HJ0045 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0045 LRB094 12009 RAS 45066 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is a non-profit entity and its voluntary membership is comprised of public and private high schools in the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Pursuant to Section 1.120 of its Constitution, the IHSA's purpose is to "provide leadership for the development, supervision, and promotion of interscholastic competition and other activities in which its member schools engage"; and

WHEREAS, A Public-Private Task Force was formed in June of 2004 to make recommendations to the IHSA Board of Directors on possible policy and by-law changes; and

WHEREAS, In its January 18, 2005 recommendations to the IHSA Board of Directors, the Public-Private Task Force rejected a proposal from its Multiplier Subcommittee to create a tiered enrollment multiplier and instead recommended that the Subcommittee reexamine the issues involved in establishing a multiplier; and

WHEREAS, Despite the Public-Private Task Force recommendation that the multiplier proposal be rejected pending further study, the IHSA Board of Directors adopted a multiplier at a March 19, 2005 meeting; and

WHEREAS, Under the policy adopted by the IHSA, enrollment figures for all non-boundaried schools with more than 450 students will be multiplied by a factor of 1.65, effective for the 2005-2006 school year; and

WHEREAS, As a result, several private schools will be shifted from Class A to Class AA in the two-class system; and

WHEREAS, Concern has been expressed about the process followed by the IHSA in adopting the multiplier and the effects of the multiplier on membership schools; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the Auditor General to conduct a financial audit of the Illinois High School Association and a management audit of the Illinois High School Association's decision to adopt the enrollment multiplier; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the audit include, but not be limited to, the following determinations and considerations:

(1) the process followed by the Multiplier Subcommittee of the Public-Private Task Force in developing its proposal advocating the adoption of an enrollment multiplier, including the results of its research on this subject;

(2) further review of the process followed by the Public-Private Task Force in rejecting the Multiplier Subcommittee's proposal and in advising about the multiplier issue, including the information it relied upon in reaching this conclusion;

(3) the process followed by the IHSA Board of Directors in adopting a multiplier for the 2005-2006 school year, including any recommendations of or information provided by IHSA staff concerning the multiplier issue; and

(4) the effect of the multiplier on member schools; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois High School Association and any other entity that may have relevant information pertaining to this audit to cooperate fully and promptly with the Auditor General's Office in the conduct of this audit; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Auditor General to commence this audit as soon as possible and report his findings and recommendations upon completion in accordance with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to the Auditor General.