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| Public Act 099-0334
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| SB1591 Enrolled | LRB099 08451 NHT 28605 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 Section |
27A-7 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/27A-7)
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Sec. 27A-7. Charter submission.
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(a) A proposal to establish a charter school shall be |
submitted to the local school board and the State Board for |
certification under Section 27A-6 of this Code in the form of a |
proposed contract
entered
into between the local school board |
and the governing body of a proposed
charter school. The
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charter school proposal shall include:
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(1) The name of the proposed charter school, which must |
include the words
"Charter School".
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(2) The age or grade range, areas of focus, minimum and |
maximum numbers of
pupils to be enrolled in the charter |
school, and any other admission criteria
that would be |
legal if used by a school district.
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(3) A description of and address for the physical plant |
in which the
charter school will be located; provided that |
nothing in the Article shall be
deemed to justify delaying |
or withholding favorable action on or approval of a
charter |
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school proposal because the building or buildings in which |
the charter
school is to be located have not been acquired |
or rented at the time a charter
school proposal is |
submitted or approved or a charter school contract is
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entered
into or submitted for certification or certified, |
so long as the proposal or
submission identifies and names |
at least 2 sites that are potentially available
as a |
charter school facility by the time the charter school is |
to open.
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(4) The mission statement of the charter school, which |
must be consistent
with the General Assembly's declared |
purposes; provided that nothing in this
Article shall be |
construed to require that, in order to receive favorable
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consideration and approval, a charter school proposal |
demonstrate unequivocally
that the charter school will be |
able to meet each of those declared purposes,
it
being the |
intention of the Charter Schools Law that those purposes be
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recognized as goals that
charter schools must aspire to |
attain.
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(5) The goals, objectives, and pupil performance |
standards to be achieved
by the charter school.
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(6) In the case of a proposal to establish a charter |
school by
converting an existing public school or |
attendance center to charter school
status, evidence that |
the proposed formation of the charter school has received
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the approval of certified teachers, parents
and
guardians, |
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and, if applicable, a local school council as provided in
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subsection
(b) of Section 27A-8.
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(7) A description of the charter school's educational |
program, pupil
performance standards, curriculum, school |
year, school days, and hours of
operation.
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(8) A description of the charter school's plan for |
evaluating pupil
performance, the types of assessments |
that will be used to measure pupil
progress towards |
achievement of the school's pupil performance standards, |
the
timeline for achievement of those standards, and the |
procedures for taking
corrective action in the event that |
pupil performance at the charter school
falls below those |
standards.
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(9) Evidence that the terms of the charter as proposed |
are economically
sound
for both the charter school and the |
school district, a proposed budget for the
term of the |
charter, a description of the manner in which an annual
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audit of the financial and administrative operations of the |
charter school,
including any services provided by the |
school district, are to be conducted,
and
a plan for the |
displacement of pupils, teachers, and other employees who |
will
not attend or be employed in the charter school.
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(10) A description of the governance and operation of |
the charter school,
including the nature and extent of |
parental, professional educator, and
community involvement |
in the governance and operation of the charter school.
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(11) An explanation of the relationship that will exist |
between the
charter school and its employees, including |
evidence that the terms and
conditions of employment have |
been addressed with affected employees and their
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recognized representative, if any. However, a bargaining |
unit of charter
school employees shall be separate and
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distinct from any bargaining units formed from employees of |
a school district
in
which the charter school is located.
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(12) An agreement between the parties regarding their |
respective
legal liability and applicable insurance |
coverage.
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(13) A description of how the charter school plans to |
meet the
transportation needs of its pupils, and a plan for |
addressing the
transportation needs
of low-income and |
at-risk pupils.
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(14) The proposed effective date and term of the |
charter; provided that
the
first day of the first academic |
year shall be no earlier than August 15 and no later than |
September 15 of a
calendar year, and the first day of the |
fiscal year shall be July 1.
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(14.5) Disclosure of any known active civil or criminal |
investigation by a local, state, or federal law enforcement |
agency into an organization submitting the charter school |
proposal or a criminal investigation by a local, state, or |
federal law enforcement agency into any member of the |
governing body of that organization. For the purposes of |
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this subdivision (14.5), a known investigation means a |
request for an interview by a law enforcement agency, a |
subpoena, an arrest, or an indictment. Such disclosure is |
required for a period from the initial application |
submission through 10 business days prior to the |
authorizer's scheduled decision date. |
(15) Any other information reasonably required by the |
State Board of
Education.
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(b) A proposal to establish a charter school may be |
initiated by individuals
or organizations that will have
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majority representation on the board of directors or other |
governing body of
the corporation or other discrete legal |
entity that is to be established to
operate the proposed |
charter school, by a board of education or an
intergovernmental |
agreement between or among boards of education, or by the
board |
of directors or other
governing body of a discrete legal entity |
already existing or established to
operate the proposed
charter |
school. The individuals or organizations referred to in this
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subsection may be school teachers, school administrators, |
local school
councils, colleges or
universities or their |
faculty
members, public community colleges or their |
instructors or other
representatives, corporations, or other |
entities or their
representatives. The proposal shall be
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submitted to the local school board for consideration and, if
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appropriate, for
development of a proposed contract to be |
submitted to the State Board for
certification under
Section |
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27A-6.
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(c) The local school board may not without the consent of |
the governing body
of the charter school condition its approval |
of a charter school proposal on
acceptance of an agreement to |
operate under State laws and regulations and
local school board |
policies from which the charter school is otherwise exempted
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under this Article.
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(Source: P.A. 98-739, eff. 7-16-14; 98-1048, eff. 8-25-14; |
revised 10-1-14.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
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