101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB4305

 

Introduced 1/28/2020, by Rep. Sonya M. Harper

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/27A-5

    Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that a charter school may not adopt or enforce a policy on promotion that does not promote students to the next higher grade level solely because of unsatisfactory completion of physical fitness requirements or violations of student discipline policies. Effective immediately.


LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4305LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
527A-5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
7    (Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 101-50)
8    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
9    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
10nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
11school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
12corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
13authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
14    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
15by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
16school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning
17on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3), in
18all new applications to establish a charter school in a city
19having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of the charter
20school shall be limited to one campus. The changes made to this
21Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter schools
22existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the effective
23date of Public Act 93-3).

 

 

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1    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means
2a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and
3instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with
4their teachers at remote locations and with students
5participating at different times.
6    From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a
7moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
8virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
9school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
10moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
11virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
12April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
13school with virtual-schooling components already approved
14prior to April 1, 2013.
15    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
16its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
17provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
18shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
19Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the
20effective date of Public Act 101-291) this amendatory Act of
21the 101st General Assembly, a charter school's board of
22directors or other governing body must include at least one
23parent or guardian of a pupil currently enrolled in the charter
24school who may be selected through the charter school or a
25charter network election, appointment by the charter school's
26board of directors or other governing body, or by the charter

 

 

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1school's Parent Teacher Organization or its equivalent.
2    (c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the
3effective date of Public Act 101-291) this amendatory Act of
4the 101st General Assembly or within the first year of his or
5her first term, every voting member of a charter school's board
6of directors or other governing body shall complete a minimum
7of 4 hours of professional development leadership training to
8ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity with the
9board's or governing body's role and responsibilities,
10including financial oversight and accountability of the
11school, evaluating the principal's and school's performance,
12adherence to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
13Meetings Act Acts, and compliance with education and labor law.
14In each subsequent year of his or her term, a voting member of
15a charter school's board of directors or other governing body
16shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of professional development
17training in these same areas. The training under this
18subsection may be provided or certified by a statewide charter
19school membership association or may be provided or certified
20by other qualified providers approved by the State Board of
21Education.
22    (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular
23health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
24requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
25preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
26students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or

 

 

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1prevent threats to the health and safety of students and school
2personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety requirement" does
3not include any course of study or specialized instructional
4requirement for which the State Board has established goals and
5learning standards or which is designed primarily to impart
6knowledge and skills for students to master and apply as an
7outcome of their education.
8    A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
9health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
10under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before September
111, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its
12Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
13requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall be
14updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
15contract between a charter school and its authorizer must
16contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow
17the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
18promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
19and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
20during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
21precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health
22and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are
23not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
24including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
25authorizing local school board.
26    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a

 

 

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1charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
2charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
3instructional materials, and student activities.
4    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
5management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
6not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
7charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
8outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
9school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
10public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
11operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
12and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
13990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
14Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
15proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer
16may require quarterly financial statements from each charter
17school.
18    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
19this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, all
20federal and State laws and rules applicable to public schools
21that pertain to special education and the instruction of
22English learners, and its charter. A charter school is exempt
23from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
24governing public schools and local school board policies;
25however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
26        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code regarding

 

 

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1    criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide
2    Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent
3    Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for
4    employment;
5        (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and
6    34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of students;
7        (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
8    Tort Immunity Act;
9        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
10    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
11    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
12        (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
13        (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and
14    subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code;
15        (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
16        (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school report
17    cards;
18        (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
19        (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying
20    prevention;
21        (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student
22    discipline reporting;
23        (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code;
24        (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code;
25        (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code;
26        (14) Section 26-18 of this Code;

 

 

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1        (15) Section 22-30 of this Code; and
2        (16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code.
3    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g)
4is declaratory of existing law.
5    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
6school district, the governing body of a State college or
7university or public community college, or any other public or
8for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
9school building and grounds or any other real property or
10facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
11for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
12maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
13activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to
14perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
15However, a charter school that is established on or after April
1616, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that
17operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
18not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the
19school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
20effective date of Public Act 93-3) and concludes at the end of
21the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection (i)
22of this Section, a school district may charge a charter school
23reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings,
24grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter
25school contracts with a school district shall be provided by
26the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school

 

 

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1contracts with a local school board or with the governing body
2of a State college or university or public community college
3shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
4    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
5by converting an existing school or attendance center to
6charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
7deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
8agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
9costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
10facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
11to negotiation between the charter school and the local school
12board and shall be set forth in the charter.
13    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
14grade level.
15    (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or
16Commission, then the charter school is its own local education
17agency.
18    (l) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code to
19the contrary, a charter school may not adopt or enforce a
20policy on promotion that does not promote students to the next
21higher grade level solely because of unsatisfactory completion
22of physical fitness requirements or violations of student
23discipline policies, including, but not limited to, a set
24amount of demerits received or a set number of detentions or
25suspensions served.
26(Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18;

 

 

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1100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff.
26-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-81,
3eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20; 101-531, eff. 8-23-19;
4101-543, eff. 8-23-19; revised 9-19-19.)
 
5    (Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 101-50)
6    Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
7    (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
8nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
9school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
10corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
11authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
12    (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
13by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
14school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning
15on April 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3), in
16all new applications to establish a charter school in a city
17having a population exceeding 500,000, operation of the charter
18school shall be limited to one campus. The changes made to this
19Section by Public Act 93-3 do not apply to charter schools
20existing or approved on or before April 16, 2003 (the effective
21date of Public Act 93-3).
22    (b-5) In this subsection (b-5), "virtual-schooling" means
23a cyber school where students engage in online curriculum and
24instruction via the Internet and electronic communication with
25their teachers at remote locations and with students

 

 

HB4305- 10 -LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1participating at different times.
2    From April 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016, there is a
3moratorium on the establishment of charter schools with
4virtual-schooling components in school districts other than a
5school district organized under Article 34 of this Code. This
6moratorium does not apply to a charter school with
7virtual-schooling components existing or approved prior to
8April 1, 2013 or to the renewal of the charter of a charter
9school with virtual-schooling components already approved
10prior to April 1, 2013.
11    (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
12its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
13provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
14shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
15Meetings Act. No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the
16effective date of Public Act 101-291) this amendatory Act of
17the 101st General Assembly, a charter school's board of
18directors or other governing body must include at least one
19parent or guardian of a pupil currently enrolled in the charter
20school who may be selected through the charter school or a
21charter network election, appointment by the charter school's
22board of directors or other governing body, or by the charter
23school's Parent Teacher Organization or its equivalent.
24    (c-5) No later than January 1, 2021 (one year after the
25effective date of Public Act 101-291) this amendatory Act of
26the 101st General Assembly or within the first year of his or

 

 

HB4305- 11 -LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1her first term, every voting member of a charter school's board
2of directors or other governing body shall complete a minimum
3of 4 hours of professional development leadership training to
4ensure that each member has sufficient familiarity with the
5board's or governing body's role and responsibilities,
6including financial oversight and accountability of the
7school, evaluating the principal's and school's performance,
8adherence to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
9Meetings Act Acts, and compliance with education and labor law.
10In each subsequent year of his or her term, a voting member of
11a charter school's board of directors or other governing body
12shall complete a minimum of 2 hours of professional development
13training in these same areas. The training under this
14subsection may be provided or certified by a statewide charter
15school membership association or may be provided or certified
16by other qualified providers approved by the State Board of
17Education.
18    (d) For purposes of this subsection (d), "non-curricular
19health and safety requirement" means any health and safety
20requirement created by statute or rule to provide, maintain,
21preserve, or safeguard safe or healthful conditions for
22students and school personnel or to eliminate, reduce, or
23prevent threats to the health and safety of students and school
24personnel. "Non-curricular health and safety requirement" does
25not include any course of study or specialized instructional
26requirement for which the State Board has established goals and

 

 

HB4305- 12 -LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1learning standards or which is designed primarily to impart
2knowledge and skills for students to master and apply as an
3outcome of their education.
4    A charter school shall comply with all non-curricular
5health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
6under the laws of the State of Illinois. On or before September
71, 2015, the State Board shall promulgate and post on its
8Internet website a list of non-curricular health and safety
9requirements that a charter school must meet. The list shall be
10updated annually no later than September 1. Any charter
11contract between a charter school and its authorizer must
12contain a provision that requires the charter school to follow
13the list of all non-curricular health and safety requirements
14promulgated by the State Board and any non-curricular health
15and safety requirements added by the State Board to such list
16during the term of the charter. Nothing in this subsection (d)
17precludes an authorizer from including non-curricular health
18and safety requirements in a charter school contract that are
19not contained in the list promulgated by the State Board,
20including non-curricular health and safety requirements of the
21authorizing local school board.
22    (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
23charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
24charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
25instructional materials, and student activities.
26    (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the

 

 

HB4305- 13 -LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
2not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
3charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
4outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
5school. To ensure financial accountability for the use of
6public funds, on or before December 1 of every year of
7operation, each charter school shall submit to its authorizer
8and the State Board a copy of its audit and a copy of the Form
9990 the charter school filed that year with the federal
10Internal Revenue Service. In addition, if deemed necessary for
11proper financial oversight of the charter school, an authorizer
12may require quarterly financial statements from each charter
13school.
14    (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
15this Article, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, all
16federal and State laws and rules applicable to public schools
17that pertain to special education and the instruction of
18English learners, and its charter. A charter school is exempt
19from all other State laws and regulations in this Code
20governing public schools and local school board policies;
21however, a charter school is not exempt from the following:
22        (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of this Code regarding
23    criminal history records checks and checks of the Statewide
24    Sex Offender Database and Statewide Murderer and Violent
25    Offender Against Youth Database of applicants for
26    employment;

 

 

HB4305- 14 -LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1        (2) Sections 10-20.14, 10-22.6, 24-24, 34-19, and
2    34-84a of this Code regarding discipline of students;
3        (3) the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
4    Tort Immunity Act;
5        (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
6    Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
7    officers, directors, employees, and agents;
8        (5) the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
9        (5.5) subsection (b) of Section 10-23.12 and
10    subsection (b) of Section 34-18.6 of this Code;
11        (6) the Illinois School Student Records Act;
12        (7) Section 10-17a of this Code regarding school report
13    cards;
14        (8) the P-20 Longitudinal Education Data System Act;
15        (9) Section 27-23.7 of this Code regarding bullying
16    prevention;
17        (10) Section 2-3.162 of this Code regarding student
18    discipline reporting;
19        (11) Sections 22-80 and 27-8.1 of this Code;
20        (12) Sections 10-20.60 and 34-18.53 of this Code;
21        (13) Sections 10-20.63 and 34-18.56 of this Code;
22        (14) Section 26-18 of this Code;
23        (15) Section 22-30 of this Code; and
24        (16) Sections 24-12 and 34-85 of this Code; and .
25        (17) (16) The Seizure Smart School Act.
26    The change made by Public Act 96-104 to this subsection (g)

 

 

HB4305- 15 -LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1is declaratory of existing law.
2    (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
3school district, the governing body of a State college or
4university or public community college, or any other public or
5for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
6school building and grounds or any other real property or
7facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert
8for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
9maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
10activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to
11perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
12However, a charter school that is established on or after April
1316, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-3) and that
14operates in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
15not contract with a for-profit entity to manage or operate the
16school during the period that commences on April 16, 2003 (the
17effective date of Public Act 93-3) and concludes at the end of
18the 2004-2005 school year. Except as provided in subsection (i)
19of this Section, a school district may charge a charter school
20reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings,
21grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter
22school contracts with a school district shall be provided by
23the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school
24contracts with a local school board or with the governing body
25of a State college or university or public community college
26shall be provided by the public entity at cost.

 

 

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1    (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
2by converting an existing school or attendance center to
3charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
4deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
5agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
6costs for the operation and maintenance of school district
7facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
8to negotiation between the charter school and the local school
9board and shall be set forth in the charter.
10    (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
11grade level.
12    (k) If the charter school is approved by the State Board or
13Commission, then the charter school is its own local education
14agency.
15    (l) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code to
16the contrary, a charter school may not adopt or enforce a
17policy on promotion that does not promote students to the next
18higher grade level solely because of unsatisfactory completion
19of physical fitness requirements or violations of student
20discipline policies, including, but not limited to, a set
21amount of demerits received or a set number of detentions or
22suspensions served.
23(Source: P.A. 100-29, eff. 1-1-18; 100-156, eff. 1-1-18;
24100-163, eff. 1-1-18; 100-413, eff. 1-1-18; 100-468, eff.
256-1-18; 100-726, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-50,
26eff. 7-1-20; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-291, eff. 1-1-20;

 

 

HB4305- 17 -LRB101 17145 CMG 68927 b

1101-531, eff. 8-23-19; 101-543, eff. 8-23-19; revised
29-19-19.)
 
3    Section 95. No acceleration or delay. Where this Act makes
4changes in a statute that is represented in this Act by text
5that is not yet or no longer in effect (for example, a Section
6represented by multiple versions), the use of that text does
7not accelerate or delay the taking effect of (i) the changes
8made by this Act or (ii) provisions derived from any other
9Public Act.
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11becoming law.