Public Act 099-0840
 
HB5918 EnrolledLRB099 15850 NHT 40160 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections
27A-9 and 27A-11.5 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27A-9)
    Sec. 27A-9. Term of charter; renewal.
    (a) For charters granted before the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, a A charter may be
granted for a period not less than 5 and not more than 10
school years. For charters granted on or after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, a
charter shall be granted for a period of 5 school years. For
charters renewed before the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 99th General Assembly, a A charter may be renewed in
incremental periods not to exceed 5 school years. For charters
renewed on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act
of the 99th General Assembly, a charter may be renewed in
incremental periods not to exceed 10 school years; however, the
Commission may renew a charter only in incremental periods not
to exceed 5 years. Authorizers shall ensure that every charter
granted on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act
of the 99th General Assembly includes standards and goals for
academic, organizational, and financial performance. A charter
must meet all standards and goals for academic, organizational,
and financial performance set forth by the authorizer in order
to be renewed for a term in excess of 5 years but not more than
10 years. If an authorizer fails to establish standards and
goals, a charter shall not be renewed for a term in excess of 5
years. Nothing contained in this Section shall require an
authorizer to grant a full 10-year renewal term to any
particular charter school, but an authorizer may award a full
10-year renewal term to charter schools that have a
demonstrated track record of improving student performance.
    (b) A charter school renewal proposal submitted to the
local school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
shall contain:
        (1) A report on the progress of the charter school in
    achieving the goals, objectives, pupil performance
    standards, content standards, and other terms of the
    initial approved charter proposal; and
        (2) A financial statement that discloses the costs of
    administration, instruction, and other spending categories
    for the charter school that is understandable to the
    general public and that will allow comparison of those
    costs to other schools or other comparable organizations,
    in a format required by the State Board.
    (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the local
school board or the Commission, as the chartering entity,
clearly demonstrates that the charter school did any of the
following, or otherwise failed to comply with the requirements
of this law:
        (1) Committed a material violation of any of the
    conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
    charter.
        (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress toward
    achievement of the content standards or pupil performance
    standards identified in the charter.
        (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
    fiscal management.
        (4) Violated any provision of law from which the
    charter school was not exempted.
    In the case of revocation, the local school board or the
Commission, as the chartering entity, shall notify the charter
school in writing of the reason why the charter is subject to
revocation. The charter school shall submit a written plan to
the local school board or the Commission, whichever is
applicable, to rectify the problem. The plan shall include a
timeline for implementation, which shall not exceed 2 years or
the date of the charter's expiration, whichever is earlier. If
the local school board or the Commission, as the chartering
entity, finds that the charter school has failed to implement
the plan of remediation and adhere to the timeline, then the
chartering entity shall revoke the charter. Except in
situations of an emergency where the health, safety, or
education of the charter school's students is at risk, the
revocation shall take place at the end of a school year.
Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly
shall be construed to prohibit an implementation timetable that
is less than 2 years in duration.
    (d) (Blank).
    (e) Notice of a local school board's decision to deny,
revoke or not to renew a charter shall be provided to the
Commission and the State Board. The Commission may reverse a
local board's decision if the Commission finds that the charter
school or charter school proposal (i) is in compliance with
this Article, and (ii) is in the best interests of the students
it is designed to serve. The Commission may condition the
granting of an appeal on the acceptance by the charter school
of funding in an amount less than that requested in the
proposal submitted to the local school board. Final decisions
of the Commission shall be subject to judicial review under the
Administrative Review Law.
    (f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Article, if
the Commission on appeal reverses a local board's decision or
if a charter school is approved by referendum, the Commission
shall act as the authorized chartering entity for the charter
school. The Commission shall approve the charter and shall
perform all functions under this Article otherwise performed by
the local school board. The State Board shall determine whether
the charter proposal approved by the Commission is consistent
with the provisions of this Article and, if the approved
proposal complies, certify the proposal pursuant to this
Article. The State Board shall report the aggregate number of
charter school pupils resident in a school district to that
district and shall notify the district of the amount of funding
to be paid by the State Board to the charter school enrolling
such students. The Commission shall require the charter school
to maintain accurate records of daily attendance that shall be
deemed sufficient to file claims under Section 18-8.05
notwithstanding any other requirements of that Section
regarding hours of instruction and teacher certification. The
State Board shall withhold from funds otherwise due the
district the funds authorized by this Article to be paid to the
charter school and shall pay such amounts to the charter
school.
    (g) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
Commission shall quarterly certify to the State Board the
student enrollment for each of its charter schools.
    (h) For charter schools authorized by the Commission, the
State Board shall pay directly to a charter school any federal
or State aid attributable to a student with a disability
attending the school.
(Source: P.A. 97-152, eff. 7-20-11; 98-739, eff. 7-16-14.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27A-11.5)
    Sec. 27A-11.5. State financing. The State Board of
Education shall make the following funds available to school
districts and charter schools:
        (1) From a separate appropriation made to the State
    Board for purposes of this subdivision (1), the State Board
    shall make transition impact aid available to school
    districts that approve a new charter school or that have
    funds withheld by the State Board to fund a new charter
    school that is chartered by the Commission. The amount of
    the aid shall equal 90% of the per capita funding paid to
    the charter school during the first year of its initial
    charter term, 65% of the per capita funding paid to the
    charter school during the second year of its initial term,
    and 35% of the per capita funding paid to the charter
    school during the third year of its initial term. This
    transition impact aid shall be paid to the local school
    board in equal quarterly installments, with the payment of
    the installment for the first quarter being made by August
    1st immediately preceding the first, second, and third
    years of the initial term. The district shall file an
    application for this aid with the State Board in a format
    designated by the State Board. If the appropriation is
    insufficient in any year to pay all approved claims, the
    impact aid shall be prorated. However, for fiscal year
    2004, the State Board of Education shall pay approved
    claims only for charter schools with a valid charter
    granted prior to June 1, 2003. If any funds remain after
    these claims have been paid, then the State Board of
    Education may pay all other approved claims on a pro rata
    basis. Transition impact aid shall be paid beginning in the
    1999-2000 school year for charter schools that are in the
    first, second, or third year of their initial term.
    Transition impact aid shall not be paid for any charter
    school that is proposed and created by one or more boards
    of education, as authorized under the provisions of Public
    Act 91-405.
        (2) From a separate appropriation made for the purpose
    of this subdivision (2), the State Board shall make grants
    to charter schools to pay their start-up costs of acquiring
    educational materials and supplies, textbooks, electronic
    textbooks and the technological equipment necessary to
    gain access to and use electronic textbooks, furniture, and
    other equipment or materials needed during their initial
    term. The State Board shall annually establish the time and
    manner of application for these grants, which shall not
    exceed $250 per student enrolled in the charter school.
        (3) The Charter Schools Revolving Loan Fund is created
    as a special fund in the State treasury. Federal funds,
    such other funds as may be made available for costs
    associated with the establishment of charter schools in
    Illinois, and amounts repaid by charter schools that have
    received a loan from the Charter Schools Revolving Loan
    Fund shall be deposited into the Charter Schools Revolving
    Loan Fund, and the moneys in the Charter Schools Revolving
    Loan Fund shall be appropriated to the State Board and used
    to provide interest-free loans to charter schools. These
    funds shall be used to pay start-up costs of acquiring
    educational materials and supplies, textbooks, electronic
    textbooks and the technological equipment necessary to
    gain access to and use electronic textbooks, furniture, and
    other equipment or materials needed in the initial term of
    the charter school and for acquiring and remodeling a
    suitable physical plant, within the initial term of the
    charter school. Loans shall be limited to one loan per
    charter school and shall not exceed $750 $250 per student
    enrolled in the charter school. A loan shall be repaid by
    the end of the initial term of the charter school. The
    State Board may deduct amounts necessary to repay the loan
    from funds due to the charter school or may require that
    the local school board that authorized the charter school
    deduct such amounts from funds due the charter school and
    remit these amounts to the State Board, provided that the
    local school board shall not be responsible for repayment
    of the loan. The State Board may use up to 3% of the
    appropriation to contract with a non-profit entity to
    administer the loan program.
        (4) A charter school may apply for and receive, subject
    to the same restrictions applicable to school districts,
    any grant administered by the State Board that is available
    for school districts.
(Source: P.A. 98-739, eff. 7-16-14.)