Illinois 2023-2024 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HB4443 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version Filed 01/12/2024

                            103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4443 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 105 ILCS 128/20 Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Provides that a law enforcement lockdown drill must not be conducted on the day of or within 2 days before a school-administered standardized test. LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b   A BILL FOR 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4443 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:  105 ILCS 128/20 105 ILCS 128/20  Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Provides that a law enforcement lockdown drill must not be conducted on the day of or within 2 days before a school-administered standardized test.  LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b     LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b   A BILL FOR
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4443 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 128/20 105 ILCS 128/20
105 ILCS 128/20
Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Provides that a law enforcement lockdown drill must not be conducted on the day of or within 2 days before a school-administered standardized test.
LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b     LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b
    LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b
A BILL FOR
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  HB4443  LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b
1  AN ACT concerning education.
2  Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3  represented in the General Assembly:
4  Section 5. The School Safety Drill Act is amended by
5  changing Section 20 as follows:
6  (105 ILCS 128/20)
7  (Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 103-197)
8  Sec. 20. Number of drills; incidents covered; local
9  authority participation.
10  (a) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
11  minimum of 3 school evacuation drills to address and prepare
12  students and school personnel for fire incidents. These drills
13  must meet all of the following criteria:
14  (1) One of the 3 school evacuation drills shall
15  require the participation of the appropriate local fire
16  department or district.
17  (A) Each local fire department or fire district
18  must contact the appropriate school administrator or
19  his or her designee no later than September 1 of each
20  year in order to arrange for the participation of the
21  department or district in the school evacuation drill.
22  (B) Each school administrator or his or her
23  designee must contact the responding local fire

 

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4443 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 128/20 105 ILCS 128/20
105 ILCS 128/20
Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Provides that a law enforcement lockdown drill must not be conducted on the day of or within 2 days before a school-administered standardized test.
LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b     LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b
    LRB103 33377 RJT 63189 b
A BILL FOR

 

 

105 ILCS 128/20



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1  official no later than September 15 of each year and
2  propose to the local fire official 4 dates within the
3  month of October, during at least 2 different weeks of
4  October, on which the drill shall occur. The fire
5  official may choose any of the 4 available dates, and
6  if he or she does so, the drill shall occur on that
7  date.
8  (C) The school administrator or his or her
9  designee and the local fire official may also, by
10  mutual agreement, set any other date for the drill,
11  including a date outside of the month of October.
12  (D) If the fire official does not select one of the
13  4 offered dates in October or set another date by
14  mutual agreement, the requirement that the school
15  include the local fire service in one of its mandatory
16  school evacuation drills shall be waived. Schools,
17  however, shall continue to be strongly encouraged to
18  include the fire service in a school evacuation drill
19  at a mutually agreed-upon time.
20  (E) Upon the participation of the local fire
21  service, the appropriate local fire official shall
22  certify that the school evacuation drill was
23  conducted.
24  (F) When scheduling the school evacuation drill,
25  the school administrator or his or her designee and
26  the local fire department or fire district may, by

 

 

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1  mutual agreement on or before September 14, choose to
2  waive the provisions of subparagraphs (B), (C), and
3  (D) of this paragraph (1).
4  Additional school evacuation drills for fire incidents
5  may involve the participation of the appropriate local
6  fire department or district.
7  (2) Schools may conduct additional school evacuation
8  drills to account for other evacuation incidents,
9  including without limitation suspicious items or bomb
10  threats.
11  (3) All drills shall be conducted at each school
12  building that houses school children.
13  (b) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
14  minimum of one bus evacuation drill. This drill shall be
15  accounted for in the curriculum in all public schools and in
16  all other educational institutions in this State that are
17  supported or maintained, in whole or in part, by public funds
18  and that provide instruction in any of the grades kindergarten
19  through 12. This curriculum shall include instruction in safe
20  bus riding practices for all students. Schools may conduct
21  additional bus evacuation drills. All drills shall be
22  conducted at each school building that houses school children.
23  (b-5) Notwithstanding the minimum requirements established
24  by this Act, private schools that do not utilize a bus to
25  transport students for any purpose are exempt from subsection
26  (b) of this Section, provided that the chief school

 

 

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1  administrator of the private school provides written assurance
2  to the State Board of Education that the private school does
3  not plan to utilize a bus to transport students for any purpose
4  during the current academic year. The assurance must be made
5  on a form supplied by the State Board of Education and filed no
6  later than October 15. If a private school utilizes a bus to
7  transport students for any purpose during an academic year
8  when an assurance pursuant to this subsection (b-5) has been
9  filed with the State Board of Education, the private school
10  shall immediately notify the State Board of Education and
11  comply with subsection (b) of this Section no later than 30
12  calendar days after utilization of the bus to transport
13  students, except that, at the discretion of the private
14  school, students chosen for participation in the bus
15  evacuation drill need include only the subgroup of students
16  that are utilizing bus transportation.
17  (c) During each academic year, schools must conduct a law
18  enforcement lockdown drill to address a school shooting
19  incident. No later than 90 days after the first day of each
20  school year, schools must conduct at least one law enforcement
21  lockdown drill that addresses an active threat or an active
22  shooter within a school building. Such drills must be
23  conducted according to the school district's or private
24  school's emergency and crisis response plans, protocols, and
25  procedures to evaluate the preparedness of school personnel
26  and students. Law enforcement lockdown drills must be

 

 

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1  conducted on days and times when students are normally present
2  in the school building and must involve participation from all
3  school personnel and students present at school at the time of
4  the lockdown drill, except that administrators or school
5  support personnel in their discretion may exempt students from
6  the lockdown drill. The appropriate local law enforcement
7  agency shall observe the administration of the lockdown drill.
8  All drills must be conducted at each school building that
9  houses school children.
10  (1) A law enforcement lockdown drill must meet all of
11  the following criteria:
12  (A) During each calendar year, the appropriate
13  local law enforcement agency shall contact the
14  appropriate school administrator to request to
15  participate in a law enforcement lockdown drill. The
16  school administrator and local law enforcement agency
17  shall set, by mutual agreement, a date for the
18  lockdown drill.
19  (A-5) The lockdown drill shall require the on-site
20  participation of the local law enforcement agency. If
21  a mutually agreeable date cannot be reached between
22  the school administrator and the appropriate local law
23  enforcement agency, then the school shall still hold
24  the lockdown drill without participation from the
25  agency.
26  (B) Upon the participation of a local law

 

 

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1  enforcement agency in a law enforcement lockdown
2  drill, the appropriate local law enforcement official
3  shall certify that the law enforcement lockdown drill
4  was conducted and notify the school in a timely manner
5  of any deficiencies noted during the drill.
6  (C) The lockdown drill must not include
7  simulations that mimic an actual school shooting
8  incident or active shooter event.
9  (D) All lockdown drills must be announced in
10  advance to all school personnel and students prior to
11  the commencement of the drill.
12  (E) Lockdown drill content must be age appropriate
13  and developmentally appropriate.
14  (F) Lockdown drills must include and involve
15  school personnel, including school-based mental health
16  professionals.
17  (G) Lockdown drills must include trauma-informed
18  approaches to address the concerns and well-being of
19  students and school personnel.
20  (H) The lockdown drill must not be conducted on
21  the day of or within 2 days before a
22  school-administered standardized test.
23  (2) Schools may conduct additional law enforcement
24  drills at their discretion.
25  (3) (Blank).
26  (4) School administrators and school support personnel

 

 

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1  may, in their discretion, exempt a student or students
2  from participating in a walk-through lockdown drill.
3  (5) Schools must provide sufficient information and
4  notification to parents and guardians in advance of any
5  walk-through lockdown drill that involves the
6  participation of students. Schools must also provide to
7  parents and guardians an opportunity to exempt their child
8  for any reason from participating in the walk-through
9  lockdown drill.
10  (6) Schools must provide alternative safety education
11  and instruction related to an active threat or active
12  shooter event to students who do not participate in a
13  walk-through lockdown drill to provide them with essential
14  information, training, and instruction through less
15  sensorial safety training methods.
16  (7) During the drill, students must be allowed to ask
17  questions related to the drill.
18  (8) Law enforcement may choose to run an active
19  shooter simulation, including simulated gun fire drills,
20  but only on school days when students are not present.
21  Parental notification is not required for drills conducted
22  pursuant to this paragraph (8) if students are not
23  required to be present.
24  (d) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
25  minimum of one severe weather and shelter-in-place drill to
26  address and prepare students and school personnel for possible

 

 

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1  tornado incidents and may conduct additional severe weather
2  and shelter-in-place drills to account for other incidents,
3  including without limitation earthquakes or hazardous
4  materials. All drills shall be conducted at each school
5  building that houses school children.
6  (Source: P.A. 102-395, eff. 8-16-21.)
7  (Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 103-197)
8  Sec. 20. Number of drills; incidents covered; local
9  authority participation.
10  (a) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
11  minimum of 3 school evacuation drills to address and prepare
12  students and school personnel for fire incidents. These drills
13  must meet all of the following criteria:
14  (1) One of the 3 school evacuation drills shall
15  require the participation of the appropriate local fire
16  department or district.
17  (A) Each local fire department or fire district
18  must contact the appropriate school administrator or
19  his or her designee no later than September 1 of each
20  year in order to arrange for the participation of the
21  department or district in the school evacuation drill.
22  (B) Each school administrator or his or her
23  designee must contact the responding local fire
24  official no later than September 15 of each year and
25  propose to the local fire official 4 dates within the

 

 

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1  month of October, during at least 2 different weeks of
2  October, on which the drill shall occur. The fire
3  official may choose any of the 4 available dates, and
4  if he or she does so, the drill shall occur on that
5  date.
6  (C) The school administrator or his or her
7  designee and the local fire official may also, by
8  mutual agreement, set any other date for the drill,
9  including a date outside of the month of October.
10  (D) If the fire official does not select one of the
11  4 offered dates in October or set another date by
12  mutual agreement, the requirement that the school
13  include the local fire service in one of its mandatory
14  school evacuation drills shall be waived. Schools,
15  however, shall continue to be strongly encouraged to
16  include the fire service in a school evacuation drill
17  at a mutually agreed-upon time.
18  (E) Upon the participation of the local fire
19  service, the appropriate local fire official shall
20  certify that the school evacuation drill was
21  conducted.
22  (F) When scheduling the school evacuation drill,
23  the school administrator or his or her designee and
24  the local fire department or fire district may, by
25  mutual agreement on or before September 14, choose to
26  waive the provisions of subparagraphs (B), (C), and

 

 

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1  (D) of this paragraph (1).
2  Additional school evacuation drills for fire incidents
3  may involve the participation of the appropriate local
4  fire department or district.
5  (2) Schools may conduct additional school evacuation
6  drills to account for other evacuation incidents,
7  including without limitation suspicious items or bomb
8  threats.
9  (3) All drills shall be conducted at each school
10  building that houses school children.
11  (b) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
12  minimum of one bus evacuation drill. This drill shall be
13  accounted for in the curriculum in all public schools and in
14  all other educational institutions in this State that are
15  supported or maintained, in whole or in part, by public funds
16  and that provide instruction in any of the grades kindergarten
17  through 12. This curriculum shall include instruction in safe
18  bus riding practices for all students. Schools may conduct
19  additional bus evacuation drills. All drills shall be
20  conducted at each school building that houses school children.
21  (b-5) Notwithstanding the minimum requirements established
22  by this Act, private schools that do not utilize a bus to
23  transport students for any purpose are exempt from subsection
24  (b) of this Section, provided that the chief school
25  administrator of the private school provides written assurance
26  to the State Board of Education that the private school does

 

 

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1  not plan to utilize a bus to transport students for any purpose
2  during the current academic year. The assurance must be made
3  on a form supplied by the State Board of Education and filed no
4  later than October 15. If a private school utilizes a bus to
5  transport students for any purpose during an academic year
6  when an assurance pursuant to this subsection (b-5) has been
7  filed with the State Board of Education, the private school
8  shall immediately notify the State Board of Education and
9  comply with subsection (b) of this Section no later than 30
10  calendar days after utilization of the bus to transport
11  students, except that, at the discretion of the private
12  school, students chosen for participation in the bus
13  evacuation drill need include only the subgroup of students
14  that are utilizing bus transportation.
15  (c) During each academic year, schools must conduct a law
16  enforcement lockdown drill to address a school shooting
17  incident. No later than 90 days after the first day of each
18  school year, schools must conduct at least one law enforcement
19  lockdown drill that addresses an active threat or an active
20  shooter within a school building. Such drills must be
21  conducted according to the school district's or private
22  school's emergency and crisis response plans, protocols, and
23  procedures to evaluate the preparedness of school personnel
24  and students. Law enforcement lockdown drills must be
25  conducted on days and times when students are normally present
26  in the school building and must involve participation from all

 

 

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1  school personnel and students present at school at the time of
2  the lockdown drill, except that administrators or school
3  support personnel in their discretion may exempt students from
4  the lockdown drill. The appropriate local law enforcement
5  agency shall observe the administration of the lockdown drill.
6  All drills must be conducted at each school building that
7  houses school children.
8  (1) A law enforcement lockdown drill must meet all of
9  the following criteria:
10  (A) During each calendar year, the appropriate
11  local law enforcement agency shall contact the
12  appropriate school administrator to request to
13  participate in a law enforcement lockdown drill. The
14  school administrator and local law enforcement agency
15  shall set, by mutual agreement, a date for the
16  lockdown drill.
17  (A-5) The lockdown drill shall require the on-site
18  participation of the local law enforcement agency. If
19  a mutually agreeable date cannot be reached between
20  the school administrator and the appropriate local law
21  enforcement agency, then the school shall still hold
22  the lockdown drill without participation from the
23  agency.
24  (B) Upon the participation of a local law
25  enforcement agency in a law enforcement lockdown
26  drill, the appropriate local law enforcement official

 

 

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1  shall certify that the law enforcement lockdown drill
2  was conducted and notify the school in a timely manner
3  of any deficiencies noted during the drill.
4  (C) The lockdown drill must not include
5  simulations that mimic an actual school shooting
6  incident or active shooter event.
7  (D) All lockdown drills must be announced in
8  advance to all school personnel and students prior to
9  the commencement of the drill.
10  (E) Lockdown drill content must be age appropriate
11  and developmentally appropriate.
12  (F) Lockdown drills must include and involve
13  school personnel, including school-based mental health
14  professionals.
15  (G) Lockdown drills must include trauma-informed
16  approaches to address the concerns and well-being of
17  students and school personnel.
18  (H) The lockdown drill must not be conducted on
19  the day of or within 2 days before a
20  school-administered standardized test.
21  (2) Schools may conduct additional law enforcement
22  drills at their discretion.
23  (3) (Blank).
24  (4) School administrators and school support personnel
25  may, in their discretion, exempt a student or students
26  from participating in a walk-through lockdown drill. When

 

 

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1  deciding whether to exempt a student from participating in
2  a walk-through lockdown drill, the administrator and
3  school support personnel shall include the student's
4  individualized education program team or federal Section
5  504 plan team in the decision to exempt the student from
6  participating.
7  (5) Schools must provide sufficient information and
8  notification to parents and guardians in advance of any
9  walk-through lockdown drill that involves the
10  participation of students. Schools must also provide to
11  parents and guardians an opportunity to exempt their child
12  for any reason from participating in the walk-through
13  lockdown drill.
14  (6) Schools must provide alternative safety education
15  and instruction related to an active threat or active
16  shooter event to students who do not participate in a
17  walk-through lockdown drill to provide them with essential
18  information, training, and instruction through less
19  sensorial safety training methods.
20  (7) During the drill, students must be allowed to ask
21  questions related to the drill.
22  (8) Law enforcement may choose to run an active
23  shooter simulation, including simulated gun fire drills,
24  but only on school days when students are not present.
25  Parental notification is not required for drills conducted
26  pursuant to this paragraph (8) if students are not

 

 

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1  required to be present.
2  (d) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
3  minimum of one severe weather and shelter-in-place drill to
4  address and prepare students and school personnel for possible
5  tornado incidents and may conduct additional severe weather
6  and shelter-in-place drills to account for other incidents,
7  including without limitation earthquakes or hazardous
8  materials. All drills shall be conducted at each school
9  building that houses school children.
10  (Source: P.A. 102-395, eff. 8-16-21; 103-197, eff. 1-1-24.)

 

 

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