Bill Text: IL HB2810 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Makes changes concerning charter schools authorized by the Commission. Removes a provision requiring the State Board to notify a school district of the amount of funding to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling students who are residents of the district. Requires the State Board (instead of the Commission) to require a charter school to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed sufficient to file State aid claims. Removes a provision that requires the State Board to withhold from funds otherwise due a district the funds to be paid to the charter school and to pay such amounts to the charter school. Requires the Commission to quarterly certify to the State Board the student enrollment and student residency information (not just the student enrollment) for each of its charter schools. Requires enrollment and residency verification to be reported in a format prescribed by the State Board. Provides that, upon receipt of the certified quarterly enrollment report, the State Board shall pay directly to the charter school the per pupil funds authorized under certain provisions of the Law. Effective immediately.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-27 - House Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB2810 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB2810-Introduced.html

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99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2015 and 2016 HB2810 Introduced , by Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27A-9
Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Makes changes concerning charter schools authorized by the Commission. Removes a provision requiring the State Board to notify a school district of the amount of funding to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling students who are residents of the district. Requires the State Board (instead of the Commission) to require a charter school to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be deemed sufficient to file State aid claims. Removes a provision that requires the State Board to withhold from funds otherwise due a district the funds to be paid to the charter school and to pay such amounts to the charter school. Requires the Commission to quarterly certify to the State Board the student enrollment and student residency information (not just the student enrollment) for each of its charter schools. Requires enrollment and residency verification to be reported in a format prescribed by the State Board. Provides that, upon receipt of the certified quarterly enrollment report, the State Board shall pay directly to the charter school the per pupil funds authorized under certain provisions of the Law. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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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-9 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
(a) A charter may be granted for a period not less than 5
and not more than 10 school years. A charter may be renewed in
incremental periods not to exceed 5 school years.
(b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
shall contain:
(1) A report on the progress of the charter school in
achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
standards, content standards, and other terms of the
initial approved charter proposal; and
(2) A financial statement that discloses the costs of
administration, instruction, and other spending categories
for the charter school that is understandable to the
general public and that will allow comparison of those
costs to other schools or other comparable organizations,
in a format required by the State Board.

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(c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the
following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements
of this law:
(1) Committed a material violation of any of the
conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
charter.
(2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward
achievement of the content standards or pupil performance
standards identified in the charter.
(3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
fiscal management.
(4) Violated any provision of law from which the
charter school was not exempted.
In the case of revocation, the local school board or the
Commission, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter
school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to
revocation. The charter school shall submit a written plan to
the local school board or the Commission, whichever is
applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a
timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or
the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If
the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering
entity, finds that the charter school has failed to implement
the plan of remediation and adhere to the timeline, then the

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chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in
situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or
education of the charter school's students is at risk, the
revocation shall take place at the end of a school year.
Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly
shall be construed to prohibit an implementation timetable that
is less than 2 years in duration.
(d) (Blank).
(e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
revoke or not to renew a charter shall be provided to the
Commission and the State Board. The Commission may reverse a
local board's decision if the Commission finds that the charter
school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with
this Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students
it is designed to serve. The Commission may condition the
granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the charter school
of funding in an amount less than that requested in the
proposal submitted to the local school board. Final decisions
of the Commission shall be subject to judicial review under the
Administrative Review Law.
(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
the Commission on appeal reverses a local board's decision or
if a charter school is approved by referendum, the Commission
shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter
school. The Commission shall approve the charter and shall
perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by

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the local school board. The State Board shall determine whether
the charter proposal approved by the Commission is consistent
with the provisions of this Article and, if the approved
proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to this
Article. The State Board shall report the aggregate number of
charter school pupils resident in a school district to that
district and shall notify the district of the amount of funding
to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling
such students. The Commission shall require the charter school
to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be
deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8.05
notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section
regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification. The
State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise due the
district the funds authorized by this Article to be paid to the
charter school and shall pay such amounts to the charter
school.
(g) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the
student enrollment and student residency information for each
of its charter schools. Enrollment and residency verification
must be reported in a format prescribed by the State Board.
Upon receipt of the certified quarterly enrollment report, the
State Board shall pay directly to the charter school the per
pupil funds authorized under subsection (e) of this Section and
subsection (b) of Section 27A-11 of this Code.

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(h) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
State Board shall pay directly to a charter school any federal
or State aid attributable to a student with a disability
attending the school.
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14.)