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| Public Act 099-0840
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| HB5918 Enrolled | LRB099 15850 NHT 40160 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 |
27A-9 and 27A-11.5 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
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Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
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(a) For charters granted before the effective date of this |
amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, a A charter may be |
granted for a period not less than 5 and not
more than
10
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school years. For charters granted on or after the effective |
date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, a |
charter shall be granted for a period of 5
school years. For |
charters renewed before the effective date of this amendatory |
Act of the 99th General Assembly, a A charter may be renewed in |
incremental periods not to exceed
5
school years. For charters |
renewed on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act |
of the 99th General Assembly, a charter may be renewed in |
incremental periods not to exceed 10 school years; however, the |
Commission may renew a charter only in incremental periods not |
to exceed 5 years. Authorizers shall ensure that every charter |
granted on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act |
of the 99th General Assembly includes standards and goals for |
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academic, organizational, and financial performance. A charter |
must meet all standards and goals for academic, organizational, |
and financial performance set forth by the authorizer in order |
to be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years but not more than |
10 years. If an authorizer fails to establish standards and |
goals, a charter shall not be renewed for a term in excess of 5 |
years. Nothing contained in this Section shall require an |
authorizer to grant a full 10-year renewal term to any |
particular charter school, but an authorizer may award a full |
10-year renewal term to charter schools that have a |
demonstrated track record of improving student performance.
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(b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
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local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
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shall contain:
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(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
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(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
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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,
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clearly demonstrates that the
charter school did any of the
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following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements |
of this law:
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(1) Committed a material violation of any of the |
conditions, standards, or
procedures set forth in the |
charter.
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(2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward |
achievement of the
content standards or pupil performance |
standards identified in the charter.
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(3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of |
fiscal management.
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(4) Violated any provision of law from which the |
charter school was not
exempted.
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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 |
chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in |
situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or |
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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).
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(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
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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
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proposal submitted to the local school board.
Final decisions |
of the Commission shall be subject
to judicial review under the |
Administrative Review Law.
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(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
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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 |
the local school
board. The State Board shall determine whether |
the charter proposal approved by the Commission is consistent |
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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
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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.
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(g) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the |
Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the |
student enrollment for each of its charter schools. |
(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.)
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-11.5) |
Sec. 27A-11.5. State financing. The State Board of |
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Education shall make
the following funds available to school |
districts and charter schools: |
(1) From a separate appropriation made to the State |
Board for purposes
of this subdivision (1), the State Board |
shall make transition impact aid
available to school |
districts that approve a new charter school or that have
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funds withheld by the State Board to fund a new charter |
school that is
chartered by the Commission. The amount of |
the aid shall equal 90% of the per
capita funding paid to |
the charter school during the first year of its initial
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charter term, 65% of the per capita funding paid to the |
charter school during
the second year of its initial term, |
and 35% of the per capita funding paid to
the charter |
school during the third year of its initial term. This |
transition
impact aid shall be paid to the local school |
board in equal quarterly
installments, with the payment of |
the installment for the first quarter being
made by August |
1st immediately preceding the first, second, and third |
years of
the initial term. The district shall file an |
application for this aid with the
State Board in a format |
designated by the State Board. If the appropriation is
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insufficient in any year to pay all approved claims, the |
impact aid shall be
prorated.
However, for fiscal year |
2004, the State Board of Education shall
pay approved |
claims only for charter schools with a valid charter |
granted
prior to June 1, 2003. If any funds remain after |
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these claims have
been paid, then the State Board of |
Education may pay all other approved
claims on a pro rata |
basis.
Transition impact aid shall be paid beginning in the |
1999-2000
school year for charter schools that are in the |
first, second, or third year of
their initial term. |
Transition impact aid shall not be paid for any charter
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school that is
proposed and created by one or more boards |
of education, as authorized under
the provisions of Public |
Act 91-405. |
(2) From a separate appropriation made for the purpose |
of this subdivision
(2), the State Board shall make grants |
to charter schools to pay their start-up
costs of acquiring |
educational materials and supplies, textbooks, electronic |
textbooks and the technological equipment necessary to |
gain access to and use electronic textbooks, furniture,
and |
other equipment or materials needed during their initial |
term. The State Board shall
annually establish the time and |
manner of application for these grants, which
shall not |
exceed $250 per student enrolled in the charter school. |
(3) The Charter Schools Revolving Loan Fund is created |
as a special
fund in the State treasury. Federal funds, |
such other funds as may be made
available for costs |
associated with the establishment of charter schools in
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Illinois, and amounts repaid by charter schools that have |
received a loan from
the Charter Schools Revolving Loan |
Fund shall be deposited into the Charter
Schools Revolving |
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Loan Fund, and the moneys in the Charter Schools Revolving
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Loan Fund shall be appropriated to the State Board and used |
to provide
interest-free loans to charter schools. These |
funds shall be used to pay
start-up costs of acquiring |
educational materials and supplies, textbooks, electronic |
textbooks and the technological equipment necessary to |
gain access to and use electronic textbooks,
furniture, and |
other equipment or materials needed in the initial term of |
the charter school
and for acquiring and remodeling a |
suitable physical plant, within the initial
term of the |
charter school. Loans shall be limited to one loan per |
charter
school and shall not exceed $750 $250 per student |
enrolled in the charter school. A
loan shall be repaid by |
the end of the initial term of the charter school.
The |
State Board may deduct amounts necessary to repay the loan |
from funds due
to the charter school or may require that |
the local school board that
authorized the charter school |
deduct such amounts from funds due the charter
school and |
remit these amounts to the State Board, provided that the |
local
school board shall not be responsible for repayment |
of the loan. The State
Board may use up to 3% of the |
appropriation to contract with a non-profit
entity to |
administer the loan program. |
(4) A charter school may apply for and receive, subject |
to the same
restrictions applicable to school districts, |
any grant administered by the
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