Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 099-0325
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Public Act 099-0325


 

Public Act 0325 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 099-0325
 
HB1360 EnrolledLRB099 07049 NHT 27132 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
27A-5 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning
on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
General Assembly, in all new applications to establish a
charter school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000,
operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus.
The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the
93rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing
or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory
Act.
    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means
a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and
instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with
their teachers at remote locations and with students
participating at different times.
    From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a
moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
school with virtual-schooling components already approved
prior to April 1, 2013.
    On or before March 1, 2014, the Commission shall submit to
the General Assembly a report on the effect of
virtual-schooling, including without limitation the effect on
student performance, the costs associated with
virtual-schooling, and issues with oversight. The report shall
include policy recommendations for virtual-schooling.
    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
Meetings Act.
    (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular
health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or
prevent threats to the health and safety of students and school
personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety requirement" does
not include any course of study or specialized instructional
requirement for which the State Board has established goals and
learning standards or which is designed primarily to impart
knowledge and skills for students to master and apply as an
outcome of their education.
    A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
applicable health and safety requirements applicable to public
schools under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before
September 1, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on
its Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall be
updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
contract between a charter school and its authorizer must
contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow
the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health
and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are
not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
authorizing local school board.
    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
instructional materials, and student activities.
    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer
may require quarterly financial statements from each charter
school.
    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
this Article; the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act; all
federal and State laws and rules applicable to public schools
that pertain to special education and the instruction of
English language learners, referred to in this Code as
"children of limited English-speaking ability"; and its
charter. A charter school is exempt from all other State laws
and regulations in this Code governing public schools and local
school board policies; however, a charter school is not exempt
from , except the following:
        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code regarding
    criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide
    Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent
    Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for
    employment;
        (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of this Code regarding
    discipline of students;
        (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
    Tort Immunity Act;
        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
        (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
        (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
        (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school report
    cards;
        (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
    and
        (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying
    prevention; and .
        (10) (9) Section 2-3.162 2-3.160 of this the School
    Code regarding student discipline reporting.
    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g)
is declaratory of existing law.
    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
school district, the governing body of a State college or
university or public community college, or any other public or
for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
school building and grounds or any other real property or
facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to
perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
However, a charter school that is established on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
Assembly and that operates in a city having a population
exceeding 500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
manage or operate the school during the period that commences
on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
General Assembly and concludes at the end of the 2004-2005
school year. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this
Section, a school district may charge a charter school
reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings,
grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter
school contracts with a school district shall be provided by
the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school
contracts with a local school board or with the governing body
of a State college or university or public community college
shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
by converting an existing school or attendance center to
charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
to negotiation between the charter school and the local school
board and shall be set forth in the charter.
    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
grade level.
    (k) If the charter school is approved by the Commission,
then the Commission charter school is its own local education
agency.
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 97-154, eff. 1-1-12;
97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-16, eff. 5-24-13; 98-639, eff. 6-9-14;
98-669, eff. 6-26-14; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14; 98-783, eff.
1-1-15; 98-1059, eff. 8-26-14; 98-1102, eff. 8-26-14; revised
10-14-14.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 8/10/2015