HB0466 Engrossed LRB095 04386 NHT 24431 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 Section
5 27A-5 as follows:
 
6     (105 ILCS 5/27A-5)
7     Sec. 27A-5. Charter school; legal entity; requirements.
8     (a) A charter school shall be a public, nonsectarian,
9 nonreligious, non-home based, and non-profit school. A charter
10 school shall be organized and operated as a nonprofit
11 corporation or other discrete, legal, nonprofit entity
12 authorized under the laws of the State of Illinois.
13     (b) A charter school may be established under this Article
14 by creating a new school or by converting an existing public
15 school or attendance center to charter school status. Beginning
16 on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
17 General Assembly, in all new applications submitted to the
18 State Board or a local school board to establish a charter
19 school in a city having a population exceeding 500,000,
20 operation of the charter school shall be limited to one campus.
21 The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the
22 93rd General Assembly do not apply to charter schools existing
23 or approved on or before the effective date of this amendatory

 

 

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1 Act. A charter school may not have more campuses than the
2 number of campuses it has on the effective date of this
3 amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, except that if a
4 charter school has more than one campus and a campus closes on
5 or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th
6 General Assembly, then the number of campuses that the charter
7 school may have shall be reduced by the number of campuses that
8 have closed.
9     (c) A charter school shall be administered and governed by
10 its board of directors or other governing body in the manner
11 provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter school
12 shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open
13 Meetings Act.
14     (d) A charter school shall comply with all applicable
15 health and safety requirements applicable to public schools
16 under the laws of the State of Illinois.
17     (e) Except as otherwise provided in the School Code, a
18 charter school shall not charge tuition; provided that a
19 charter school may charge reasonable fees for textbooks,
20 instructional materials, and student activities.
21     (f) A charter school shall be responsible for the
22 management and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but
23 not limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
24 charter school's finances shall be conducted annually by an
25 outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
26 school.

 

 

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1     (g) A charter school shall comply with all provisions of
2 this Article and its charter. A charter school is exempt from
3 all other State laws and regulations in the School Code
4 governing public schools and local school board policies,
5 except the following:
6         (1) Sections 10-21.9 and 34-18.5 of the School Code
7     regarding criminal history records checks and checks of the
8     Statewide Sex Offender Database of applicants for
9     employment;
10         (2) Sections 24-24 and 34-84A of the School Code
11     regarding discipline of students;
12         (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental Employees
13     Tort Immunity Act;
14         (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
15     Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
16     officers, directors, employees, and agents;
17         (5) The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
18         (6) The Illinois School Student Records Act; and
19         (7) Section 10-17a of the School Code regarding school
20     report cards.
21     (h) A charter school may negotiate and contract with a
22 school district, the governing body of a State college or
23 university or public community college, or any other public or
24 for-profit or nonprofit private entity for: (i) the use of a
25 school building and grounds or any other real property or
26 facilities that the charter school desires to use or convert

 

 

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1 for use as a charter school site, (ii) the operation and
2 maintenance thereof, and (iii) the provision of any service,
3 activity, or undertaking that the charter school is required to
4 perform in order to carry out the terms of its charter.
5 However, a charter school that is established on or after the
6 effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
7 Assembly and that operates in a city having a population
8 exceeding 500,000 may not contract with a for-profit entity to
9 manage or operate the school during the period that commences
10 on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
11 General Assembly and concludes at the end of the 2004-2005
12 school year. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this
13 Section, a school district may charge a charter school
14 reasonable rent for the use of the district's buildings,
15 grounds, and facilities. Any services for which a charter
16 school contracts with a school district shall be provided by
17 the district at cost. Any services for which a charter school
18 contracts with a local school board or with the governing body
19 of a State college or university or public community college
20 shall be provided by the public entity at cost.
21     (i) In no event shall a charter school that is established
22 by converting an existing school or attendance center to
23 charter school status be required to pay rent for space that is
24 deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
25 agreement, in school district facilities. However, all other
26 costs for the operation and maintenance of school district

 

 

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1 facilities that are used by the charter school shall be subject
2 to negotiation between the charter school and the local school
3 board and shall be set forth in the charter.
4     (j) A charter school may limit student enrollment by age or
5 grade level.
6 (Source: P.A. 93-3, eff. 4-16-03; 93-909, eff. 8-12-04; 94-219,
7 eff. 7-14-05.)