Full Text of HB3324 95th General Assembly
HB3324 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB3324
Introduced 2/26/2007, by Rep. Tom Cross SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning a
financial oversight panel's powers.
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A BILL FOR
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HB3324 |
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LRB095 06961 NHT 27080 b |
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 |
| 1B-22 as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/1B-22)
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| Sec. 1B-22. Additional Powers of the Panel. For Panels | 8 |
| established under
Section 1B-4 for a
district which had its | 9 |
| financial plan rescinded by the
the State Board for
violating | 10 |
| that plan as
provided in Section 1A-8, the Panel shall have the | 11 |
| following additional powers: | 12 |
| (a) As necessary to carry out its purposes when district | 13 |
| resources are not
readily available or appropriate for use by | 14 |
| the Panel, the Panel may make and
execute contracts, leases, | 15 |
| subleases and all other instruments or agreements
necessary or | 16 |
| convenient for the exercise of the powers and functions granted | 17 |
| by
this Article.
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| (b) As necessary to carry out its purposes when district | 19 |
| resources are not
readily available or appropriate for use by | 20 |
| the Panel, the Panel may purchase
personal property necessary | 21 |
| or convenient for its purposes; mortgage, pledge
or otherwise | 22 |
| grant security interests in such properties;
and convey to the | 23 |
| district such of its property as, in the
judgment of the Panel, |
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| is no longer necessary for its purposes.
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| (c) As necessary to carry out its purposes when district | 3 |
| resources are not
readily available or appropriate for use by | 4 |
| the Panel, the Panel may appoint
officers, agents, and | 5 |
| employees of the Panel, define their duties and
qualifications, | 6 |
| and fix their compensation and employee benefits.
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| (d) In order to investigate allegations of or incidents of | 8 |
| waste, fraud, or
financial mismanagement which the Board is | 9 |
| unable or unwilling to properly
investigate as requested by the | 10 |
| Panel, the Panel may appoint an Inspector
General who shall | 11 |
| have the authority to conduct investigations into such
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| allegations or incidents.
The Inspector General shall make | 13 |
| recommendations
to the Panel about
its investigations. The | 14 |
| Inspector General shall be independent of the
operations of the | 15 |
| Panel and
the Board and perform other duties requested by the | 16 |
| Panel. The Inspector
General shall have
access to all | 17 |
| information and personnel necessary to perform the duties of | 18 |
| the
office. If the
Inspector General determines that a possible | 19 |
| criminal act has been committed or
that special
expertise is | 20 |
| required in the investigation, he shall immediately notify the
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| State's Attorney in the
county in which the district is | 22 |
| located. All investigations conducted by the
Inspector General
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| shall be conducted in a manner that ensures the preservation of | 24 |
| evidence for
use in criminal
prosecutions. At all times the | 25 |
| Inspector General shall be granted access to
any building or
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| facility that is owned, operated, or leased by the Panel or the |
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| Board. The
Inspector General shall
have the power to subpoena | 2 |
| witnesses and compel the production of books and
papers | 3 |
| pertinent
to an investigation authorized by this Code. Any | 4 |
| person who (1) fails to
appear in response to a
subpoena; (2) | 5 |
| fails to answer any question; (3) fails to produce any books or
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| papers pertinent to an
investigation under this Code; or (4) | 7 |
| knowingly gives false testimony during an
investigation
under | 8 |
| this Code is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. The Inspector | 9 |
| General
shall provide to the
Panel and the State Board of | 10 |
| Education a summary of reports and investigations
made under | 11 |
| this
Section for the previous fiscal year no later than January | 12 |
| 1 of each year. The
summaries shall
detail the final | 13 |
| disposition of those recommendations. The summaries shall not
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| contain any
confidential or identifying information concerning | 15 |
| the subjects of the reports
and investigations.
The summaries | 16 |
| shall also include detailed recommended administrative actions
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| and matters for
consideration by the State Board of Education | 18 |
| or the General Assembly.
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| (e) No hiring or appointment of any person in any position | 20 |
| by the Board, the
superintendent, or any other officer or | 21 |
| employee of the Board shall be made or
entered into unless it
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| is consistent with the Financial Plan and Budget in effect and | 23 |
| the staffing
plan approved by the
Panel under this Section. The | 24 |
| hiring or appointment of any person shall not be
binding on the
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| Board unless and until it is in compliance with this Section. | 26 |
| The Board shall
submit to the Panel
for approval by the Panel a |
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| staffing plan for the upcoming school year at the
same time as | 2 |
| the
submission of the Budget, except that the staffing plan for | 3 |
| the fiscal year
ending in 1997 shall be
submitted to the Panel | 4 |
| within 90 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act | 5 |
| of 1996.
The staffing plan shall be accompanied by a cost | 6 |
| analysis and such other
information as the Panel
may require. | 7 |
| The Panel may
prescribe standards, procedures, and forms for | 8 |
| submission of the staffing plan.
The Panel shall approve the | 9 |
| staffing plan if the information
required to be
submitted is | 10 |
| complete and the staffing plan is consistent with the Budget | 11 |
| and
Financial Plan in
effect. Otherwise, the Panel shall reject | 12 |
| the staffing plan. In the event of
rejection, the Panel
shall | 13 |
| prescribe a procedure and standards for revision of the | 14 |
| staffing plan.
The Panel shall act on
the staffing plan at the | 15 |
| same time as the approval of the Budget, except that
the | 16 |
| staffing plan for
the fiscal year ending in 1997 shall be acted | 17 |
| upon within 60 days of the
submission of the
staffing plan by | 18 |
| the Board. The Board shall report to the Panel, at such times
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| and in such manner
as the Panel may direct, concerning the | 20 |
| Board's compliance with each staffing
plan. The Panel
may | 21 |
| review the Board's operations, obtaining budgetary data and | 22 |
| financial
statements, may
require the Board to produce reports, | 23 |
| and shall have access to any other
information in the
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| possession of the Board that it deems relevant. The Panel may | 25 |
| issue directives
to the Board to
assure compliance with the | 26 |
| staffing plan, including the issuance of reduction
in force |
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| notices,
non-renewal of employment contracts, or any other | 2 |
| notices or actions required
by
contract or law.
The Board shall | 3 |
| produce such budgetary data, financial statements, reports, | 4 |
| and
other
information and shall comply with such directives. | 5 |
| After approval of each
staffing plan, the
Board shall regularly | 6 |
| reexamine the estimates on which it was based and revise
them | 7 |
| as
necessary. The Board shall promptly notify the Panel of any | 8 |
| material change in
the estimates in
the staffing plan. The | 9 |
| Board may submit to the Panel, or the Panel may require
the | 10 |
| Board to
submit, modifications to the staffing plan based upon | 11 |
| revised revenue or
expenditure estimates or
for any other good | 12 |
| reason. The Panel shall approve or reject each modified
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| staffing plan within
60 days of its submission in a manner | 14 |
| similar to the provisions of this
subsection for the approval
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| or rejection of the initial staffing plan.
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| (f) The Panel shall examine the business records and audit | 17 |
| the accounts of
the
Board or
require that the Board examine its | 18 |
| business records and audit its accounts at
such time and in
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| such manner as the Panel may prescribe. The Board shall appoint | 20 |
| a certified
public accountant
annually, approved by the Panel, | 21 |
| to audit its financial statements. The audit
conducted pursuant
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| to this paragraph shall be in lieu of the audit that the Board | 23 |
| is required to
undertake pursuant to
Section 3-7.
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| (g) The Panel shall initiate and direct financial | 25 |
| management
assessments
and similar analyses of the operations | 26 |
| of the Board as may, in the judgment of
the Panel, assure
sound |
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| and efficient financial management of the Board. Upon the | 2 |
| completion of
these
assessments, the Panel shall give | 3 |
| directives to the Board regarding
improvements and changes
that | 4 |
| derive from these assessments, which the Board shall implement. | 5 |
| In
conjunction with its
budgetary submission to the Panel for | 6 |
| each fiscal year, the Board shall
demonstrate to the
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| satisfaction of the Panel that the directives of the Panel have | 8 |
| been
implemented in whole or in
part or, in the alternative, | 9 |
| are not capable of being implemented. In
consideration of | 10 |
| whether to
approve or reject the budget for a fiscal year, the | 11 |
| Panel shall adjudge whether
the Board has fully
considered and | 12 |
| responsibly proposed implementation of the Panel's directives.
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| (h) The Panel shall initiate and direct a management audit | 14 |
| of the Board at
least once
every 2 years. The audit shall | 15 |
| review the personnel, organization, contracts,
leases, and | 16 |
| physical
properties of the Board to determine whether the Board | 17 |
| is managing and
utilizing its resources in
an economical and | 18 |
| efficient manner. The audit shall determine the causes of
any | 19 |
| inefficiencies
or uneconomical practices, including | 20 |
| inadequacies in internal and
administrative procedures,
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| organizational structure, uses of resources, utilization of | 22 |
| real property,
allocation of personnel,
purchasing policies, | 23 |
| and equipment.
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| (i) In the event that the Board refuses or fails to follow | 25 |
| a directive of
the
Panel to issue
notices of non-renewal of | 26 |
| contracts, to issue notices of reduction in force to
employees, |
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| to issue
requests for bids or proposals, or to obtain financial | 2 |
| or other information
that the Panel finds necessary for the | 3 |
| implementation of
its responsibilities
under this Article, the | 4 |
| Panel may take such action in the name of the district,
and | 5 |
| such action shall
be binding the same as if the action had been | 6 |
| taken by the Board. The powers
established by this
paragraph do | 7 |
| not authorize the Panel to enter into contracts in the name of | 8 |
| the
Board.
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| (j) The Panel shall meet with the Board or its designees in | 10 |
| closed session
prior to the
Board commencing any collective | 11 |
| bargaining negotiations to discuss the
financial issues | 12 |
| relevant
to the bargaining and for the purpose of the Panel | 13 |
| approving the budget
limitations for the
potential collective | 14 |
| bargaining agreement. The Board shall not make or
consider any | 15 |
| proposal
which does not comply with the collective bargaining | 16 |
| budget approved by the
Panel. The Board
shall keep the Panel | 17 |
| apprised as to the status of the bargaining. The Board
shall | 18 |
| present any
proposed change in the approved collective | 19 |
| bargaining budget to the Panel in
closed session for
approval. | 20 |
| Prior to the Board taking a final vote on any tentative | 21 |
| agreement
approved by the
employee organization, the Board | 22 |
| shall discuss the tentative agreement with the
Panel in closed
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| session. Upon final approval of a collective bargaining | 24 |
| agreement by both the
Board and the
employee organization, the | 25 |
| Board shall submit the final collective bargaining
agreement to | 26 |
| the
Panel for approval. At the same time that the Board submits |
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| the final
agreement to the Panel,
the Board shall notify the | 2 |
| employee organization that the final agreement has
been | 3 |
| submitted and
the date of the Panel meeting at which the final | 4 |
| agreement will be considered.
The employee
organization shall | 5 |
| be provided an opportunity to discuss the final agreement
with | 6 |
| the Panel prior
to the Panel taking action on the agreement. No | 7 |
| collective bargaining
agreement shall be binding
upon the | 8 |
| district unless the Board has followed the requirements of this
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| paragraph and the final
agreement has been approved by the | 10 |
| Panel.
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| (k) The budget of the Panel or any revisions to the budget, | 12 |
| including any
costs
to the
Panel associated with the | 13 |
| appointment of an Inspector General, shall be
approved by the | 14 |
| State
Superintendent upon request of the Panel and after | 15 |
| opportunity for response by
the Board.
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| (Source: P.A. 89-572, eff. 7-30-96.)
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