101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB3752

 

Introduced 2/14/2020, by Sen. David Koehler

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/10-22.31  from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.31

    Amends the School Code. Provides that if a professional worker employed by a school district that is party to a joint special education agreement is displaced by dissolution of the joint agreement, reorganization of the joint agreement, or by withdrawal, removal, or addition of a school district to the joint agreement and the displaced professional worker is hired by or transferred to another school district, the length of continuing service, pay, and benefits, or substantially equal benefits if the same benefits are not available, of the professional worker are transferred to the other school district. Provides that the new or transferred employment shall be deemed a continuation of the previous employment of the professional worker in the school district, regardless of the participation of the school district in the joint agreement. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3752LRB101 18181 CMG 67623 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
510-22.31 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/10-22.31)  (from Ch. 122, par. 10-22.31)
7    Sec. 10-22.31. Special education.
8    (a) To enter into joint agreements with other school boards
9to provide the needed special educational facilities and to
10employ a director and other professional workers as defined in
11Section 14-1.10 and to establish facilities as defined in
12Section 14-1.08 for the types of children described in Sections
1314-1.02 and 14-1.03a. The director (who may be employed under a
14contract as provided in subsection (c) of this Section) and
15other professional workers may be employed by one district,
16which shall be reimbursed on a mutually agreed basis by other
17districts that are parties to the joint agreement. Such
18agreements may provide that one district may supply
19professional workers for a joint program conducted in another
20district. Such agreement shall provide that any full-time
21professional worker who is employed by a joint agreement
22program and spends over 50% of his or her time in one school
23district shall not be required to work a different teaching

 

 

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1schedule than the other professional worker in that district.
2Such agreement shall include, but not be limited to, provisions
3for administration, staff, programs, financing, housing,
4transportation, an advisory body, and the method or methods to
5be employed for disposing of property upon the withdrawal of a
6school district or dissolution of the joint agreement and shall
7specify procedures for the withdrawal of districts from the
8joint agreement as long as these procedures are consistent with
9this Section. Such agreement may be amended at any time as
10provided in the joint agreement or, if the joint agreement does
11not so provide, then such agreement may be amended at any time
12upon the adoption of concurring resolutions by the school
13boards of all member districts, provided that no later than 6
14months after August 28, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act
1596-783), all existing agreements shall be amended to be
16consistent with Public Act 96-783. Such an amendment may
17include the removal of a school district from or the addition
18of a school district to the joint agreement without a petition
19as otherwise required in this Section if all member districts
20adopt concurring resolutions to that effect. A fully executed
21copy of any such agreement or amendment entered into on or
22after January 1, 1989 shall be filed with the State Board of
23Education. Petitions for withdrawal shall be made to the
24regional board or boards of school trustees exercising
25oversight or governance over any of the districts in the joint
26agreement. Upon receipt of a petition for withdrawal, the

 

 

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1regional board of school trustees shall publish notice of and
2conduct a hearing or, in instances in which more than one
3regional board of school trustees exercises oversight or
4governance over any of the districts in the joint agreement, a
5joint hearing, in accordance with rules adopted by the State
6Board of Education. In instances in which a single regional
7board of school trustees holds the hearing, approval of the
8petition must be by a two-thirds majority vote of the school
9trustees. In instances in which a joint hearing of 2 or more
10regional boards of school trustees is required, approval of the
11petition must be by a two-thirds majority of all those school
12trustees present and voting. Notwithstanding the provisions of
13Article 6 of this Code, in instances in which the competent
14regional board or boards of school trustees has been abolished,
15petitions for withdrawal shall be made to the school boards of
16those districts that fall under the oversight or governance of
17the abolished regional board of school trustees in accordance
18with rules adopted by the State Board of Education. If any
19petition is approved pursuant to this subsection (a), the
20withdrawal takes effect as provided in Section 7-9 of this Act.
21The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-769 apply to
22all changes to special education joint agreement membership
23initiated after July 1, 2009.
24    (b) To either (1) designate an administrative district to
25act as fiscal and legal agent for the districts that are
26parties to the joint agreement, or (2) designate a governing

 

 

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1board composed of one member of the school board of each
2cooperating district and designated by such boards to act in
3accordance with the joint agreement. No such governing board
4may levy taxes and no such governing board may incur any
5indebtedness except within an annual budget for the joint
6agreement approved by the governing board and by the boards of
7at least a majority of the cooperating school districts or a
8number of districts greater than a majority if required by the
9joint agreement. The governing board may appoint an executive
10board of at least 7 members to administer the joint agreement
11in accordance with its terms. However, if 7 or more school
12districts are parties to a joint agreement that does not have
13an administrative district: (i) at least a majority of the
14members appointed by the governing board to the executive board
15shall be members of the school boards of the cooperating
16districts; or (ii) if the governing board wishes to appoint
17members who are not school board members, they shall be
18superintendents from the cooperating districts.
19    (c) To employ a full-time director of special education of
20the joint agreement program under a one-year or multi-year
21contract. No such contract can be offered or accepted for less
22than one year. Such contract may be discontinued at any time by
23mutual agreement of the contracting parties, or may be extended
24for an additional one-year or multi-year period at the end of
25any year.
26    The contract year is July 1 through the following June

 

 

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130th, unless the contract specifically provides otherwise.
2Notice of intent not to renew a contract when given by a
3controlling board or administrative district must be in writing
4stating the specific reason therefor. Notice of intent not to
5renew the contract must be given by the controlling board or
6the administrative district at least 90 days before the
7contract expires. Failure to do so will automatically extend
8the contract for one additional year.
9    By accepting the terms of the contract, the director of a
10special education joint agreement waives all rights granted
11under Sections 24-11 through 24-16 for the duration of his or
12her employment as a director of a special education joint
13agreement.
14    (d) To designate a district that is a party to the joint
15agreement as the issuer of bonds or notes for the purposes and
16in the manner provided in this Section. It is not necessary for
17such district to also be the administrative district for the
18joint agreement, nor is it necessary for the same district to
19be designated as the issuer of all series of bonds or notes
20issued hereunder. Any district so designated may, from time to
21time, borrow money and, in evidence of its obligation to repay
22the borrowing, issue its negotiable bonds or notes for the
23purpose of acquiring, constructing, altering, repairing,
24enlarging and equipping any building or portion thereof,
25together with any land or interest therein, necessary to
26provide special educational facilities and services as defined

 

 

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1in Section 14-1.08. Title in and to any such facilities shall
2be held in accordance with the joint agreement.
3    Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution
4of the board of education of the issuing district. The
5resolution may contain such covenants as may be deemed
6necessary or advisable by the district to assure the payment of
7the bonds or notes. The resolution shall be effective
8immediately upon its adoption.
9    Prior to the issuance of such bonds or notes, each school
10district that is a party to the joint agreement shall agree,
11whether by amendment to the joint agreement or by resolution of
12the board of education, to be jointly and severally liable for
13the payment of the bonds and notes. The bonds or notes shall be
14payable solely and only from the payments made pursuant to such
15agreement.
16    Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the
17bonds or notes under any joint agreement shall constitute an
18indebtedness of any district, including the issuing district,
19within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory
20limitation.
21    As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid,
22the agreement by a district to pay the bonds and notes shall be
23irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal from
24membership in the joint special education program.
25    (e) If a district whose employees are on strike was, prior
26to the strike, sending students with disabilities to special

 

 

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1educational facilities and services in another district or
2cooperative, the district affected by the strike shall continue
3to send such students during the strike and shall be eligible
4to receive appropriate State reimbursement.
5    (f) With respect to those joint agreements that have a
6governing board composed of one member of the school board of
7each cooperating district and designated by those boards to act
8in accordance with the joint agreement, the governing board
9shall have, in addition to its other powers under this Section,
10the authority to issue bonds or notes for the purposes and in
11the manner provided in this subsection. The governing board of
12the joint agreement may from time to time borrow money and, in
13evidence of its obligation to repay the borrowing, issue its
14negotiable bonds or notes for the purpose of acquiring,
15constructing, altering, repairing, enlarging and equipping any
16building or portion thereof, together with any land or interest
17therein, necessary to provide special educational facilities
18and services as defined in Section 14-1.08 and including also
19facilities for activities of administration and educational
20support personnel employees. Title in and to any such
21facilities shall be held in accordance with the joint
22agreement.
23    Any such bonds or notes shall be authorized by a resolution
24of the governing board. The resolution may contain such
25covenants as may be deemed necessary or advisable by the
26governing board to assure the payment of the bonds or notes and

 

 

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1interest accruing thereon. The resolution shall be effective
2immediately upon its adoption.
3    Each school district that is a party to the joint agreement
4shall be automatically liable, by virtue of its membership in
5the joint agreement, for its proportionate share of the
6principal amount of the bonds and notes plus interest accruing
7thereon, as provided in the resolution. Subject to the joint
8and several liability hereinafter provided for, the resolution
9may provide for different payment schedules for different
10districts except that the aggregate amount of scheduled
11payments for each district shall be equal to its proportionate
12share of the debt service in the bonds or notes based upon the
13fraction that its equalized assessed valuation bears to the
14total equalized assessed valuation of all the district members
15of the joint agreement as adjusted in the manner hereinafter
16provided. In computing that fraction the most recent available
17equalized assessed valuation at the time of the issuance of the
18bonds and notes shall be used, and the equalized assessed
19valuation of any district maintaining grades K to 12 shall be
20doubled in both the numerator and denominator of the fraction
21used for all of the districts that are members of the joint
22agreement. In case of default in payment by any member, each
23school district that is a party to the joint agreement shall
24automatically be jointly and severally liable for the amount of
25any deficiency. The bonds or notes and interest thereon shall
26be payable solely and only from the funds made available

 

 

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1pursuant to the procedures set forth in this subsection. No
2project authorized under this subsection may require an annual
3contribution for bond payments from any member district in
4excess of 0.15% of the value of taxable property as equalized
5or assessed by the Department of Revenue in the case of
6districts maintaining grades K-8 or 9-12 and 0.30% of the value
7of taxable property as equalized or assessed by the Department
8of Revenue in the case of districts maintaining grades K-12.
9This limitation on taxing authority is expressly applicable to
10taxing authority provided under Section 17-9 and other
11applicable Sections of this Act. Nothing contained in this
12subsection shall be construed as an exception to the property
13tax limitations contained in Section 17-2, 17-2.2a, 17-5, or
14any other applicable Section of this Act.
15    Neither the bonds or notes nor the obligation to pay the
16bonds or notes under any joint agreement shall constitute an
17indebtedness of any district within the meaning of any
18constitutional or statutory limitation.
19    As long as any bonds or notes are outstanding and unpaid,
20the obligation of a district to pay its proportionate share of
21the principal of and interest on the bonds and notes as
22required in this Section shall be a general obligation of the
23district payable from any and all sources of revenue designated
24for that purpose by the board of education of the district and
25shall be irrevocable notwithstanding the district's withdrawal
26from membership in the joint special education program.

 

 

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1    (g) A member district wishing to withdraw from a joint
2agreement may obtain from its school board a written resolution
3approving the withdrawal. The withdrawing district must then
4present a written petition for withdrawal from the joint
5agreement to the other member districts. Under no circumstances
6may the petition be presented to the other member districts
7less than 12 months from the date of the proposed withdrawal,
8unless the member districts agree to waive this timeline. Upon
9approval by school board written resolution of all of the
10remaining member districts, the petitioning member district
11shall notify the State Board of Education of the approved
12withdrawal in writing and must submit a comprehensive plan
13developed under subsection (g-5) for review by the State Board.
14If the petition for withdrawal is not approved, the petitioning
15member district may appeal the disapproval decision to the
16trustees of schools of the township that has jurisdiction and
17authority over the withdrawing district. If a withdrawing
18district is not under the jurisdiction and authority of the
19trustees of schools of a township, a hearing panel shall be
20established by the chief administrative officer of the
21intermediate service center having jurisdiction over the
22withdrawing district. The hearing panel shall be made up of 3
23persons who have a demonstrated interest and background in
24education. Each hearing panel member must reside within an
25educational service region of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants but
26not within the withdrawing district and may not be a current

 

 

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1school board member or employee of the withdrawing district or
2hold any county office. None of the hearing panel members may
3reside within the same school district. The hearing panel shall
4serve without remuneration; however, the necessary expenses,
5including travel, attendant upon any meeting or hearing in
6relation to these proceedings must be paid. Prior to the
7hearing, the withdrawing district shall (i) provide written
8notification to all parents or guardians of students with
9disabilities residing within the district of its intent to
10withdraw from the special education joint agreement; (ii) hold
11a public hearing to allow for members of the community, parents
12or guardians of students with disabilities, or any other
13interested parties an opportunity to review the plan for
14educating students after the withdrawal and to provide feedback
15on the plan; and (iii) prepare and provide a comprehensive plan
16as outlined under subsection (g-5). The trustees of schools of
17the township having jurisdiction and authority over the
18withdrawing district or the hearing panel established by the
19chief administrative officer of the intermediate service
20center having jurisdiction over the withdrawing district shall
21convene and hear testimony to determine whether the withdrawing
22district has presented sufficient evidence that the district,
23standing alone, will provide a full continuum of services and
24support to all its students with disabilities in the
25foreseeable future. If the trustees of schools of the township
26having jurisdiction and authority over the withdrawing

 

 

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1district or the hearing panel established by the chief
2administrative officer of the intermediate service center
3having jurisdiction over the withdrawing district approves the
4petition for withdrawal, then the petitioning member district
5shall be withdrawn from the joint agreement effective the
6following July 1 and shall notify the State Board of Education
7of the approved withdrawal in writing.
8    (g-5) Each withdrawing district shall develop a
9comprehensive plan that includes the administrative policies
10and procedures outlined in Sections 226.50, 226.100, 226.110,
11226.180, 226.230, 226.250, 226.260, 226.300, 226.310, 226.320,
12226.330, 226.340, 226.350, 226.500, 226.520, 226.530, 226.540,
13226.560, 226.700, 226.740, 226.800, and 226.820 and Subpart G
14of Part 226 of Title 23 of the Illinois Administrative Code and
15all relevant portions of the federal Individuals with
16Disabilities Education Act. The withdrawing district must also
17demonstrate its ability to provide education for a wide range
18of students with disabilities, including a full continuum of
19support and services. To demonstrate an appropriate plan for
20educating all currently enrolled students with disabilities
21upon withdrawal from the joint agreement, the withdrawing
22district must provide a written plan for educating and placing
23all currently eligible students with disabilities.
24    (g-10) If a professional worker employed by a district that
25is party to a joint agreement under this Section is displaced
26by dissolution of the joint agreement, reorganization of the

 

 

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1joint agreement, or by withdrawal, removal, or addition of a
2district to the joint agreement and the displaced professional
3worker is hired by or transferred to another district, the
4length of continuing service, pay, and benefits, or
5substantially equal benefits if the same benefits are not
6available, of the professional worker are transferred to the
7other district. Such employment shall be deemed a continuation
8of the previous employment of the professional worker in the
9district, regardless of the participation of the district in
10the joint agreement.
11    (h) The changes to this Section made by Public Act 96-783
12apply to withdrawals from or dissolutions of special education
13joint agreements initiated after August 28, 2009 (the effective
14date of Public Act 96-783).
15    (i) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (g), and (h) of this
16Section or any other provision of this Code to the contrary, an
17elementary school district that maintains grades up to and
18including grade 8, that had a 2014-2015 best 3 months' average
19daily attendance of 5,209.57, and that had a 2014 equalized
20assessed valuation of at least $451,500,000, but not more than
21$452,000,000, may withdraw from its special education joint
22agreement program consisting of 6 school districts upon
23submission and approval of the comprehensive plan, in
24compliance with the applicable requirements of Section 14-4.01
25of this Code, in addition to the approval by the school board
26of the elementary school district and notification to and the

 

 

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1filing of an intent to withdraw statement with the governing
2board of the joint agreement program. Such notification and
3statement shall specify the effective date of the withdrawal,
4which in no case shall be less than 60 days after the date of
5the filing of the notification and statement. Upon receipt of
6the notification and statement, the governing board of the
7joint agreement program shall distribute a copy to each member
8district of the joint agreement and shall initiate any
9appropriate allocation of assets and liabilities among the
10remaining member districts to take effect upon the date of the
11withdrawal. The withdrawal shall take effect upon the date
12specified in the notification and statement.
13(Source: P.A. 100-66, eff. 8-11-17; 101-164, eff. 7-26-19.)
 
14    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
15becoming law.