Bill Text: IL HB4219 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code and the Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive Health Education Act. Removes provisions concerning fentanyl education from the School Code. Provides that the Comprehensive Health Education Program shall include disaster preparedness (instead of survival) and the use and abuse of fentanyl. Makes a change concerning the instruction on mental health and illness. Provides that the curricula on alcohol and drug use and abuse shall be age and developmentally appropriate and may include the information contained in the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery Instruction Resource Guide, as applicable, and makes a change concerning the development and availability of instructional materials and guidelines. Provides that the Program shall include instruction, study, and discussion on the dangers of fentanyl in grades 6 through 12. Sets forth requirements concerning the instruction, study, and discussion, including requiring that students in grades 9 through 12 be assessed. Provides that the instruction, study, and discussion may be taught by a licensed educator, school nurse, or school counselor. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-6)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-24 - Referred to Assignments [HB4219 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4219-Engrossed.html

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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 Code is amended by changing Section
27-13.2 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/27-13.2) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-13.2)
Sec. 27-13.2. Required instruction.
(a) In every public school there shall be instruction,
study, and discussion of effective methods by which pupils may
recognize the danger of and avoid abduction, and in every
public school maintaining any of grades kindergarten through
8, there shall be, for such grades, instruction, study, and
discussion of effective methods for the prevention and
avoidance of drugs and the dangers of opioid and substance
abuse. School boards may include such required instruction,
study, and discussion in the courses of study regularly taught
in the public schools of their respective districts; provided,
however, that such instruction shall be given each year to all
pupils in grades kindergarten through 8. The State
Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to
all public and non-public schools instructional materials
which may be used by such schools as guidelines for
development of a program of instruction under this subsection

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(a); provided, however, that each school board shall itself
determine the minimum amount of instruction time which shall
qualify as a program of instruction which will satisfy the
requirements of this subsection (a).
The State Superintendent of Education, in cooperation with
the Department of Children and Family Services, shall prepare
and disseminate to all public schools and non-public schools,
information on instructional materials and programs about
child sexual abuse which may be used by such schools for their
own or community programs. Such information may also be
disseminated by such schools to parents.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this Section, no
pupil in any of grades kindergarten through 8 shall be
required to take or participate in any class or course
providing instruction in recognizing and avoiding sexual abuse
if the parent or guardian of the pupil submits written
objection thereto; and refusal to take or participate in such
class or course after such written objection is made shall not
be reason for failing, suspending or expelling such pupil.
Each school board intending to offer any such class or course
to pupils in any of grades kindergarten through 8 shall give
not less than 5 days written notice to the parents or guardians
of such pupils before commencing the class or course.
(c) (Blank). Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, in
every State-required health course for grades 9 through 12, a
school district shall provide instruction, study, and

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discussion on the dangers of fentanyl. Information for the
instruction, study, and discussion of fentanyl shall come from
information provided by the National Institutes of Health, the
United States Drug Enforcement Administration, or the United
States Department of Health and Human Services. This
instruction, study, and discussion shall include, at a
minimum, all of the following:
(1) Information on fentanyl itself, including an
explanation of the differences between synthetic and
nonsynthetic opioids and illicit drugs, the variations of
fentanyl itself, and the differences between the legal and
illegal uses of fentanyl.
(2) The side effects and the risk factors of using
fentanyl, along with information comparing the lethal
amounts of fentanyl to other drugs. Information on the
risk factors may include, but is not limited to:
(A) the lethal dose of fentanyl;
(B) how often fentanyl is placed in drugs without
a person's knowledge;
(C) an explanation of what fentanyl does to a
person's body and the severity of fentanyl's addictive
properties; and
(D) how the consumption of fentanyl can lead to
hypoxia, as well as an explanation of what hypoxia
precisely does to a person's body.
(3) Details about the process of lacing fentanyl in

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other drugs and why drugs get laced with fentanyl.
(4) Details about how to detect fentanyl in drugs and
how to save someone from an overdose of fentanyl, which
shall include:
(A) how to buy and use fentanyl test strips;
(B) how to buy and use naloxone, either through a
nasal spray or an injection; and
(C) how to detect if someone is overdosing on
fentanyl.
Students shall be assessed on the instruction required
under this subsection (c). The assessment may include, but is
not limited to:
(1) the differences between synthetic and nonsynthetic
drugs;
(2) hypoxia;
(3) the effects of fentanyl on a person's body;
(4) the lethal dose of fentanyl; and
(5) how to detect and prevent overdoses.
The instruction required under this subsection (c) shall
be taught by a licensed educator, school nurse, or school
counselor.
(Source: P.A. 102-195, eff. 7-30-21; 103-365, eff. 1-1-24.)
Section 10. The Critical Health Problems and Comprehensive
Health Education Act is amended by changing Section 3 as
follows:

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(105 ILCS 110/3)
Sec. 3. Comprehensive Health Education Program.
(a) 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 preparedness survival; mental health
and illness; personal health habits; alcohol and drug use and
abuse, including the use and abuse of fentanyl, and 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

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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.
(b) 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

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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.
(c) 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. The 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 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

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conduct training programs for teachers and other school
personnel who have expressed an interest in becoming 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
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.
(d) No pupil shall be required to take or participate in
any class or course on AIDS or family life instruction or to

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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.
(e) 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, shall be age and
developmentally appropriate, and may include the information
contained in the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery
Instruction Resource Guide under Section 22-81 of the School
Code, as applicable. 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 determine how to develop and make available to all
elementary and secondary schools in this State instructional
materials and guidelines that 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

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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.
Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, the program
shall include instruction, study, and discussion on the
dangers of fentanyl in grades 6 through 12. Information for
the instruction, study, and discussion on the dangers of
fentanyl shall be age and developmentally appropriate and may
include information contained in the Substance Use Prevention
and Recovery Instruction Resource Guide under Section 22-81 of
the School Code, as applicable. The instruction, study, and
discussion on the dangers of fentanyl in grades 9 through 12
shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) Information on fentanyl itself, including an
explanation of the differences between synthetic and
nonsynthetic opioids and illicit drugs, the variations of
fentanyl itself, and the differences between the legal and
illegal uses of fentanyl.
(2) The side effects and the risk factors of using
fentanyl, along with information comparing the lethal
amounts of fentanyl to other drugs. Information on the
risk factors may include, but is not limited to:
(A) the lethal dose of fentanyl;
(B) how often fentanyl is placed in drugs without
a person's knowledge;

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(C) an explanation of what fentanyl does to a
person's body and the severity of fentanyl's addictive
properties; and
(D) how the consumption of fentanyl can lead to
hypoxia, as well as an explanation of what hypoxia
precisely does to a person's body.
(3) Details about the process of lacing fentanyl in
other drugs and why drugs get laced with fentanyl.
(4) Details about how to detect fentanyl in drugs and
how to save someone from an overdose of fentanyl, which
shall include:
(A) how to buy and use fentanyl test strips;
(B) how to buy and use naloxone, either through a
nasal spray or an injection; and
(C) how to detect if someone is overdosing on
fentanyl.
Students in grades 9 through 12 shall be assessed on the
instruction, study, and discussion on the dangers of fentanyl.
The assessment may include, but is not limited to:
(i) the differences between synthetic and nonsynthetic
drugs;
(ii) hypoxia;
(iii) the effects of fentanyl on a person's body;
(iv) the lethal dose of fentanyl; and
(v) how to detect and prevent overdoses.
The instruction, study, and discussion on the dangers of

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fentanyl may be taught by a licensed educator, school nurse,
or school counselor.
(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.)