Bill Text: IL SB1685 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Allows parents of students to exempt their children from participation in a law enforcement drill.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-12-22 - Chief Sponsor Changed to Sen. Don Harmon [SB1685 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-SB1685-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 SB1685 Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Scott M. Bennett SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 128/20
Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Allows parents of students to exempt their children from participation in a law enforcement drill.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Safety Drill Act is amended by
changing Section 20 as follows:
(105 ILCS 128/20)
Sec. 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

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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

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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.
(b-5) Notwithstanding the minimum requirements established
by this Act, private schools that do not utilize a bus to
transport students for any purpose are exempt from subsection
(b) of this Section, provided that the chief school
administrator of the private school provides written assurance

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

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participation from all school personnel and students present
at school at the time of the drill, except that
administrators, or school support personnel, or students'
parents in their discretion may exempt students from the
drill. The appropriate local law enforcement agency shall
observe the administration of the drill. All drills must be
conducted at each school building that houses school children.
(1) 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. The school
administrator and local law enforcement agency shall
set, by mutual agreement, a date for the drill.
(A-5) The drill shall require the on-site
participation of the local law enforcement agency. If
a mutually agreeable date cannot be reached between
the school administrator and the appropriate local law
enforcement agency, then the school shall still hold
the drill without participation from the agency.
(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
and notify the school in a timely manner of any

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deficiencies noted during the drill.
(2) Schools may conduct additional law enforcement
drills at their discretion.
(3) (Blank).
(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.
(Source: P.A. 100-443, eff. 8-25-17; 100-996, eff. 1-1-19.)