Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-0600
Illinois General Assembly

Previous General Assemblies

Public Act 094-0600


 

Public Act 0600 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


 


 
Public Act 094-0600
 
HB2693 Enrolled LRB094 10684 RAS 41062 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the School
Safety Drill Act.
 
    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
    "First responder" means and includes all fire departments
and districts, law enforcement agencies and officials,
emergency medical responders, and emergency management
officials involved in the execution and documentation of the
drills administered under this Act.
    "School" means a public or private facility that offers
elementary or secondary education to students under the age of
21. As used in this definition, "public facility" means a
facility operated by the State or by a unit of local
government. As used in this definition, "private facility"
means any non-profit, non-home-based, non-public elementary or
secondary school that is in compliance with Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and attendance at which satisfies the
requirements of Section 26-1 of the School Code. While more
than one school may be housed in a facility, for purposes of
this Act, the facility shall be considered a school. When a
school has more than one location, for purposes of this Act,
each different location shall be considered its own school.
    "School safety drill" means a pre-planned exercise
conducted by a school in accordance with the drills and
requirements set forth in this Act.
 
    Section 10. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to
establish minimum requirements and standards for schools to
follow when conducting school safety drills and reviewing
school emergency and crisis response plans and to encourage
schools and first responders to work together for the safety of
children. Communities and schools may exceed these
requirements and standards.
 
    Section 15. Types of drills. Under this Act, the following
school safety drills shall be instituted by all schools in this
State:
        (1) School evacuation drills, which shall address and
    prepare students and school personnel for situations that
    occur when conditions outside of a school building are
    safer than inside a school building. Evacuation incidents
    are based on the needs of particular communities and may
    include without limitation the following:
            (A) fire;
            (B) suspicious items;
            (C) incidents involving hazardous materials,
        including, but not limited to, chemical, incendiary,
        and explosives; and
            (D) bomb threats.
        (2) Bus evacuation drills, which shall address and
    prepare students and school personnel for situations that
    occur when conditions outside of a bus are safer than
    inside the bus. Evacuation incidents are based on the needs
    of particular communities and may include without
    limitation the following:
            (A) fire;
            (B) suspicious items; and
            (C) incidents involving hazardous materials,
        including, but not limited to, chemical, incendiary,
        and explosives.
        (3) Law enforcement drills, which shall address and
    prepare students and school personnel for situations
    calling for the involvement of law enforcement when
    conditions inside a school building are safer than outside
    of a school building and it is necessary to protect
    building occupants from potential dangers in a school
    building. Law enforcement drills may involve situations
    that call for the reverse-evacuation or the lock-down of a
    school building. Evacuations incidents may include without
    limitation the following:
            (A) shooting incidents;
            (B) bomb threats;
            (C) suspicious persons; and
            (D) incidents involving hazardous materials.
        (4) Severe weather and shelter-in-place drills, which
    shall address and prepare students for situations
    involving severe weather emergencies or the release of
    external gas or chemicals. Severe weather and
    shelter-in-place incidents shall be based on the needs and
    environment of particular communities and may include
    without limitation the following:
            (A) severe weather, including, but not limited to,
        shear winds, lightning, and earthquakes;
            (B) incidents involving hazardous materials,
        including, but not limited to, chemical, incendiary,
        and explosives; and
            (C) incidents involving weapons of mass
        destruction, including, but not limited to,
        biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons.
 
    Section 20. Number of drills; incidents covered; local
authority participation.
    (a) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
minimum of 3 school evacuation drills to address and prepare
students and school personnel for fire incidents. These drills
must meet all of the following criteria:
        (1) One of the 3 school evacuation drills shall require
    the participation of the appropriate local fire department
    or district.
            (A) Each local fire department or fire district
        must contact the appropriate school administrator or
        his or her designee no later than September 1 of each
        year in order to arrange for the participation of the
        department or district in the school evacuation drill.
            (B) Each school administrator or his or her
        designee must contact the responding local fire
        official no later than September 15 of each year and
        propose to the local fire official 4 dates within the
        month of October, during at least 2 different weeks of
        October, on which the drill shall occur. The fire
        official may choose any of the 4 available dates, and
        if he or she does so, the drill shall occur on that
        date.
            (C) The school administrator or his or her designee
        and the local fire official may also, by mutual
        agreement, set any other date for the drill, including
        a date outside of the month of October.
            (D) If the fire official does not select one of the
        4 offered dates in October or set another date by
        mutual agreement, the requirement that the school
        include the local fire service in one of its mandatory
        school evacuation drills shall be waived. Schools,
        however, shall continue to be strongly encouraged to
        include the fire service in a school evacuation drill
        at a mutually agreed-upon time.
            (E) Upon the participation of the local fire
        service, the appropriate local fire official shall
        certify that the school evacuation drill was
        conducted.
            (F) When scheduling the school evacuation drill,
        the school administrator or his or her designee and the
        local fire department or fire district may, by mutual
        agreement on or before September 14, choose to waive
        the provisions of subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) of
        this paragraph (1).
        Additional school evacuation drills for fire incidents
    may involve the participation of the appropriate local fire
    department or district.
        (2) Schools may conduct additional school evacuation
    drills to account for other evacuation incidents,
    including without limitation suspicious items or bomb
    threats.
        (3) All drills shall be conducted at each school
    building that houses school children.
    (b) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
minimum of one bus evacuation drill. This drill shall be
accounted for in the curriculum in all public schools and in
all other educational institutions in this State that are
supported or maintained, in whole or in part, by public funds
and that provide instruction in any of the grades kindergarten
through 12. This curriculum shall include instruction in safe
bus riding practices for all students. Schools may conduct
additional bus evacuation drills. All drills shall be conducted
at each school building that houses school children.
    (c) During each academic year, schools may conduct strongly
encouraged law enforcement drills to address and prepare
students and school personnel for incidents, including without
limitation reverse evacuations, lock-downs, shootings, bomb
threats, or hazardous materials.
        (1) If conducted, a law enforcement drill must meet all
    of the following criteria:
            (A) During each calendar year, the appropriate
        local law enforcement agency shall contact the
        appropriate school administrator to request to
        participate in a law enforcement drill and may actively
        participate on-site in a drill.
            (B) Upon the participation of a local law
        enforcement agency in a law enforcement drill, the
        appropriate local law enforcement official shall
        certify that the law enforcement drill was conducted.
        (2) Schools may conduct additional law enforcement
    drills at their discretion.
        (3) All drills shall be conducted at each school
    building that houses school children.
    (d) During each academic year, schools must conduct a
minimum of one severe weather and shelter-in-place drill to
address and prepare students and school personnel for possible
tornado incidents and may conduct additional severe weather and
shelter-in-place drills to account for other incidents,
including without limitation earthquakes or hazardous
materials. All drills shall be conducted at each school
building that houses school children.
 
    Section 25. Annual review.
    (a) Each public school district, through its school board
or the board's designee, shall conduct a minimum of one annual
meeting at which it will review each school building's
emergency and crisis response plans, protocols, and procedures
and each building's compliance with the school safety drill
programs. The purpose of this annual review shall be to review
and update the emergency and crisis response plans, protocols,
and procedures and the school safety drill programs of the
district and each of its school buildings.
    (b) Each school board or the board's designee is required
to participate in the annual review and to invite each of the
following parties to the annual review and provide each party
with a minimum of 30-days' notice before the date of the annual
review:
        (1) The principal of each school within the school
    district or his or her official designee.
        (2) Representatives from any other education-related
    organization or association deemed appropriate by the
    school district.
        (3) Representatives from all local first responder
    organizations to participate, advise, and consult in the
    review process, including, but not limited to:
            (A) the appropriate local fire department or
        district;
            (B) the appropriate local law enforcement agency;
            (C) the appropriate local emergency medical
        services agency if the agency is a separate, local
        first responder unit; and
            (D) any other member of the first responder or
        emergency management community that has contacted the
        district superintendent or his or her designee during
        the past year to request involvement in a school's
        emergency planning or drill process.
        (4) The school board or its designee may also choose to
    invite to the annual review any other persons whom it
    believes will aid in the review process, including, but not
    limited to, any members of any other education-related
    organization or the first responder or emergency
    management community.
    (c) Upon the conclusion of the annual review, the school
board or the board's designee shall sign a one page report,
which may be in either a check-off format or a narrative
format, that does the following:
        (1) summarizes the review's recommended changes to the
    existing school safety plans and drill plans;
        (2) lists the parties that participated in the annual
    review, and includes the annual review's attendance
    record;
        (3) certifies that an effective review of the emergency
    and crisis response plans, protocols, and procedures and
    the school safety drill programs of the district and each
    of its school buildings has occurred;
        (4) states that the school district will implement
    those plans, protocols, procedures, and programs, during
    the academic year; and
        (5) includes the authorization of the school board or
    the board's designee.
    (d) The school board or its designee shall send a copy of
the report to each party that participates in the annual review
process and to the appropriate regional superintendent of
schools. If any of the participating parties have comments on
the certification document, those parties shall submit their
comments in writing to the appropriate regional
superintendent. The regional superintendent shall maintain a
record of these comments. The certification document may be in
a check-off format or narrative format, at the discretion of
the district superintendent.
    (e) The review must occur at least once during the calendar
year, at a specific time chosen at the school district
superintendent's discretion.
 
    Section 30. Reporting; duties of the State Fire Marshal,
regional superintendents, and the State Board of Education.
    (a) The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall accept,
directly, one-page annual review compliance reports from
private schools. The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall
create a mechanism for the reporting and filing of these
reports and give notice to the private schools as to how this
reporting shall be made. The Office of the State Fire Marshal
shall make these records available directly to the State Board
of Education.
    (b) Each regional superintendent of schools shall provide
an annual school safety review compliance report to the State
Board of Education as a part of its regular annual report to
the State Board, which shall set forth those school districts
that have successfully completed their annual review and those
school districts that have failed to complete their annual
review. These reports shall be delivered to the State Board of
Education on or before October 1 of each year.
    (c) The State Board of Education shall file and maintain
records of the annual school safety review compliance reports
received from each of the regional superintendents of schools.
The State Board shall be responsible for ensuring access to the
records by the Office of the State Fire Marshal and other State
agencies. The State Board shall provide an annual report to the
Office of the Governor and the Office of the State Fire Marshal
concerning the compliance of school districts with the annual
school safety review requirement.
 
    Section 35. Reporting and recording mechanism for fires.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal, in conjunction with the
State Board of Education, shall create a reporting and
recording mechanism concerning fires that occur in schools
located in this State. The recording system shall be based in
the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
 
    Section 40. Common rules. The State Board of Education and
the Office of the State Fire Marshal shall cooperate together
and coordinate with all appropriate education, first
responder, and emergency management officials to (i) develop
and implement one common set of rules to be administered under
this Act and (ii) develop clear and definitive guidelines to
school districts, private schools, and first responders as to
how to develop school emergency and crisis response plans, how
to develop school emergency and crisis response plans, how to
exercise and drill based on such plans, and how to incorporate
lessons learned from these exercises and drills into school
emergency and crisis response plans.
 
    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.129 rep.)
    (105 ILCS 5/10-20.22 rep.)
    (105 ILCS 5/10-20.23 rep.)
    (105 ILCS 5/10-20.32 rep.)
    (105 ILCS 5/27-26 rep.)
    (105 ILCS 5/34-18.19 rep.)
    Section 910. The School Code is amended by repealing
Sections 2-3.129, 10-20.22, 10-20.23, 10-20.32, 27-26, and
34-18.19.
 
    (105 ILCS 120/Act rep.)
    Section 915. The Fire Drill Act is repealed.
 
    Section 990. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.29 as follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 805/8.29 new)
    Sec. 8.29. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the
implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of
the 94th General Assembly.
 
    Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect June 1,
2005.

Effective Date: 8/16/2005