§ 7-6 — Petition filing; notice; hearing; decision

(a) The secretary of the regional board of school trustees or his or her designee, the chief administrative officer of an educational service center under Section 7-04 of this Code or his or her designee, or the person designated by the trustees of schools of the township in accordance with subsection (a-10) of Section 7-04 of this Code, as appropriate, shall receive the filing of the petition, make the determination of validity in accordance with subsection (a) of Section 7-1 of this Section, publish the notice, conduct the hearing, and issue the final order. Upon the filing of a petition with the secretary of the regional board of school trustees under the provisions of Section 7-1 of this Code, the secretary shall cause a copy of such petition to be given to the president of the school board of each detaching or dissolving and annexing school district and shall cause a notice thereof to be published once in a newspaper having general circulation within the area of the detaching or dissolving and annexing territory described in the petition. (b) (Blank). (b-5) If a petition filed under Section 7-1 of this Code proposes to annex all the territory of a school district to another school district, the petition shall request the submission of a proposition at a regular scheduled election for the purpose of voting for or against the annexation of the territory described in the petition to the school district proposing to annex that territory. No petition filed or election held under this Article shall be null and void, invalidated, or deemed in noncompliance with the Election Code because of a failure to publish a notice with respect to the petition or referendum as required under subsection (g) of Section 28-2 of that Code for petitions that are not filed under this Article or Article 11E of this Code. (c) When a petition contains more than 10 signatures the petition shall designate a committee of 10 of the petitioners as attorney in fact for all petitioners, any 7 of whom may make binding stipulations on behalf of all petitioners as to any question with respect to the petition or hearing, and the regional board of school trustees may accept such stipulation in lieu of evidence or proof of the matter stipulated. The committee of petitioners shall have the same power to stipulate to accountings or waiver thereof between school districts; however, the regional board of school trustees may refuse to accept such stipulation. Those designated as the committee of 10 shall serve in that capacity until such time as the regional superintendent of schools or the committee of 10 determines that, because of death, resignation, transfer of residency from the territory, or failure to qualify, the office of a particular member of the committee of 10 is vacant. Upon determination that a vacancy exists, the remaining members shall appoint a petitioner to fill the designated vacancy on the committee of 10. The appointment of any new members by the committee of 10 shall be made by a simple majority vote of the remaining designated members. (d) The petition may be amended to withdraw not to exceed a total of 10% of the territory in the petition at any time prior to the hearing; provided that the petition shall after amendment comply with the requirements as to the number of signatures required on an original petition. (e) The petitioners shall pay the expenses of publishing the notice and any transcript taken at the hearing and mailing the final order; and, in case of an appeal from the decision of the regional board of school trustees or State Superintendent of Education in cases determined under subsection (l) of this Section, the appellants shall pay the cost of preparing the record for appeal. The regional superintendent of schools with whom the petition is filed may request a deposit at the time of filing to cover expenses as provided in this subsection (e). (f) The notice shall state when the petition was filed, the description of the detaching territory or name of the dissolving district, the name of the annexing district, the prayer of the petition, and the day and time on and location in which the hearing upon the petition will be held, which shall not be more than 30 nor less than 15 calendar days after the publication of notice. (g) Prior to the hearing, the secretary of the regional board of school trustees shall submit to the regional board of school trustees maps showing the districts involved and a written report of the financial and educational conditions of the districts involved and the probable effect of the proposed changes. The reports and maps submitted must be made a part of the record of the proceedings of the regional board of school trustees. A copy of the report and maps submitted must be sent by the secretary of the regional board of school trustees to the president of the school board of each detaching or dissolving and annexing school district not less than 5 days prior to the day upon which the hearing is to be held. (h) On the hearing day or on a day to which the regional board of school trustees shall continue the hearing, the regional board of school trustees shall hear the petition but may adjourn the hearing from time to time or may continue the matter for want of sufficient notice or other good cause. (h-5) Except for motions and briefs challenging the validity of a petition or otherwise challenging the jurisdiction of the regional board of school trustees to conduct a hearing on a petition and except for motions and briefs related to the type of evidence the regional board of school trustees may consider under subsection (i) of this Section, no other motions, pleadings, briefs, discovery requests, or other like documents may be filed with the regional board of school trustees or served on other parties, and the regional board of school trustees shall have no authority to consider such documents, except that if a legal issue arises during a hearing, then the regional board of school trustees may, at its discretion, request briefs to be submitted to it on that issue. (i) The regional board of school trustees shall hear evidence as to the school needs and conditions of the territory in the area within and adjacent thereto and the effect detachment will have on those needs and conditions and as to the ability of the detaching or dissolving and annexing school districts to meet the standards of recognition as prescribed by the State Board of Education, shall take into consideration the division of funds and assets that will result from the change of boundaries, and shall determine whether it is in the best interests of the schools of the area and the direct educational welfare of the pupils that such change in boundaries be granted. If non-high school territory is contained in the petition, the normal high school attendance pattern of the pupils must be taken into consideration. However, upon resolution by the regional board of school trustees, the secretary thereof shall conduct the hearing upon any boundary petition and present a transcript of such hearing to the trustees, who shall base their decision upon the transcript, maps, and information and any presentation of counsel. In the instance of a change of boundaries through detachment: (1) When considering the effect the detachment will have on the direct educational welfare of the pupils, the regional board of school trustees shall consider a comparison of the school report cards for the schools of the detaching and annexing districts and the school district report cards for the detaching and annexing districts only if there is no more than a 3% difference in the minority, low-income, and English learner student populations of the relevant schools of the districts. (2) The community of interest of the petitioners and their children and the effect detachment will have on the whole child may be considered only if the regional board of school trustees first determines that there would be a significant direct educational benefit to the petitioners' children if the change in boundaries were allowed. (3) When petitioners cite an annexing district attendance center or centers in the petition or during testimony, the regional board of school trustees may consider the difference in the distances from the detaching area to the current attendance centers and the cited annexing district attendance centers only if the difference is no less than 10 miles shorter to one of the cited annexing district attendance centers than it is to the corresponding current attendance center. (4) The regional board of school trustees may not grant a petition if doing so will increase the percentage of minority or low-income students or English learners by more than 3% at the attendance center where students in the detaching territory currently attend, provided that if the percentage of any one of those groups also decreases at that attendance center, the regional board may grant the petition upon consideration of other factors under this Section and this Article. (5) The regional board of school trustees may not consider whether changing the boundaries will increase the property values of the petitioners' property. The factors in subdivisions (1) through (5) of this subsection (i) are applicable whether or not there are children residing in the petitioning area at the time the hearing is conducted. If the regional board of school trustees grants a petition to change school district boundaries, then the annexing school district shall determine the attendance center or centers that children from the petitioning area shall attend. (j) At the hearing, any resident in any detaching, dissolving, or annexing school district or any representative of a detaching, dissolving, or annexing school district may appear in person or by an attorney in support of the petition or to object to the granting of the petition and may present evidence in support of his or her position through either oral or written testimony. (k) At the conclusion of the hearing, the regional superintendent of schools as secretary to the regional board of school trustees shall, within 30 days, enter an order either granting or denying the petition. The regional superintendent of schools shall deliver a certified copy of the order by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the petitioners or committee of petitioners, as applicable; the president of the school board of each detaching or dissolving and annexing district; any person providing testimony in support of or opposition to the petition at the hearing; and any attorney who appears for a person. The regional superintendent of schools shall also deliver a copy of the order to the regional superintendent of schools who has supervision and control, as defined in Section 3-14.2 of this Code, of the annexing district if different from the regional superintendent of schools with whom the petition was filed. The regional superintendent of schools is not required to send a copy of the regional board of school trustees' order to those attending the hearing but not participating. The final order shall be in writing and include findings of fact, conclusions of law, and the decision to grant or deny the petition. (l) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section, if within 12 months after a petition is submitted under the provisions of Section 7-1 of this Code the petition is not approved or denied by the regional board of school trustees and the order approving or denying that petition entered and a copy thereof served as provided in this Section, petitioners may submit a copy of the petition directly to the State Superintendent of Education for approval or denial. The copy of the petition as so submitted shall be accompanied by a record of all proceedings had with respect to the petition up to the time the copy of the petition is submitted to the State Superintendent of Education (including a copy of any notice given or published, any certificate or other proof of publication, copies of any maps or written report of the financial and educational conditions of the school districts affected if furnished by the secretary of the regional board of school trustees, copies of any amendments to the petition and stipulations made, accepted or refused, a transcript of any hearing or part of a hearing held, continued or adjourned on the petition, and any orders entered with respect to the petition or any hearing held thereon). The petitioners submitting the petition and record of proceedings to the State Superintendent of Education shall give written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the regional board of school trustees and to the secretary of that board and to the detaching or dissolving and annexing school districts that the petition has been submitted to the State Superintendent of Education for approval or denial and shall furnish a copy of the notice so given to the State Superintendent of Education. The cost of assembling the record of proceedings for submission to the State Superintendent of Education shall be the responsibility of the petitioners that submit the petition and record of proceedings to the State Superintendent of Education. When a petition is submitted to the State Superintendent of Education in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph: (1) The regional board of school trustees loses all jurisdiction over the petition and shall have no further authority to hear, approve, deny or otherwise act with respect to the petition. (2) All jurisdiction over the petition and the right and duty to hear, approve, deny or otherwise act with respect to the petition is transferred to and shall be assumed and exercised by the State Superintendent of Education. (3) The State Superintendent of Education shall not be required to repeat any proceedings that were conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Section prior to the time jurisdiction over the petition is transferred to him, but the State Superintendent of Education shall be required to give and publish any notices and hold or complete any hearings that were not given, held or completed by the regional board of school trustees or its secretary as required by this Section prior to the time jurisdiction over the petition is transferred to the State Superintendent of Education. (4) If so directed by the State Superintendent of Education, the regional superintendent of schools shall submit to the State Superintendent of Education and to such school boards as the State Superintendent of Education shall prescribe accurate maps and a written report of the financial and educational conditions of the districts affected and the probable effect of the proposed boundary changes. (5) The State Superintendent is authorized to conduct further hearings, or appoint a hearing officer to conduct further hearings, on the petition even though a hearing thereon was held as provided in this Section prior to the time jurisdiction over the petition is transferred to the State Superintendent of Education. (6) The State Superintendent of Education or the hearing officer shall hear evidence and approve or deny the petition and shall enter an order to that effect and deliver and serve the same as required in other cases to be done by the regional board of school trustees and the regional superintendent of schools as secretary of that board. (m) (Blank). (n) Within 10 days after service of a copy of the order granting or denying the petition, any person so served may petition for a rehearing. The petition for rehearing shall specify the reason for the request. The regional board of school trustees shall first determine whether there is sufficient cause for a rehearing. If so determined, then the regional board of school trustees shall allow the petition to be heard anew in its entirety in accordance with all procedures in this Article. The party requesting a rehearing shall pay the expenses of publishing the notice and of any transcript taken at the hearing. The filing of a petition for rehearing shall operate as a stay of enforcement until the regional board of school trustees or State Superintendent of Education in cases determined under subsection (l) of this Section enters the final order on such petition for rehearing. (o) If a petition is required under the provisions of subsection (b-5) of this Section to request submission of a proposition at a regular scheduled election for the purpose of voting for or against the annexation of the territory described in the petition to the school district proposing to annex that territory, and if the petition is granted or approved by the regional board of school trustees or by the State Superintendent of Education, the proposition shall be placed on the ballot at the next regular scheduled election.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 99-475, eff. 1-1-16; 100-374, eff. 8-25-17.)