |
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105 ILCS 5/27A-5 |
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Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that a charter school district may be established, in compliance with referendum provisions, by converting an existing school district to charter school district status. Provides that an intergovernmental agreement must be made with a contiguous school district to accept pupils who choose not to attend the charter school district. Provides that the charter school district shall be administered by its elected school board and may have more than one campus. Provides that a charter school district and its school board have all of the rights and duties and are subject to the same limitations as are provided in the Charter Schools Law for charter schools and their governing bodies. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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SB2943 |
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LRB094 19101 NHT 54616 b |
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections | 5 |
| 27A-3 and 27A-5 as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/27A-3)
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| Sec. 27A-3. Definitions. For purposes of this Article:
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| "At-risk pupil" means a pupil who, because of physical, | 9 |
| emotional,
socioeconomic, or cultural factors, is less likely | 10 |
| to succeed in a conventional
educational environment.
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| Unless otherwise required by the context in which it is | 12 |
| used, "charter school" includes a charter school district | 13 |
| established under subsection (b-5) of Section 27A-5 of this | 14 |
| Code.
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| "Local school board" means the duly elected or appointed | 16 |
| school board or
board of education of a public school district, | 17 |
| including special charter
districts and school districts | 18 |
| located in cities having a population of more
than 500,000, | 19 |
| organized under the laws of this State.
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| "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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| (Source: P.A. 89-450, eff. 4-10-96.)
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| (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
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| Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
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| (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian, | 25 |
| nonreligious, non-home
based, and non-profit school. A charter | 26 |
| school shall be organized and operated
as a nonprofit | 27 |
| corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
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| authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
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| (b) A charter school may be established under this Article | 30 |
| by creating a new
school or by converting an existing public | 31 |
| school or attendance center to
charter
school status.
Beginning |
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SB2943 |
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LRB094 19101 NHT 54616 b |
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| on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | 2 |
| General
Assembly, in all new
applications submitted to the | 3 |
| State Board or a local school board to establish
a charter
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| school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000, | 5 |
| operation of the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. | 6 |
| The changes made to this Section by this
amendatory Act
of the | 7 |
| 93rd General
Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing | 8 |
| or approved on or before the
effective date of this
amendatory | 9 |
| Act.
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| (b-5) A charter school district may be established under | 11 |
| this Article, in compliance with Section 27A-6.5 of this Code, | 12 |
| by converting an existing school district to charter school | 13 |
| district status. An intergovernmental agreement must be made | 14 |
| with a contiguous school district to accept pupils who choose | 15 |
| not to attend the charter school district. The charter school | 16 |
| district shall be administered by its elected school board and | 17 |
| may have more than one campus. A charter school district and | 18 |
| its school board have all of the rights and duties and are | 19 |
| subject to the same limitations as are provided in this Article | 20 |
| for charter schools and their governing bodies.
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| (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by | 22 |
| its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner | 23 |
| provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
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| shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open | 25 |
| Meetings Act.
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| (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable | 27 |
| health and safety
requirements applicable to public schools | 28 |
| under the laws of the State of
Illinois.
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| (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a | 30 |
| charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a | 31 |
| charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, | 32 |
| instructional materials, and student activities.
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| (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the | 34 |
| management and operation
of its fiscal affairs including,
but | 35 |
| not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each | 36 |
| charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an |
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| outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter | 2 |
| school.
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| (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of | 4 |
| this Article and
its charter. A charter
school is exempt from | 5 |
| all other State laws and regulations in the School Code
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| governing public
schools and local school board policies, | 7 |
| except the following:
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| (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code | 9 |
| regarding criminal
history records checks and checks of the | 10 |
| Statewide Sex Offender Database of applicants for | 11 |
| employment;
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| (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code | 13 |
| regarding discipline of
students;
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| (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees | 15 |
| Tort Immunity Act;
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| (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit | 17 |
| Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of | 18 |
| officers, directors, employees, and agents;
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| (5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
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| (6) The Illinois School Student Records Act; and
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| (7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school | 22 |
| report cards.
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| (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a | 24 |
| school district, the
governing body of a State college or | 25 |
| university or public community college, or
any other public or | 26 |
| for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a | 27 |
| school building and grounds or any other real property or | 28 |
| facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert | 29 |
| for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and | 30 |
| maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, | 31 |
| activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required to | 32 |
| perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
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| However, a charter school
that is established on
or
after the | 34 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
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| Assembly and that operates
in a city having a population | 36 |
| exceeding
500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
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| manage or operate the school during the period that commences | 2 |
| on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | 3 |
| General Assembly and
concludes at the end of the 2004-2005 | 4 |
| school year.
Except as provided in subsection (i) of this | 5 |
| Section, a school district may
charge a charter school | 6 |
| reasonable rent for the use of the district's
buildings, | 7 |
| grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter | 8 |
| school
contracts
with a school district shall be provided by | 9 |
| the district at cost. Any services
for which a charter school | 10 |
| contracts with a local school board or with the
governing body | 11 |
| of a State college or university or public community college
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| shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
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| (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established | 14 |
| by converting an
existing school or attendance center to | 15 |
| charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is | 16 |
| deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter | 17 |
| agreement,
in school district
facilities. However, all other | 18 |
| costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district | 19 |
| facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
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| to negotiation between
the charter school and the local school | 21 |
| board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
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| (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or | 23 |
| grade level.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 93-909, eff. 8-12-04; 94-219, | 25 |
| eff. 7-14-05.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 27 |
| becoming law.
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