Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB0071

Sen. Laura M. Murphy

Filed: 3/14/2025

10400SB0071sam002 LRB104 07353 LNS 23948 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 71

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 71 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The School Safety Drill Act is amended by changing Sections 5, 10, 15, and 25 and by adding Section 65 as follows:

(105 ILCS 128/5)

Sec. 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Emergency Services and Disaster Agency" or "ESDA" means the agency by this name, by the name Emergency Management Agency, or by any other name that is established by ordinance within a political subdivision to coordinate the emergency management program within that political subdivision and with private organizations, other political subdivisions, and the State and federal governments.

"First responder" means and includes all fire departments and districts, law enforcement agencies and officials, emergency medical responders, emergency medical dispatchers, and emergency management officials involved in the execution and documentation of the drills administered under this Act.

"Hazardous substance" has the meaning given to that term in Section 3.215 of the Environmental Protection Act, except that, as used in this Act, "hazardous substance" also includes radioactive materials, hydrocarbons, petroleum, gasoline, and crude oil or any products, by-products, or fractions thereof.

"Local emergency planning committee" or "LEPC" means the committee that is appointed for an emergency planning district under Section 301 of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986.

"Route" means an established, plainly marked, and visible, at all times, transition area for students, school personnel, and other persons to use to move either on foot or by means of appropriate transportation from an area contaminated by the release or explosion of a hazardous substance to a safety zone.

"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 district" means any public school district established under the School Code, any program of a special education joint agreement established under Section 3-15.14, 10-22.31, or 10-22.31a of the School Code, or any charter school authorized by the State Board of Education in accordance with Section 27A-7.5 of the School Code.

"School safety drill" means a pre-planned exercise conducted by a school in accordance with the drills and requirements set forth in this Act.

(Source: P.A. 102-894, eff. 5-20-22; 102-1006, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 103-175, eff. 6-30-23.)

(105 ILCS 128/10)

Sec. 10. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is (i) to establish minimum requirements and standards for schools to follow when conducting school safety drills and reviewing school emergency and crisis response plans and hazardous substance release plans and (ii) to encourage schools and first responders to work together for the safety of children. Communities and schools may exceed these requirements and standards.

(Source: P.A. 94-600, eff. 8-16-05.)

(105 ILCS 128/15)

Sec. 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 or persons;

(C) incidents involving hazardous substances materials, including, but not limited to, hazardous substances that may be transported by rail and chemical, incendiary, and explosive substances explosives; and

(D) bomb threats.

(2) Except as limited by subsection (b-5) of Section 20 of this Act, 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 substances materials, including, but not limited to, hazardous substances that may be transported by rail and chemical, incendiary, and explosive substances explosives.

(3) Law enforcement drills, which shall address and prepare 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. Evacuation or reverse-evacuation incidents shall include a shooting incident.

(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 substances materials, including, but not limited to, hazardous substances that may be transported by rail and chemical, incendiary, and explosive substances explosives; and

(C) incidents involving weapons of mass destruction, including, but not limited to, biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons.

(Source: P.A. 100-443, eff. 8-25-17.)

(105 ILCS 128/25)

Sec. 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, hazardous substance release plans, protocols, and procedures, including procedures regarding the school district's threat assessment team, procedures regarding the school district's cardiac emergency response plan, the efficacy and effects of law enforcement drills, 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, hazardous substance release plans, protocols, and procedures and the school safety drill programs of the district and each of its school buildings. This review must be at no cost to the school district. In updating a school building's emergency and crisis response plans, consideration may be given to making the emergency and crisis response plans available to first responders, administrators, and teachers for implementation and utilization through the use of electronic applications on electronic devices, including, but not limited to, smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers.

(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 fiscal year, at a specific time chosen at the school district superintendent's discretion.

(f) A private school shall conduct a minimum of one annual meeting at which the school must review each school building's emergency and crisis response plans, protocols, and procedures, including procedures regarding the school's cardiac emergency response plan, and each building's compliance with the school safety drill programs of the school. 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 school. This review must be at no cost to the private school.

The private school shall invite representatives from all local first responder organizations to participate, advise, and consult in the review process, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) the appropriate local fire department or fire protection district;

(2) the appropriate local law enforcement agency;

(3) the appropriate local emergency medical services agency if the agency is a separate, local first responder unit; and

(4) any other member of the first responder or emergency management community that has contacted the school's chief administrative officer or his or her designee during the past year to request involvement in the school's emergency planning or drill process.

(Source: P.A. 102-395, eff. 8-16-21; 103-608, eff. 1-1-25.)

(105 ILCS 128/65 new)

Sec. 65. Hazardous substance release plan.

(a) The purpose of a hazardous substance release plan is to document emergency planning specifically related to the potential impact of a release or explosion of a hazardous substance resulting from storage or rail transport.

(b) Each school shall coordinate the development of a hazardous substance release plan with the local emergency management services and disaster agencies that are responsible for the political subdivision that covers the area in which the school is located. In addition, the school shall coordinate with the local emergency planning committee for its area, if different from the ESDA.

(c) The hazardous substance release plan developed under subsection (b) may include:

(1) methods and procedures to be followed by school personnel in response to a release or explosion of a hazardous substance;

(2) methods for determining whether the release or explosion of a hazardous substance has occurred;

(3) evacuation plans, including provisions for a precautionary evacuation and the means for determining wind direction;

(4) training programs; and

(5) communication protocols.

(d) The plan must be distributed to all teachers, administrators, school support personnel, coaches, and other school staff identified by school administrators at each school and must contain identified routes and safety zones indicated in the 4-corner evacuation plan in general directions of north, south, east, and west, which shall be visibly marked and communicated to administrators, teachers, and school personnel with information on routes to take and the locations where students can seek shelter.".