93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB5003

 

Introduced 02/05/04, by Jay C. Hoffman

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/1C-1
105 ILCS 5/1D-1

    Amends the School Code. Makes technical changes in Sections concerning block grants.


LRB093 20004 NHT 45748 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5003 LRB093 20004 NHT 45748 b

1     AN ACT concerning education.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
5 1C-1 and 1D-1 as follows:
 
6     (105 ILCS 5/1C-1)
7     Sec. 1C-1. Purpose; applicability. The purpose of this
8 Article is to permit greater flexibility and efficiency in the
9 distribution and use of certain State funds available to local
10 education agencies for the improvement of the quality of
11 educational services pursuant to locally established
12 priorities.
13     This Article does not apply to school districts having a
14 population in excess of 500,000 inhabitants.
15 (Source: P.A. 88-555, eff. 7-27-94; 89-15, eff. 5-30-95;
16 89-397, eff. 8-20-95; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96.)
 
17     (105 ILCS 5/1D-1)
18     Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding.
19     (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,
20 the State Board of Education shall award to a school district
21 having a population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants a general
22 education block grant and an educational services block grant,
23 determined as provided in this Section, in lieu of distributing
24 to the district separate State funding for the programs
25 described in subsections (b) and (c) of this Section. The
26 provisions of this Section, however, do not apply to any
27 federal funds that the district is entitled to receive. In
28 accordance with Section 2-3.32, all block grants are subject to
29 an audit. Therefore, block grant receipts and block grant
30 expenditures shall be recorded to the appropriate fund code for
31 the designated block grant.

 

 

HB5003 - 2 - LRB093 20004 NHT 45748 b

1     (b) The general education block grant shall include the
2 following programs: REI Initiative, Summer Bridges, Preschool
3 At Risk, K-6 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support,
4 Urban Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse
5 Prevention, Second Language Planning, Staff Development,
6 Outcomes and Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12
7 Continued Reading Improvement, Truants' Optional Education,
8 Hispanic Programs, Agriculture Education, Parental Education,
9 Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and Criminal Background
10 Investigations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
11 all amounts paid under the general education block grant from
12 State appropriations to a school district in a city having a
13 population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be appropriated
14 and expended by the board of that district for any of the
15 programs included in the block grant or any of the board's
16 lawful purposes.
17     (c) The educational services block grant shall include the
18 following programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational
19 Transportation, State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program,
20 Special Education (Personnel, Extraordinary, Transportation,
21 Orphanage, Private Tuition), Summer School, Educational
22 Service Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This subsection
23 (c) does not relieve the district of its obligation to provide
24 the services required under a program that is included within
25 the educational services block grant. It is the intention of
26 the General Assembly in enacting the provisions of this
27 subsection (c) to relieve the district of the administrative
28 burdens that impede efficiency and accompany single-program
29 funding. The General Assembly encourages the board to pursue
30 mandate waivers pursuant to Section 2-3.25g.
31     (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter,
32 the amount of the district's block grants shall be determined
33 as follows: (i) with respect to each program that is included
34 within each block grant, the district shall receive an amount
35 equal to the same percentage of the current fiscal year
36 appropriation made for that program as the percentage of the

 

 

HB5003 - 3 - LRB093 20004 NHT 45748 b

1 appropriation received by the district from the 1995 fiscal
2 year appropriation made for that program, and (ii) the total
3 amount that is due the district under the block grant shall be
4 the aggregate of the amounts that the district is entitled to
5 receive for the fiscal year with respect to each program that
6 is included within the block grant that the State Board of
7 Education shall award the district under this Section for that
8 fiscal year. In the case of the Summer Bridges program, the
9 amount of the district's block grant shall be equal to 44% of
10 the amount of the current fiscal year appropriation made for
11 that program.
12     (e) The district is not required to file any application or
13 other claim in order to receive the block grants to which it is
14 entitled under this Section. The State Board of Education shall
15 make payments to the district of amounts due under the
16 district's block grants on a schedule determined by the State
17 Board of Education.
18     (f) A school district to which this Section applies shall
19 report to the State Board of Education on its use of the block
20 grants in such form and detail as the State Board of Education
21 may specify.
22     (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block
23 grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the amount
24 of block grants for a district under this Section. Those block
25 grants under Article 1C are, for this purpose, treated as
26 included in the amount of appropriation for the various
27 programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The appropriation in
28 each current fiscal year for each block grant under Article 1C
29 shall be treated for these purposes as appropriations for the
30 individual program included in that block grant. The proportion
31 of each block grant so allocated to each such program included
32 in it shall be the proportion which the appropriation for that
33 program was of all appropriations for such purposes now in that
34 block grant, in fiscal 1995.
35     Payments to the school district under this Section with
36 respect to each program for which payments to school districts

 

 

HB5003 - 4 - LRB093 20004 NHT 45748 b

1 generally, as of the date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd
2 General Assembly, are on a reimbursement basis shall continue
3 to be made to the district on a reimbursement basis, pursuant
4 to the provisions of this Code governing those programs.
5     (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school
6 district receiving a block grant under this Section may
7 classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a
8 particular fiscal year from any block grant authorized under
9 this Code or from general State aid pursuant to Section 18-8.05
10 of this Code (other than supplemental general State aid) as
11 funds received in connection with any funding program for which
12 it is entitled to receive funds from the State in that fiscal
13 year (including, without limitation, any funding program
14 referred to in subsection (c) of this Section), regardless of
15 the source or timing of the receipt. The district may not
16 classify more funds as funds received in connection with the
17 funding program than the district is entitled to receive in
18 that fiscal year for that program. Any classification by a
19 district must be made by a resolution of its board of
20 education. The resolution must identify the amount of any block
21 grant or general State aid to be classified under this
22 subsection (h) and must specify the funding program to which
23 the funds are to be treated as received in connection
24 therewith. This resolution is controlling as to the
25 classification of funds referenced therein. A certified copy of
26 the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
27 Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though a
28 copy of the resolution has not been sent to the State
29 Superintendent of Education in a timely manner. No
30 classification under this subsection (h) by a district shall
31 affect the total amount or timing of money the district is
32 entitled to receive under this Code. No classification under
33 this subsection (h) by a district shall in any way relieve the
34 district from or affect any requirements that otherwise would
35 apply with respect to the block grant as provided in this
36 Section, including any accounting of funds by source, reporting

 

 

HB5003 - 5 - LRB093 20004 NHT 45748 b

1 expenditures by original source and purpose, reporting
2 requirements, or requirements of provision of services.
3 (Source: P.A. 92-568, eff. 6-26-02; 92-651, eff. 7-11-02;
4 93-21, eff. 7-1-03; 93-53, eff. 7-1-03; revised 9-11-03.)