§ 34-43.1 — (A) Limitation of noninstructional costs

Illinois § 34-43.1

• Jurisdiction: Illinois
• Topic: EDUCATION
• Ch. 105: SCHOOLS
• Act 105 ILCS 5/: School Code.
• Art.: Article 34 - Cities Of Over 500,000 Inhabitants - Board Of Education

Text

It is the purpose of this Section to establish for the Board of Education and the general superintendent of schools requirements and standards which maximize the proportion of school district resources in direct support of educational, program, and building maintenance and safety services for the pupils of the district, and which correspondingly minimize the amount and proportion of such resources associated with centralized administration, administrative support services, and other noninstructional services. The Board of Education shall undertake budgetary and expenditure control actions which limit the administrative expenditures of the Board of Education to levels, as provided for in this Section, which represent an average of the administrative expenses of all school districts in this State not subject to Article 34. (B) Certification of expenses by the State Superintendent of Education. The State Superintendent of Education shall annually certify, on or before May 1, to the Board of Education, for the applicable school year, the following information: (1) the annual expenditures of all school districts of the State not subject to Article 34 properly attributable to expenditure functions defined by the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education as: 2210 (Improvement of Instructional Services); 2300 (Support Services - General Administration) excluding, however, 2320 (Executive Administrative Services); 2490 (Other Support Services - School Administration); 2500 (Support Services - Business); 2600 (Support Services - Central); (2) the total annual expenditures of all school districts not subject to Article 34 attributable to the Education Fund, the Operations, Building and Maintenance Fund, the Transportation Fund and the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund of the several districts, as defined by the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education; and (3) a ratio, to be called the statewide average of administrative expenditures, derived by dividing the expenditures certified pursuant to paragraph (B)(1) by the expenditures certified pursuant to paragraph (B)(2). For purposes of the annual certification of expenditures and ratios required by this Section, the "applicable year" of certification shall initially be the 1986-87 school year and, in sequent years, each succeeding school year. The State Superintendent of Education shall consult with the Board of Education to ascertain whether particular expenditure items allocable to the administrative functions enumerated in paragraph (B)(1) are appropriately or necessarily higher in the applicable school district than in the rest of the State due to noncomparable factors. The State Superintendent shall also review the relevant cost proportions in other large urban school districts. The State Superintendent shall also review the expenditure categories in paragraph (B)(1) to ascertain whether they contain school-level expenses. If he or she finds that adjustments to the formula are appropriate or necessary to establish a more fair and comparable standard for administrative cost for the Board of Education or to exclude school-level expenses, the State Superintendent shall recommend to the Board of Education adjusting certain costs in determining the budget and expenditure items properly attributable to the functions or otherwise adjust the formula. (C) Administrative expenditure limitations. The annual budget of the Board of Education, as adopted and implemented, and the related annual expenditures for the school year, shall reflect a limitation on administrative outlays as required by the following provisions, taking into account any adjustments established by the State Superintendent of Education: (1) the budget and expenditures of the Board of Education shall reflect a ratio of administrative expenditures to total expenditures equal to or less than the statewide average of administrative expenditures certified by the State Superintendent of Education for the applicable year pursuant to paragraph (B)(3); (2) if for any school year the budget of the Board of Education reflects a ratio of administrative expenditures to total expenditures which exceeds the applicable statewide average, the Board of Education shall reduce expenditure items allocable to the administrative functions enumerated in paragraph (B)(1) such that the Board of Education's ratio of administrative expenditures to total expenditures is equal to or less than the applicable statewide average ratio. For purposes of this Section, the ratio of administrative expenditures to the total expenditures of the Board of Education, as applied to the budget of the Board of Education, shall mean: the budgeted expenditure items of the Board of Education properly attributable to the expenditure functions identified in paragraph (B)(1) divided by the total budgeted expenditures of the Board of Education properly attributable to the Board of Education funds corresponding to those funds identified in paragraph (B)(2), exclusive of any monies budgeted for payment to the Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement System, attributable to payments due from the General Funds of the State of Illinois. The annual expenditure of the Board of Education for 2320 shall be no greater than the 2320 expenditure for the immediately preceding school year or the 1988-89 school year, whichever is less. This annual expenditure limitation may be adjusted in each year in an amount not to exceed any change effective during the applicable school year in salary to be paid under the collective bargaining agreement with instructional personnel to which the Board is a party and in benefit costs either required by law or such collective bargaining agreement. (D) Cost control measures. In undertaking actions to control or reduce expenditure items necessitated by the administrative expenditure limitations of this Section, the Board of Education shall give priority consideration to reductions or cost controls with the least effect upon direct services to students or instructional services for pupils, and upon the safety and well-being of pupils, and, as applicable, with the particular costs or functions to which the Board of Education is higher than the statewide average. For purposes of assuring that the cost control priorities of this subsection (D) are met, the State Superintendent of Education shall, with the assistance of the Board of Education, review the cost allocation practices of the Board of Education. No position closed shall be reopened using State or federal categorical funds. (E) Report of Audited Information. The Board of Education shall file with the State Board of Education the Annual Financial Report and its audit, as required by the rules of the State Board of Education. Such reports shall be filed no later than February 15 following the end of the school year of the Board of Education. As part of the required Annual Financial Report, the Board of Education shall provide a detailed accounting of the central level, district, bureau and department costs and personnel included within expenditure functions included in paragraph (B)(1). The nature and detail of the reporting required for these functions shall be prescribed by the State Board of Education in rules and regulations. A copy of this detailed accounting shall also be provided annually to the public. This report shall contain a reconciliation to the board of education's adopted budget for that fiscal year, specifically delineating administrative functions. If the information required under this Section is not provided by the Board of Education in a timely manner, or is initially or subsequently determined by the State Superintendent of Education to be incomplete or inaccurate, the State Superintendent shall, in writing, notify the Board of Education of reporting deficiencies. The Board of Education shall, within 60 days of such notice, address the reporting deficiencies identified. If the State Superintendent of Education does not receive satisfactory response to these reporting deficiencies within 60 days, the next payment of evidence-based funding due the Board of Education under Section 18-8.15 and all subsequent payments shall be withheld by the State Superintendent of Education until the enumerated deficiencies have been addressed. Utilizing the Annual Financial Report, the State Superintendent of Education shall certify annually on or before May 1 the Board of Education's ratio of administrative expenditures to total expenditures. Such certification shall indicate the extent to which the administrative expenditure ratio of the Board of Education conformed to the limitations required in subsection (C) of this Section, taking into account any adjustments of the limitations which may have been recommended by the State Superintendent of Education to the Board of Education. In deriving the administrative expenditure ratio of the Chicago Board of Education, the State Superintendent of Education shall utilize the definition of this ratio prescribed in subsection (C) of this Section, except that the actual expenditures of the Board of Education shall be substituted for budgeted expenditure items.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-894, eff. 5-20-22.)