Bill Text: IL HB5394 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Amends the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act. Provides that no later than 30 days after the first day of each school year, the school board of each public elementary and secondary school in the State shall provide all teachers, administrators, and other school personnel, as determined by school officials, with information regarding emergency procedures and techniques, including, without limitation, the Heimlich maneuver, hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and use of the school district's automated external defibrillator, and identify the cardiac emergency response team (instead of providing that the school board of each public elementary and secondary school in the State shall encourage all teachers and other school personnel to acquire, develop, and maintain the knowledge and skills necessary to properly administer life-saving techniques, including, without limitation, the Heimlich maneuver and rescue breathing). Makes related changes. Provides that the annual review shall include reviewing procedures regarding the school district's cardiac emergency response plan. Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Provides that school districts and private schools shall develop a cardiac emergency response plan in place in accordance with guidelines set forth by either the American Heart Association or other nationally recognized, evidence-based standards that addresses the appropriate response to incidents involving an individual experiencing sudden cardiac arrest or a similar life-threatening emergency while at a school or at a school-sponsored activity or event. Requires the plan to be distributed to all teachers, administrators, school support personnel, coaches, and other school staff identified by school administrators at each school. Sets forth what shall be included in the cardiac emergency response plan.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-3)

Status: (Passed) 2024-07-01 - Effective Date January 1, 2025 [HB5394 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB5394-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 103-0608
HB5394 Enrolled LRB103 39286 RJT 69440 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive
Health Education Act is amended by changing Section 3 as
follows:
(105 ILCS 110/3)
Sec. 3. Comprehensive Health Education Program. The
program established under this Act shall include, but not be
limited to, the following major educational areas as a basis
for curricula in all elementary and secondary schools in this
State: human ecology and health; human growth and development;
the emotional, psychological, physiological, hygienic, and
social responsibilities of family life, including sexual
abstinence until marriage; the prevention and control of
disease, including instruction in grades 6 through 12 on the
prevention, transmission, and spread of AIDS; age-appropriate
sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education in
grades pre-kindergarten through 12; public and environmental
health; consumer health; safety education and disaster
survival; mental health and illness; personal health habits;
alcohol and drug use and abuse, including the medical and
legal ramifications of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use; abuse

during pregnancy; evidence-based and medically accurate
information regarding sexual abstinence; tobacco and
e-cigarettes and other vapor devices; nutrition; and dental
health. The instruction on mental health and illness must
evaluate the multiple dimensions of health by reviewing the
relationship between physical and mental health so as to
enhance student understanding, attitudes, and behaviors that
promote health, well-being, and human dignity and must include
how and where to find mental health resources and specialized
treatment in the State. The program shall also provide course
material and instruction to advise pupils of the Abandoned
Newborn Infant Protection Act. The program shall include
information about cancer, including, without limitation, types
of cancer, signs and symptoms, risk factors, the importance of
early prevention and detection, and information on where to go
for help. Notwithstanding the above educational areas, the
following areas may also be included as a basis for curricula
in all elementary and secondary schools in this State: basic
first aid (including, but not limited to, cardiopulmonary
resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver), heart disease,
diabetes, stroke, the prevention of child abuse, neglect, and
suicide, and teen dating violence in grades 7 through 12.
Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, training on how to
properly administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (which
training must be in accordance with standards of the American
Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or another

nationally recognized certifying organization) and how to use
an automated external defibrillator shall be included as a
basis for curricula in all secondary schools in this State.
Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year in grades 9
through 12, the program shall include instruction, study, and
discussion on the dangers of allergies. Information for the
instruction, study, and discussion shall come from information
provided by the Department of Public Health and the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This instruction,
study, and discussion shall include, at a minimum:
(1) recognizing the signs and symptoms of an allergic
reaction, including anaphylaxis;
(2) the steps to take to prevent exposure to
allergens; and
(3) safe emergency epinephrine administration.
No later than 30 days after the first day of each school
year, the The school board of each public elementary and
secondary school in the State shall provide encourage all
teachers, administrators, and other school personnel, as
determined by school officials, with information regarding
emergency procedures and to acquire, develop, and maintain the
knowledge and skills necessary to properly administer
life-saving techniques, including, without limitation, the
Heimlich maneuver, hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
and use of the school district's automated external
defibrillator and rescue breathing. The information training

shall be in accordance with standards of the American Red
Cross, the American Heart Association, or another nationally
recognized certifying organization. A school board may use the
services of non-governmental entities whose personnel have
expertise in life-saving techniques to instruct teachers,
administrators, and other school personnel in these
techniques. Each school board is encouraged to have in its
employ, or on its volunteer staff, at least one person who is
certified, by the American Red Cross or by another qualified
certifying agency, as qualified to administer first aid and
cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In addition, each school board
is authorized to allocate appropriate portions of its
institute or inservice days to conduct training programs for
teachers and other school personnel who have expressed an
interest in becoming certified qualified to administer
emergency first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. School
boards are urged to encourage their teachers and other school
personnel who coach school athletic programs and other
extracurricular school activities to acquire, develop, and
maintain the knowledge and skills necessary to properly
administer first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in
accordance with standards and requirements established by the
American Red Cross or another qualified certifying agency.
Subject to appropriation, the State Board of Education shall
establish and administer a matching grant program to pay for
half of the cost that a school district incurs in training

those teachers and other school personnel who express an
interest in becoming qualified to administer first aid or
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (which training must be in
accordance with standards of the American Red Cross, the
American Heart Association, or another nationally recognized
certifying organization) or in learning how to use an
automated external defibrillator. A school district that
applies for a grant must demonstrate that it has funds to pay
half of the cost of the training for which matching grant money
is sought. The State Board of Education shall award the grants
on a first-come, first-serve basis.
No pupil shall be required to take or participate in any
class or course on AIDS or family life instruction or to
receive training on how to properly administer cardiopulmonary
resuscitation or how to use an automated external
defibrillator if his or her parent or guardian submits written
objection thereto, and refusal to take or participate in the
course or program or the training shall not be reason for
suspension or expulsion of the pupil.
Curricula developed under programs established in
accordance with this Act in the major educational area of
alcohol and drug use and abuse shall include classroom
instruction in grades 5 through 12. The instruction, which
shall include matters relating to both the physical and legal
effects and ramifications of drug and substance abuse, shall
be integrated into existing curricula; and the State Board of

Education shall develop and make available to all elementary
and secondary schools in this State instructional materials
and guidelines which will assist the schools in incorporating
the instruction into their existing curricula. In addition,
school districts may offer, as part of existing curricula
during the school day or as part of an after-school after
school program, support services and instruction for pupils or
pupils whose parent, parents, or guardians are chemically
dependent. Curricula developed under programs established in
accordance with this Act in the major educational area of
alcohol and drug use and abuse shall include the instruction,
study, and discussion required under subsection (c) of Section
27-13.2 of the School Code.
(Source: P.A. 102-464, eff. 8-20-21; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21;
102-1034, eff. 1-1-23; 103-212, eff. 1-1-24; 103-365, eff.
1-1-24; revised 12-12-23.)
Section 10. The School Safety Drill Act is amended by
changing Section 25 and by adding Section 60 as follows:
(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, 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, 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. 101-455, eff. 8-23-19; 102-395, eff. 8-16-21.)