Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) A charter holder may appeal to the State
Board of Education a local school board report that revokes or refuses to renew
a charter. Any appeal must be submitted to the State Superintendent no later
than 21 days after the local school board voted on the charter revocation or
non-renewal.
1) The appeal shall be submitted
electronically to the State Superintendent at charterappeals@isbe.net, with a
copy sent by certified mail or electronic mail to the local school
board.
2) Based on the information
available to the charter holder, the appeal submitted by the charter holder
shall state the reason why the decision of the local school board should be
overturned.
3) Any appeal not
submitted within the deadline specified in this subsection (a) will not be
considered by the State Superintendent, and the State Superintendent will
notify the applicant that the appeal will not be considered.
b) The State Superintendent will
conduct a documentary review of the materials submitted with any appeal that is
filed within the deadline specified in subsection (a), which, at the State
Superintendent's discretion, may be conducted by State Board personnel or
independent evaluators. The parties shall submit any additional information
that the State Superintendent determines is necessary to consider the
appeal.
c) Hearings on Charter
Appeals
1) Within 7 days after receipt of any
appeal that is timely filed under subsection (a), the State Superintendent will
select a hearing officer and will issue a written Notice of Opportunity for
Hearing, which will be served upon the local school board and the charter
holder.
A) The Notice of Opportunity for
Hearing must include a copy of the appeal and the electronic or mailing address
to which the recipient of the Notice must send the request for
hearing.
B) A request for hearing
must be submitted to the State Superintendent within 10 days after receipt of
the Notice of Opportunity for Hearing.
2) If no hearing is requested in accordance
with this subsection (c), the hearing officer shall issue an order finding that
no hearing has been requested and that a proposed order will be generated in
accordance with subsection (d)(3).
3) No later than 10 days following the
receipt of a request for a hearing, the hearing officer must issue to the
parties a Notice of Hearing. The Notice of Hearing must include the date, time,
and location of the hearing, with the hearing convened and conducted no later
than 45 days after receipt of a timely filed appeal under subsection (a),
unless otherwise agreed to by all parties to the matter. The hearing must be
conducted at either the State Board of Education's Springfield office or
Chicago office, unless the State Superintendent, local school board, and
charter holder all agree on an alternative location. No less than 48 hours
before the hearing, the Notice of Hearing must be posted on the State Board's
website and at the principal office holding the meeting.
4) A local school board may submit to the
State Superintendent a formal response to the appeal.
A) The response must be submitted
electronically to the State Superintendent at charterappeals@isbe.net, with a
copy sent by certified mail or electronic mail to the charter holder.
B) The response must address the reasons for
the local school board's decision to revoke or not renew the charter of the
charter holder, to the extent not already addressed in the local school board's
final report submitted under Section
650.30
of this Part. In accordance with Section 27A-9(c) of the School Code,
no local school board may arbitrarily or capriciously revoke or not
renew a charter. The response must also detail how the local school
board will ensure that all students who are currently enrolled in the charter
school will be offered placement in a higher performing school, as
defined in the State's Every Student Succeeds Act accountability plan.
If the local school board is unable to offer all students placement in a higher
performing school, the response must detail, by clear and convincing
evidence, that factors unrelated to the charter school's accountability
designation outweigh the charter school's academic
performance.
C) If the
hearing officer receives this response before the date of the hearing, he or
she must consider it as part of his or her proposed order under subsection
(d)(2).
5) The following
shall be the order of proceedings for all hearings concerning a local school
board's decision to revoke or not renew a charter, subject to modification by
the hearing officer for good cause:
A) Oral
presentation by the charter holder of up to 45 minutes to address the reasons
why the decision of the local school board should be overturned. The charter
holder may cede any part of its time to any member of the public who wishes to
speak on the charter holder's behalf.
B) Oral presentation by the local school
board or boards of up to 45 minutes each to address the reasons why a local
school board's decision was proper under Article 27A of the School Code. The
local board may cede any part of its time to any member of the public who
wishes to speak on the local board's behalf.
C) Questions to the charter holder to clarify
any issues or to address any deficiencies noted by State Board personnel or
independent evaluators through the documentary review conducted under
subsection (b).
D) Questions to the
local school board to clarify any issues or to address any deficiencies noted
by State Board personnel or independent evaluators through the documentary
review conducted under subsection (b).
6) A hearing conducted under this subsection
(c) must be open to the public.
d) Proposed Orders
1) In reviewing appeals, the State Board will
consider whether the charter school subject to closure is in compliance
with Article 27A of the Code and is in the best interests of the students the
charter school is designed to serve. (Section 27A-9(e) of the
Code)
2) No later than 14 days
after the close of a hearing, the hearing officer shall issue proposed findings
of fact and conclusions of law and make recommendations by way of a proposed
order that complies with Section 10-45 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure
Act [5 ILCS 100] (IAPA). These recommendations must be made upon consideration
of the record as a whole or any portion of the record as may be supported by
competent, material, and substantial evidence. After the hearing officer issues
his or her proposed order to the State Superintendent, the State Superintendent
will review the record and the hearing officer's findings of fact, conclusions
of law, and recommendations and may accept, reject, or modify the hearing
officer's recommendation.
3) If no
hearing is conducted under this Section, the State Superintendent will review
any appeal materials submitted by the parties and any additional analysis
conducted by State Board personnel or independent evaluators under subsection
(b), and will make a recommendation, by way of a proposed order that complies
with IAPA Section 10-45.
4) The
State Superintendent will forward a copy of the proposed findings of fact,
conclusions of law, and recommendations to both the charter holder and the
local school board or boards.
e) Final Decision
1) The State Superintendent will submit his
or her findings and recommendation, together with any exceptions or briefs, to
the State Board for a final decision.
2) A copy of the final decision will be sent
by certified mail to each party no later than 60 days after receipt of the
appeal, after receipt of any additional information requested under subsection
(b), after the date of the hearing conducted under this Section, or after
receipt of any exceptions or briefs filed in accordance with IAPA Section
10-45, whichever occurs last. The State Board's failure to strictly comply to
the time constraints under this subsection (e)(2) does not invalidate the State
Board's final decision.
3) The
decision of the State Board is final unless appealed under the Administrative
Review Law [735 ILCS 5 /Art. III], as provided in Section 27A-9(e) of the
Code.
f) Any appeals
validly-filed with the State Charter School Commission under Section 27A-9(e)
of the Code that are still pending on June 30, 2020 will be determined by the
State Board in accordance with this Section. The State Superintendent may
extend the time for review as necessary for thorough review, but in no case may
the extension exceed the time that would have been available had the appeal
been submitted to the State Board on July 1, 2020.