Bill Text: IL HB2400 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Amends the School Safety Drill Act. Provides that parents or guardians must receive prior notice of a law enforcement drill not less than 5 days prior to the drill. Provides that a law enforcement drill (i) must not include simulations that mimic an actual school shooting incident or active shooter event, (ii) must be announced in advance to all school personnel and students prior to the commencement of the drill, (iii) must include content that is age appropriate and developmentally appropriate, (iv) must include and involve school personnel, including school-based mental health professionals, and (v) must include trauma-informed approaches to address the concerns and well-being of students and school personnel. Requires a school district to include in its annual review of each school building's emergency and crisis response plans, protocols, and procedures an examination of the efficacy and effects of law enforcement drills. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-7)

Status: (Passed) 2021-08-16 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0395 [HB2400 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB2400-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 102-0395
HB2400 Enrolled LRB102 11779 CMG 17114 b
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 Sections 20 and 25 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

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.
(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

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 lockdown 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
lockdown 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 lockdown drills must be
conducted on days and times when students are normally present

in the school building and must involve participation from all
school personnel and students present at school at the time of
the lockdown drill, except that administrators or school
support personnel in their discretion may exempt students from
the lockdown drill. The appropriate local law enforcement
agency shall observe the administration of the lockdown drill.
All drills must be conducted at each school building that
houses school children.
(1) A law enforcement lockdown 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 lockdown drill. The
school administrator and local law enforcement agency
shall set, by mutual agreement, a date for the
lockdown drill.
(A-5) The lockdown 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 lockdown drill without participation from the
agency.
(B) Upon the participation of a local law
enforcement agency in a law enforcement lockdown

drill, the appropriate local law enforcement official
shall certify that the law enforcement lockdown drill
was conducted and notify the school in a timely manner
of any deficiencies noted during the drill.
(C) The lockdown drill must not include
simulations that mimic an actual school shooting
incident or active shooter event.
(D) All lockdown drills must be announced in
advance to all school personnel and students prior to
the commencement of the drill.
(E) Lockdown drill content must be age appropriate
and developmentally appropriate.
(F) Lockdown drills must include and involve
school personnel, including school-based mental health
professionals.
(G) Lockdown drills must include trauma-informed
approaches to address the concerns and well-being of
students and school personnel.
(2) Schools may conduct additional law enforcement
drills at their discretion.
(3) (Blank).
(4) School administrators and school support personnel
may, in their discretion, exempt a student or students
from participating in a walk-through lockdown drill.
(5) Schools must provide sufficient information and
notification to parents and guardians in advance of any

walk-through lockdown drill that involves the
participation of students. Schools must also provide to
parents and guardians an opportunity to exempt their child
for any reason from participating in the walk-through
lockdown drill.
(6) Schools must provide alternative safety education
and instruction related to an active threat or active
shooter event to students who do not participate in a
walk-through lockdown drill to provide them with essential
information, training, and instruction through less
sensorial safety training methods.
(7) During the drill, students must be allowed to ask
questions related to the drill.
(8) Law enforcement may choose to run an active
shooter simulation, including simulated gun fire drills,
but only on school days when students are not present.
Parental notification is not required for drills conducted
pursuant to this paragraph (8) if students are not
required to be present.
(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.)
(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, 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
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.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.