HB0190ren 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
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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-4 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27A-4)
7    Sec. 27A-4. General Provisions.
8    (a) The General Assembly does not intend to alter or amend
9the provisions of any court-ordered desegregation plan in
10effect for any school district. A charter school shall be
11subject to all federal and State laws and constitutional
12provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
13disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin,
14religion, ancestry, marital status, or need for special
15education services.
16    (b) The total number of charter schools operating under
17this Article at any one time shall not exceed 120. Not more
18than 70 charter schools shall operate at any one time in any
19city having a population exceeding 500,000, with at least 5
20charter schools devoted exclusively to students from
21low-performing or overcrowded schools operating at any one time
22in that city; and not more than 45 charter schools shall
23operate at any one time in the remainder of the State, with not

 

 

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1more than one charter school that has been initiated by a board
2of education, or by an intergovernmental agreement between or
3among boards of education, operating at any one time in the
4school district where the charter school is located. In
5addition to these charter schools, up to but no more than 5
6charter schools devoted exclusively to re-enrolled high school
7dropouts and/or students 16 or 15 years old at risk of dropping
8out may operate at any one time in any city having a population
9exceeding 500,000. Notwithstanding any provision to the
10contrary in subsection (b) of Section 27A-5 of this Code, each
11such dropout charter may operate up to 15 campuses within the
12city. Any of these dropout charters may have a maximum of 1,875
13enrollment seats, any one of the campuses of the dropout
14charter may have a maximum of 165 enrollment seats, and each
15campus of the dropout charter must be operated by the same
16legal entity as that for which the charter is approved and
17certified.
18    For purposes of implementing this Section, the State Board
19shall assign a number to each charter submission it receives
20under Section 27A-6 for its review and certification, based on
21the chronological order in which the submission is received by
22it. The State Board shall promptly notify local school boards
23when the maximum numbers of certified charter schools
24authorized to operate have been reached.
25    (c) No charter shall be granted under this Article that
26would convert any existing private, parochial, or non-public

 

 

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1school to a charter school.
2    (d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any
3pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area
4served by the local school board, provided that the board of
5education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may
6designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of
7the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of
8education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to
9relieve overcrowding or to better serve low-income and at-risk
10students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may
11be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to
12attend the charter school.
13    (e) Nothing in this Article shall prevent 2 or more local
14school boards from jointly issuing a charter to a single shared
15charter school, provided that all of the provisions of this
16Article are met as to those local school boards.
17    (f) No local school board shall require any employee of the
18school district to be employed in a charter school.
19    (g) No local school board shall require any pupil residing
20within the geographic boundary of its district to enroll in a
21charter school.
22    (h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in
23a charter school than there are spaces available, successful
24applicants shall be selected by lottery. However, priority
25shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter
26school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school

 

 

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1the previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and
2priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter
3school's attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated
4by the board of education in a city having a population
5exceeding 500,000. Dual enrollment at both a charter school and
6a public school or non-public school shall not be allowed. A
7pupil who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall
8be deemed to be suspended or expelled from the public schools
9of the school district in which the pupil resides.
10Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this subsection
11(h), any charter school with a mission exclusive to educating
12high school dropouts may grant priority restrict admission to
13students who are high school dropouts and/or students 16 or 15
14years old at risk of dropping out and any charter school with a
15mission exclusive to educating students from low-performing or
16overcrowded schools may restrict admission to students who are
17from low-performing or overcrowded schools. "Priority
18admission" for charter schools exclusively devoted to
19re-enrolled dropouts or students at risk of dropping out means
20a minimum of 90% of students enrolled shall be high school
21dropouts.
22    (i) (Blank).
23    (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
24contrary, a school district in a city having a population
25exceeding 500,000 shall not have a duty to collectively bargain
26with an exclusive representative of its employees over

 

 

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1decisions to grant or deny a charter school proposal under
2Section 27A-8 of this Code, decisions to renew or revoke a
3charter under Section 27A-9 of this Code, and the impact of
4these decisions, provided that nothing in this Section shall
5have the effect of negating, abrogating, replacing, reducing,
6diminishing, or limiting in any way employee rights,
7guarantees, or privileges granted in Sections 2, 3, 7, 8, 10,
814, and 15 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
9    (k) In this Section:
10    "Low-performing school" means a public school in a school
11district organized under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls
12students in any of grades kindergarten through 8 and that is
13ranked within the lowest 10% of schools in that district in
14terms of the percentage of students meeting or exceeding
15standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test.
16    "Overcrowded school" means a public school in a school
17district organized under Article 34 of this Code that (i)
18enrolls students in any of grades kindergarten through 8, (ii)
19has a percentage of low-income students of 70% or more, as
20identified in the most recently available School Report Card
21published by the State Board of Education, and (iii) is
22determined by the Chicago Board of Education to be in the most
23severely overcrowded 5% of schools in the district. On or
24before November 1 of each year, the Chicago Board of Education
25shall file a report with the State Board of Education on which
26schools in the district meet the definition of "overcrowded

 

 

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1school". "Students at risk of dropping out" means students 16
2or 15 years old in a public school in a district organized
3under Article 34 of this Code that enrolls students in any
4grades 9-12 who have been absent at least 90 school attendance
5days of the previous 180 school attendance days.
6(Source: P.A. 96-105, eff. 7-30-09.)
 
7    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
8becoming law.