Full Text of HB5038 093rd General Assembly
HB5038 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 HB5038
Introduced 2/5/2004, by Calvin L. Giles SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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20 ILCS 2605/2605-325 |
was 20 ILCS 2605/55a in part |
105 ILCS 5/10-21.9 |
from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9 |
105 ILCS 5/27A-5 |
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105 ILCS 5/27A-8 |
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105 ILCS 5/34-18.5 |
from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5 |
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Amends the School Code. Requires a criminal background investigation of charter school governing body members. Provides that a charter school is not exempt from a Section of the Code regarding the interest of board members in school contracts. Makes a change concerning when a school board must file the report granting or denying a charter school proposal with the State Board of Education. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.
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CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY |
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY |
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT |
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A BILL FOR
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HB5038 |
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LRB093 19744 NHT 45485 b |
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| AN ACT concerning schools.
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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 Department of State Police Law of the
Civil | 5 |
| Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by changing Section | 6 |
| 2605-325 as follows:
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| (20 ILCS 2605/2605-325) (was 20 ILCS 2605/55a in part)
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| Sec. 2605-325. Conviction information for school board or | 9 |
| regional
superintendent. On request of a school board or | 10 |
| regional
superintendent of schools,
to conduct an | 11 |
| investigation
inquiry pursuant to Section 10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of | 12 |
| the School
Code to ascertain whether an applicant for | 13 |
| employment in a school
district or a charter school governing | 14 |
| body member has
been convicted of committing or attempting to | 15 |
| commit a
any criminal or drug offense specified
offenses | 16 |
| enumerated in Section
10-21.9 or 34-18.5 of the School Code. | 17 |
| The Department shall furnish the
conviction information to the | 18 |
| president of the school board of the school
district that has | 19 |
| requested the information or, if the
information was
requested | 20 |
| by the regional superintendent, to that regional | 21 |
| superintendent.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-18, eff. 7-1-97; 90-130, eff. 1-1-98;
90-372, | 23 |
| eff. 7-1-98;
90-590, eff. 1-1-00; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 90-793, | 24 |
| eff. 8-14-98;
91-239, eff. 1-1-00.)
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| Section 10. The School Code is amended by changing Sections | 26 |
| 10-21.9, 27A-5, 27A-8, and 34-18.5 as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/10-21.9) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)
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| Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal background investigations.
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| (a) Certified
After August
1, 1985, certified and | 30 |
| noncertified applicants for employment with a school
district |
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| and charter school governing body members , except school bus | 2 |
| driver applicants, are required , as a condition
of employment | 3 |
| or membership on a charter school governing body, to authorize | 4 |
| an
investigation to determine if such persons
applicants have | 5 |
| been convicted of any of
the enumerated criminal or drug | 6 |
| offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or
have been | 7 |
| convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment | 8 |
| with
the
school district, of any other felony under the laws of | 9 |
| this State or of any
offense committed or attempted in any | 10 |
| other state or against the laws of
the United States that, if | 11 |
| committed or attempted in this State, would
have been | 12 |
| punishable as a felony under the laws of this State.
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| Authorization for the investigation shall be furnished by the | 14 |
| person
applicant to
the school district, except that if the | 15 |
| person
applicant is a substitute teacher
seeking employment in | 16 |
| more than one school district, a teacher seeking
concurrent | 17 |
| part-time employment positions with more than one school
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| district (as a reading specialist, special education teacher or | 19 |
| otherwise),
or an educational support personnel employee | 20 |
| seeking employment positions
with more than one district, any | 21 |
| such district may require the applicant to
furnish | 22 |
| authorization for the investigation to the regional | 23 |
| superintendent
of the educational service region in which are | 24 |
| located the school districts
in which the applicant is seeking | 25 |
| employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher or | 26 |
| concurrent educational support personnel employee.
Upon | 27 |
| receipt of this authorization, the school district or the | 28 |
| appropriate
regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall | 29 |
| submit the person's
applicant's
name, sex, race, date of birth | 30 |
| and social security number to the Department
of State Police on | 31 |
| forms prescribed by the Department. The regional
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| superintendent submitting the requisite information to the | 33 |
| Department of
State Police shall promptly notify the school | 34 |
| districts in which the person
applicant is seeking employment | 35 |
| as a substitute or concurrent part-time
teacher or concurrent | 36 |
| educational support personnel employee that the
investigation |
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| of the applicant has been requested. The Department of State
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| Police shall conduct a search of the Illinois criminal history | 3 |
| records
database to ascertain if the person
applicant being
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| considered for employment has been convicted of committing or | 5 |
| attempting to
commit any of the enumerated
criminal or drug | 6 |
| offenses in subsection (c) or has been convicted of
committing | 7 |
| or attempting to commit, within 7
years
of the application for | 8 |
| employment with the
school district or within 7 years of | 9 |
| membership on the charter school governing body , any other | 10 |
| felony under the laws of this State or of any
offense committed | 11 |
| or attempted in any other state or against the laws of
the | 12 |
| United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, | 13 |
| would
have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this | 14 |
| State.
The
Department shall charge
the school district or the | 15 |
| appropriate regional superintendent a fee for
conducting such | 16 |
| investigation, which fee shall be deposited in the State
Police | 17 |
| Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the | 18 |
| investigation
inquiry ; and the person
applicant shall not be | 19 |
| charged a fee for such investigation by the school
district or | 20 |
| by the regional superintendent. The regional superintendent
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| may seek reimbursement from the State Board of Education or the | 22 |
| appropriate
school district or districts for fees paid by the
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| regional superintendent to the Department for the criminal | 24 |
| background
investigations required by this Section.
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| (b)
If the search of the Illinois criminal history | 26 |
| records database
indicates that the person
applicant has been | 27 |
| convicted of committing or attempting to
commit any of the | 28 |
| enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or
has | 29 |
| been convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 | 30 |
| years
before the
application for employment with the school | 31 |
| district or within 7 years before membership on the charter | 32 |
| school governing body , any other felony under the
laws of this | 33 |
| State,
the Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation | 34 |
| shall furnish,
pursuant to a fingerprint based background | 35 |
| check,
records of convictions, until expunged, to the president | 36 |
| of the school board
for the school district which requested the |
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| investigation, or to the
regional superintendent who requested | 2 |
| the investigation. Any information
concerning the record of | 3 |
| convictions obtained by the president of the
school board or | 4 |
| the regional superintendent shall be confidential and may
only | 5 |
| be transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or | 6 |
| his
designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if the | 7 |
| investigation was
requested by the school district, the | 8 |
| presidents of the appropriate school
boards if the | 9 |
| investigation was requested from the Department of State
Police | 10 |
| by the regional superintendent, the State Superintendent of
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| Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any other | 12 |
| person
necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for | 13 |
| employment or allowing the member to be on the charter school | 14 |
| governing body . A copy
of the record of convictions obtained | 15 |
| from the Department of State Police
shall be provided to the | 16 |
| person
applicant for employment . If an investigation of
an | 17 |
| applicant for employment as a substitute or concurrent | 18 |
| part-time teacher
or concurrent educational support personnel | 19 |
| employee in more than one
school district was requested by the | 20 |
| regional superintendent, and the
Department of State Police | 21 |
| upon investigation ascertains that the applicant
has not been | 22 |
| convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses
in | 23 |
| subsection (c) or has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
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| application for
employment with the
school district, of any | 25 |
| other felony under the laws of this State or of any
offense | 26 |
| committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws | 27 |
| of
the United States that, if committed or attempted in this | 28 |
| State, would
have been punishable as a felony under the laws of | 29 |
| this State
and so notifies the regional
superintendent, then | 30 |
| the
regional superintendent shall issue to the applicant a | 31 |
| certificate
evidencing that as of the date specified by the | 32 |
| Department of State Police
the applicant has not been convicted | 33 |
| of any of the enumerated criminal or
drug offenses in | 34 |
| subsection (c) or has not been
convicted, within 7 years of the | 35 |
| application for employment with the
school district, of any | 36 |
| other felony under the laws of this State or of any
offense |
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| committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws | 2 |
| of
the United States that, if committed or attempted in this | 3 |
| State, would
have been punishable as a felony under the laws of | 4 |
| this State. The school
board of
any
school district
located in | 5 |
| the educational service region served by the regional
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| superintendent who issues such a certificate to an applicant | 7 |
| for employment
as a substitute teacher in more than one such | 8 |
| district may rely on the
certificate issued by the regional | 9 |
| superintendent to that applicant, or may
initiate its own | 10 |
| investigation of the applicant through the Department of
State | 11 |
| Police as provided in subsection (a). Any person who releases | 12 |
| any
confidential information concerning any criminal | 13 |
| convictions of an
applicant for employment or charter school | 14 |
| governing body member shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, | 15 |
| unless
the release of such information is authorized by this | 16 |
| Section.
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| (c) No school board shall knowingly employ nor charter | 18 |
| school knowingly have as a governing body member a person who | 19 |
| has been
convicted for committing attempted first degree murder | 20 |
| or for committing or
attempting to commit first degree murder | 21 |
| or a Class X felony or any one or
more of the
following | 22 |
| offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9, 11-14, | 23 |
| 11-15,
11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, 11-19.2, | 24 |
| 11-20, 11-20.1,
11-21, 12-13, 12-14,
12-14.1,
12-15 and 12-16 | 25 |
| of the "Criminal Code of 1961"; (ii)
those defined in the | 26 |
| "Cannabis Control Act" except those defined in Sections
4(a), | 27 |
| 4(b) and 5(a) of that Act; (iii) those defined in the "Illinois
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| Controlled Substances Act"; and (iv) any
offense committed or | 29 |
| attempted in
any other state or against the laws of the United | 30 |
| States, which if
committed or attempted in this State, would | 31 |
| have been punishable as one or
more of the foregoing offenses.
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| Further, no school board shall knowingly employ a person who | 33 |
| has been found
to be the perpetrator of sexual or physical | 34 |
| abuse of any minor under 18 years
of age pursuant to | 35 |
| proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of
1987.
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| (d) No school board shall knowingly employ nor charter |
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| school knowingly have as a governing body member a person for | 2 |
| whom a criminal
background investigation has not been | 3 |
| initiated.
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| (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a | 5 |
| finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued | 6 |
| pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School | 7 |
| Code, the appropriate regional superintendent of schools or the
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| State Superintendent of Education shall initiate the | 9 |
| certificate suspension
and revocation proceedings authorized | 10 |
| by law.
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| (f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section | 12 |
| shall apply
to all employees of persons or firms holding | 13 |
| contracts with any school
district including, but not limited | 14 |
| to, food service workers, school bus
drivers and other | 15 |
| transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact
with | 16 |
| the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of | 17 |
| criminal
background investigations on employees of persons or | 18 |
| firms holding
contracts with more than one school district and | 19 |
| assigned to more than one
school district, the regional | 20 |
| superintendent of the educational service
region in which the | 21 |
| contracting school districts are located may, at the
request of | 22 |
| any such school district, be responsible for receiving the
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| authorization for investigation prepared by each such employee | 24 |
| and
submitting the same to the Department of State Police. Any | 25 |
| information
concerning the record of conviction of any such | 26 |
| employee obtained by the
regional superintendent shall be | 27 |
| promptly reported to the president of the
appropriate school | 28 |
| board or school boards.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)
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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, | 33 |
| nonreligious, non-home
based, and non-profit school. A charter | 34 |
| school shall be organized and operated
as a nonprofit | 35 |
| 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 | 3 |
| by creating a new
school or by converting an existing public | 4 |
| school or attendance center to
charter
school status.
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| Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | 6 |
| 93rd General
Assembly, in all new
applications submitted to the | 7 |
| 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, | 9 |
| operation of the
charter
school shall be limited to one campus. | 10 |
| The changes made to this Section by this
amendatory Act
of the | 11 |
| 93rd General
Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing | 12 |
| or approved on or before the
effective date of this
amendatory | 13 |
| Act.
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| (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by | 15 |
| its board of
directors or other governing body
in the manner | 16 |
| 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 | 18 |
| Meetings Act.
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| (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable | 20 |
| health and safety
requirements applicable to public schools | 21 |
| under the laws of the State of
Illinois.
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| (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a | 23 |
| charter school shall
not charge tuition; provided that a | 24 |
| charter school may charge reasonable fees
for textbooks, | 25 |
| instructional materials, and student activities.
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| (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the | 27 |
| management and operation
of its fiscal affairs including,
but | 28 |
| not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each | 29 |
| charter
school's finances shall be conducted annually by an | 30 |
| outside, independent
contractor retained by the charter | 31 |
| school.
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| (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of | 33 |
| this Article and
its charter. A charter
school is exempt from | 34 |
| all other State laws and regulations in the School Code
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| governing public
schools and local school board policies, | 36 |
| except the following:
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| (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code | 2 |
| regarding criminal
background investigations of applicants | 3 |
| for employment;
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| (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code | 5 |
| regarding discipline of
students;
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| (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees | 7 |
| Tort Immunity Act;
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| (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit | 9 |
| Corporation Act of 1986
regarding indemnification of | 10 |
| 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 | 14 |
| report cards ;and .
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| (8) Section 10-9 of the School Code regarding the | 16 |
| interest of board members in school contracts, which shall | 17 |
| apply to the interest of charter school governing body | 18 |
| members in charter school contracts.
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| (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a | 20 |
| school district, the
governing body of a State college or | 21 |
| university or public community college, or
any other public or | 22 |
| for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use
of a | 23 |
| school building and grounds or any other real property or | 24 |
| facilities that
the charter school desires to use or convert | 25 |
| for use as a charter school site,
(ii) the operation and | 26 |
| maintenance thereof, and
(iii) the provision of any service, | 27 |
| activity, or undertaking that the charter
school is required to | 28 |
| 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 | 30 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
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| Assembly and that operates
in a city having a population | 32 |
| 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 | 34 |
| on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | 35 |
| General Assembly and
concludes at the end of the 2004-2005 | 36 |
| school year.
Except as provided in subsection (i) of this |
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| Section, a school district may
charge a charter school | 2 |
| reasonable rent for the use of the district's
buildings, | 3 |
| grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter | 4 |
| school
contracts
with a school district shall be provided by | 5 |
| the district at cost. Any services
for which a charter school | 6 |
| contracts with a local school board or with the
governing body | 7 |
| 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 | 10 |
| by converting an
existing school or attendance center to | 11 |
| charter school status be required to
pay rent for space
that is | 12 |
| deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter | 13 |
| agreement,
in school district
facilities. However, all other | 14 |
| costs for the operation and maintenance of
school district | 15 |
| 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 | 17 |
| board and shall be set forth in the
charter.
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| (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or | 19 |
| grade level.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03.)
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| (105 ILCS 5/27A-8)
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| Sec. 27A-8. Evaluation of charter proposals.
| 23 |
| (a) This Section does not apply to a charter school | 24 |
| established by
referendum under
Section 27A-6.5.
In evaluating | 25 |
| any charter
school proposal submitted to it, the local school | 26 |
| board shall give preference
to proposals that:
| 27 |
| (1) demonstrate a high level of local pupil, parental, | 28 |
| community,
business, and school personnel support;
| 29 |
| (2) set rigorous levels of expected pupil achievement | 30 |
| and demonstrate
feasible plans for attaining those levels | 31 |
| of achievement; and
| 32 |
| (3) are designed to enroll and serve a substantial | 33 |
| proportion of at-risk
children; provided that nothing in | 34 |
| the Charter Schools Law shall be construed
as intended to
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| limit the establishment of charter schools to those that |
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| serve a substantial
portion of at-risk children or to in | 2 |
| any manner restrict, limit, or discourage
the
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| establishment of charter schools that enroll and serve | 4 |
| other pupil populations
under a nonexclusive, | 5 |
| nondiscriminatory admissions policy.
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| (b) In the case of a proposal to establish a charter school | 7 |
| by converting an
existing public school or attendance center to | 8 |
| charter school status, evidence
that the proposed formation of | 9 |
| the charter school has received majority support
from certified | 10 |
| teachers and from parents and guardians in the school or
| 11 |
| attendance center affected by the proposed charter, and, if | 12 |
| applicable, from a
local school council, shall be demonstrated | 13 |
| by a petition in support of the
charter school signed by | 14 |
| certified teachers and a petition in support of the
charter | 15 |
| school signed by parents and guardians and, if applicable, by a | 16 |
| vote of
the local school council held at a public meeting. In | 17 |
| the case of all other
proposals to establish a charter school, | 18 |
| evidence of sufficient support to fill
the number of pupil | 19 |
| seats set forth in the proposal may be
demonstrated by a
| 20 |
| petition in support of the charter school signed by parents and | 21 |
| guardians of
students eligible to attend the charter school.
In | 22 |
| all cases, the individuals, organizations, or entities who | 23 |
| initiate
the proposal to establish a charter school may elect, | 24 |
| in lieu of including any
petition referred to in this | 25 |
| subsection as a part of the proposal submitted to
the local | 26 |
| school board, to demonstrate that the charter school has
| 27 |
| received the support referred to in this subsection by other | 28 |
| evidence and
information presented at the public meeting that | 29 |
| the local school board is
required to convene under this | 30 |
| Section.
| 31 |
| (c) Within 45 days of receipt of a charter school proposal, | 32 |
| the local school
board shall convene a public meeting to obtain | 33 |
| information to assist the board
in its decision to grant or | 34 |
| deny the charter school proposal.
| 35 |
| (d) Notice of the public meeting required by this Section | 36 |
| shall be published
in a community newspaper published in the |
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| school district in which the proposed
charter is located and, | 2 |
| if there is no such newspaper, then in a newspaper
published in | 3 |
| the county and having circulation in the school district. The
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| notices shall be published not more than 10 days nor less than | 5 |
| 5 days before
the meeting and shall state that information | 6 |
| regarding a charter school
proposal will be heard at the | 7 |
| meeting. Copies of the notice shall also be
posted at | 8 |
| appropriate locations in the school or attendance center | 9 |
| proposed to
be established as a charter school, the public | 10 |
| schools in the school district,
and the local school board | 11 |
| office.
| 12 |
| (e) Within 30 days of the public meeting, the local school | 13 |
| board shall vote,
in a public meeting, to either grant or deny | 14 |
| the charter school proposal.
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| (f) Within 7 days of the public meeting required under | 16 |
| subsection (e), the
local school board shall file a report with | 17 |
| the State Board
granting or denying the proposal.
A report that | 18 |
| at a minimum contains the charter school proposal and the | 19 |
| charter agreement must be filed by the local school board with | 20 |
| the State Board on or before March 1 in order for the charter | 21 |
| school to open for the upcoming school year. Within 30
14 days | 22 |
| of receipt of the local school board's
report, the State Board | 23 |
| shall determine whether the approved charter
proposal is | 24 |
| consistent with the
provisions of this Article and, if the | 25 |
| approved proposal
complies,
certify the proposal pursuant to | 26 |
| Section 27A-6.
| 27 |
| (Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 91-407, eff. 8-3-99.)
| 28 |
| (105 ILCS 5/34-18.5) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-18.5)
| 29 |
| Sec. 34-18.5. Criminal background investigations.
| 30 |
| (a) Certified
After August 1, 1985, certified and | 31 |
| noncertified applicants for
employment with the school | 32 |
| district and charter school governing body members are | 33 |
| required , as a condition of
employment or membership on a | 34 |
| charter school governing body, to authorize an investigation to | 35 |
| determine if such persons
applicants
have been convicted of any |
|
|
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| 1 |
| of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in
subsection (c) | 2 |
| of this Section or have been
convicted, within 7 years of the | 3 |
| application for employment with the
school district, of any | 4 |
| other felony under the laws of this State or of any
offense | 5 |
| committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws | 6 |
| of
the United States that, if committed or attempted in this | 7 |
| State, would
have been punishable as a felony under the laws of | 8 |
| this State. Authorization
for the
investigation shall
be | 9 |
| furnished by the person
applicant to the school district, | 10 |
| except that if the
person
applicant is a substitute teacher | 11 |
| seeking employment in more than one
school district, or a | 12 |
| teacher seeking concurrent part-time employment
positions with | 13 |
| more than one school district (as a reading specialist,
special | 14 |
| education teacher or otherwise), or an educational support
| 15 |
| personnel employee seeking employment positions with more than | 16 |
| one
district, any such district may require the applicant to | 17 |
| furnish
authorization for the investigation to the regional | 18 |
| superintendent of the
educational service region in which are | 19 |
| located the school districts in
which the applicant is seeking | 20 |
| employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher or | 21 |
| concurrent educational support personnel employee.
Upon | 22 |
| receipt of this authorization, the school district or the | 23 |
| appropriate
regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall | 24 |
| submit the person's
applicant's
name, sex, race, date of birth | 25 |
| and social security number to the Department
of State Police on | 26 |
| forms prescribed by the Department. The regional
| 27 |
| superintendent submitting the requisite information to the | 28 |
| Department of
State Police shall promptly notify the school | 29 |
| districts in which the person
applicant is seeking employment | 30 |
| as a substitute or concurrent part-time
teacher or concurrent | 31 |
| educational support personnel employee that the
investigation | 32 |
| of the applicant has been requested. The Department of State
| 33 |
| Police shall conduct a search of the Illinois Criminal history | 34 |
| record
information database to ascertain if the person
| 35 |
| applicant being
considered for employment has been convicted of | 36 |
| committing or attempting to
commit any of the enumerated
|
|
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| criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or
has been | 2 |
| convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years | 3 |
| of
the application for employment with
the
school district or | 4 |
| within 7 years of membership on the charter school governing | 5 |
| body , any other felony under the laws of this State or any | 6 |
| offense committed or attempted in any other state or against | 7 |
| the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted | 8 |
| in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the | 9 |
| laws of this State . The
Department shall charge
the school | 10 |
| district or the appropriate regional superintendent a fee for
| 11 |
| conducting such investigation, which fee shall be deposited in | 12 |
| the State
Police Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of | 13 |
| the investigation
inquiry ; and the person
applicant shall not | 14 |
| be charged a fee for such investigation by the school
district | 15 |
| or by the regional superintendent. The regional superintendent
| 16 |
| may seek reimbursement from the State Board of Education or the | 17 |
| appropriate
school district or districts for fees paid by the
| 18 |
| regional superintendent to the Department for the criminal | 19 |
| background
investigations required by this Section.
| 20 |
| (b) If the search of the Illinois criminal history records | 21 |
| database
indicates that the person
applicant has been convicted | 22 |
| of committing or attempting to
commit any of the enumerated | 23 |
| criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or
has been | 24 |
| convicted of committing or attempting to commit, within 7 years | 25 |
| of the
application for employment with the school district or | 26 |
| within 7 years before membership on the charter school | 27 |
| governing body , any other felony under the
laws of this State,
| 28 |
| the Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall | 29 |
| furnish,
pursuant to a fingerprint based background check,
| 30 |
| records of convictions, until expunged, to the president of the | 31 |
| board of
education for the school district which requested the | 32 |
| investigation, or
to the regional superintendent who requested | 33 |
| the investigation. Any
information concerning the record of | 34 |
| convictions obtained by the president
of the board of education | 35 |
| or the regional superintendent shall be
confidential and may | 36 |
| only be transmitted to the general superintendent of
the school |
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| district or his designee, the appropriate regional
| 2 |
| superintendent if the investigation was requested by the board | 3 |
| of education
for the school district, the presidents of the | 4 |
| appropriate board of
education or school boards if the | 5 |
| investigation was requested from the
Department of State Police | 6 |
| by the regional superintendent, the State
Superintendent of | 7 |
| Education, the State Teacher Certification Board or any
other | 8 |
| person necessary to the decision of hiring the applicant for
| 9 |
| employment or allowing a member to be on the charter school | 10 |
| governing body . A copy of the record of convictions obtained | 11 |
| from the
Department of State Police shall be provided to the | 12 |
| person
applicant for
employment . If an investigation of an | 13 |
| applicant for employment as a
substitute or concurrent | 14 |
| part-time teacher or concurrent educational
support personnel | 15 |
| employee in more than one school district was requested
by the | 16 |
| regional superintendent, and the Department of State Police | 17 |
| upon
investigation ascertains that the applicant has not been | 18 |
| convicted of any
of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in | 19 |
| subsection (c) or has not been
convicted,
within 7 years of the | 20 |
| application for employment with the
school district, of any | 21 |
| other felony under the laws of this State or of any
offense | 22 |
| committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws | 23 |
| of
the United States that, if committed or attempted in this | 24 |
| State, would
have been punishable as a felony under the laws of | 25 |
| this State and so
notifies the regional superintendent, then | 26 |
| the regional superintendent
shall issue to the applicant a | 27 |
| certificate evidencing that as of the date
specified by the | 28 |
| Department of State Police the applicant has not been
convicted | 29 |
| of any of the enumerated criminal or drug offenses in | 30 |
| subsection
(c) or has not been
convicted, within 7 years of the | 31 |
| application for employment with the
school district, of any | 32 |
| other felony under the laws of this State or of any
offense | 33 |
| committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws | 34 |
| of
the United States that, if committed or attempted in this | 35 |
| State, would
have been punishable as a felony under the laws of | 36 |
| this State. The school
board of any school district located
in
|
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| the educational
service region served by the regional | 2 |
| superintendent who issues such a
certificate to an applicant | 3 |
| for employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher | 4 |
| or concurrent educational support personnel employee in more
| 5 |
| than one such district may rely on the certificate issued by | 6 |
| the regional
superintendent to that applicant, or may initiate | 7 |
| its own investigation of
the applicant through the Department | 8 |
| of State Police as provided in
subsection (a). Any person who | 9 |
| releases any confidential information
concerning any criminal | 10 |
| convictions of an applicant for employment or charter school | 11 |
| governing body member shall be
guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, | 12 |
| unless the release of such information is
authorized by this | 13 |
| Section.
| 14 |
| (c) The board of education shall not knowingly employ nor | 15 |
| charter school knowingly have as a governing body member a | 16 |
| person who has
been convicted for committing attempted first | 17 |
| degree murder or for
committing or attempting to commit first | 18 |
| degree murder or a Class X felony
or any one or more of the
| 19 |
| following offenses: (i) those defined in Sections 11-6, 11-9, | 20 |
| 11-14,
11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, | 21 |
| 11-19.2, 11-20,
11-20.1, 11-21, 12-13, 12-14,
12-14.1,
12-15 | 22 |
| and 12-16 of the Criminal Code of
1961; (ii) those defined in | 23 |
| the Cannabis Control Act,
except those defined in Sections | 24 |
| 4(a), 4(b) and 5(a) of that Act; (iii)
those defined in the | 25 |
| Illinois Controlled Substances Act;
and (iv) any
offense | 26 |
| committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws | 27 |
| of
the United States, which if committed or attempted in this | 28 |
| State, would
have been punishable as one or more of the | 29 |
| foregoing offenses.
Further, the board of education shall not | 30 |
| knowingly employ a person who has
been found to be the | 31 |
| perpetrator of sexual or physical abuse of any minor under
18 | 32 |
| years of age pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the | 33 |
| Juvenile Court
Act of 1987.
| 34 |
| (d) The board of education shall not knowingly employ nor | 35 |
| charter school knowingly have as a governing body member a | 36 |
| person for whom
a criminal background investigation has not |
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| been initiated.
| 2 |
| (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a | 3 |
| finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued | 4 |
| pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School | 5 |
| Code, the board of education or the State Superintendent of
| 6 |
| Education shall initiate the certificate suspension and | 7 |
| revocation
proceedings authorized by law.
| 8 |
| (f) After March 19, 1990, the provisions of this Section | 9 |
| shall apply to
all employees of persons or firms holding | 10 |
| contracts with any school district
including, but not limited | 11 |
| to, food service workers, school bus drivers and
other | 12 |
| transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact with | 13 |
| the
pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of | 14 |
| criminal background
investigations on employees of persons or | 15 |
| firms holding contracts with more
than one school district and | 16 |
| assigned to more than one school district, the
regional | 17 |
| superintendent of the educational service region in which the
| 18 |
| contracting school districts are located may, at the request of | 19 |
| any such
school district, be responsible for receiving the | 20 |
| authorization for
investigation prepared by each such employee | 21 |
| and submitting the same to the
Department of State Police. Any | 22 |
| information concerning the record of
conviction of any such | 23 |
| employee obtained by the regional superintendent
shall be | 24 |
| promptly reported to the president of the appropriate school | 25 |
| board
or school boards.
| 26 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)
| 27 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 28 |
| becoming law.
|
|