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91_HB2985eng HB2985 Engrossed LRB9108041NTsb 1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section 1D-1 2 and adding Section 2-3.51a. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 6 Section 1D-1 and adding Section 2-3.51a as follows: 7 (105 ILCS 5/1D-1) 8 Sec. 1D-1. Block grant funding. 9 (a) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year 10 thereafter, the State Board of Education shall award to a 11 school district having a population exceeding 500,000 12 inhabitants a general education block grant and an 13 educational services block grant, determined as provided in 14 this Section, in lieu of distributing to the district 15 separate State funding for the programs described in 16 subsections (b) and (c). The provisions of this Section, 17 however, do not apply to any federal funds that the district 18 is entitled to receive. In accordance with Section 2-3.32, 19 all block grants are subject to an audit. Therefore, block 20 grant receipts and block grant expenditures shall be recorded 21 to the appropriate fund code for the designated block grant. 22 (b) The general education block grant shall include the 23 following programs: REI Initiative, Preschool At Risk, K-6 24 Comprehensive Arts, School Improvement Support, Urban 25 Education, Scientific Literacy, Substance Abuse Prevention, 26 Second Language Planning, Staff Development, Outcomes and 27 Assessment, K-6 Reading Improvement, 7-12 Continued Reading 28 Improvement, Truants' Optional Education, Hispanic Programs, 29 Agriculture Education, Gifted Education, Parental Education, 30 Prevention Initiative, Report Cards, and Criminal Background 31 Investigations. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, HB2985 Engrossed -2- LRB9108041NTsb 1 all amounts paid under the general education block grant from 2 State appropriations to a school district in a city having a 3 population exceeding 500,000 inhabitants shall be 4 appropriated and expended by the board of that district for 5 any of the programs included in the block grant or any of the 6 board's lawful purposes. 7 (c) The educational services block grant shall include 8 the following programs: Bilingual, Regular and Vocational 9 Transportation, State Lunch and Free Breakfast Program, 10 Special Education (Personnel, Extraordinary, Transportation, 11 Orphanage, Private Tuition), Summer School, Educational 12 Service Centers, and Administrator's Academy. This 13 subsection (c) does not relieve the district of its 14 obligation to provide the services required under a program 15 that is included within the educational services block grant. 16 It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting the 17 provisions of this subsection (c) to relieve the district of 18 the administrative burdens that impede efficiency and 19 accompany single-program funding. The General Assembly 20 encourages the board to pursue mandate waivers pursuant to 21 Section 2-3.25g. 22 (d) For fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year 23 thereafter, the amount of the district's block grants shall 24 be determined as follows: (i) with respect to each program 25 that is included within each block grant, the district shall 26 receive an amount equal to the same percentage of the current 27 fiscal year appropriation made for that program as the 28 percentage of the appropriation received by the district from 29 the 1995 fiscal year appropriation made for that program, and 30 (ii) the total amount that is due the district under the 31 block grant shall be the aggregate of the amounts that the 32 district is entitled to receive for the fiscal year with 33 respect to each program that is included within the block 34 grant that the State Board of Education shall award the HB2985 Engrossed -3- LRB9108041NTsb 1 district under this Section for that fiscal year. 2 (e) The district is not required to file any application 3 or other claim in order to receive the block grants to which 4 it is entitled under this Section. The State Board of 5 Education shall make payments to the district of amounts due 6 under the district's block grants on a schedule determined by 7 the State Board of Education. 8 (f) A school district to which this Section applies 9 shall report to the State Board of Education on its use of 10 the block grants in such form and detail as the State Board 11 of Education may specify. 12 (g) This paragraph provides for the treatment of block 13 grants under Article 1C for purposes of calculating the 14 amount of block grants for a district under this Section. 15 Those block grants under Article IC are, for this purpose, 16 treated as included in the amount of appropriation for the 17 various programs set forth in paragraph (b) above. The 18 appropriation in each current fiscal year for each block 19 grant under Article 1C shall be treated for these purposes as 20 appropriations for the individual program included in that 21 block grant. The proportion of each block grant so allocated 22 to each such program included in it shall be the proportion 23 which the appropriation for that program was of all 24 appropriations for such purposes now in that block grant, in 25 fiscal 1995. 26 (Source: P.A. 89-15, eff. 5-30-95; 89-698, eff. 1-14-97; 27 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-653, eff. 7-29-98.) 28 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.51a new) 29 Sec. 2-3.51a. Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant 30 Program. To improve the reading and study skills of children 31 from seventh through twelfth grade in school districts. The 32 State Board of Education is authorized to administer a 33 Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program. As used HB2985 Engrossed -4- LRB9108041NTsb 1 in this Section, "school district" includes those schools 2 designated as laboratory schools. 3 (a) Funds for the Continued Reading Improvement Block 4 Grant Program shall be distributed to school districts on the 5 following basis: 70% of moneys shall be awarded on the prior 6 year's best 3 months average daily attendance and 30% shall 7 be distributed on the number of economically disadvantaged 8 (E.C.I.A. Chapter I) pupils in the district, provided that 9 the State Board may distribute an amount not to exceed 2% of 10 the moneys appropriated for the Continued Reading Improvement 11 Block Grant Program for the purpose of providing teacher 12 training and re-training in the teaching of reading. Program 13 funds shall be distributed to school districts in 2 14 semi-annual installments, one payment on or before October 30 15 and one payment prior to April 30, of each year. The State 16 Board shall promulgate rules necessary for the implementation 17 of this program. 18 (b) Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program 19 funds shall be used by school districts in the following 20 manner to support students in grades 7 through 12 who are 21 reading significantly below grade level: 22 (1) to continue direct reading instruction for 23 grades 7 through 12, focusing on the application of 24 reading skills for understanding informational text; 25 (2) to focus on and to commit time and resources to 26 the reading of rich literature; 27 (3) to conduct intense vocabulary, spelling, and 28 related writing programs that promote better 29 understanding of language and words; 30 (4) to provide professional development based on 31 research and proper practices and delivered by providers 32 approved by the State Board of Education; and 33 (5) to increase the availability of reading 34 specialists and teacher aides trained in research-based HB2985 Engrossed -5- LRB9108041NTsb 1 reading intervention or improvement practices or both. 2 (c) Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program 3 funds shall be made available to each eligible school 4 district submitting an approved application developed by the 5 State Board, beginning with the 2001-2002 school year. 6 Applications shall include a proposed assessment method or 7 methods for measuring student reading skills. Such methods 8 may include the reading portion of State tests. At the end 9 of each school year the district shall report assessment 10 results to the State Board. Districts not demonstrating 11 performance progress using an approved assessment method 12 shall not be eligible for funding in the third or subsequent 13 years until such progress is established. 14 (d) The State Superintendent of Education, in 15 cooperation with the school districts participating in the 16 program, shall annually report to the leadership of the 17 General Assembly on the results of the Continued Reading 18 Improvement Block Grant Program and the progress being made 19 on improving the reading skills of students in grades 7 20 through 12. 21 (e) Grants under the Continued Reading Improvement Block 22 Grant Program shall be awarded provided there is an 23 appropriation for the program, and funding levels for each 24 district shall be prorated according to the amount of the 25 appropriation. Funding for the program established under 26 Section 2-3.51 of this Code shall not be reduced in order to 27 fund the Continued Reading Improvement Block Grant Program. 28 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on 29 July 1, 2001.