HB0146 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 03968 NHT 24001 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB0146

Introduced 1/19/2007, by Rep. Tom Cross - Ed Sullivan, Jr.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act
30 ILCS 805/8.31 new

Creates the Care of Students with Diabetes Act. Requires a diabetes management and treatment plan to be developed for each student with diabetes who seeks assistance with the routine diabetes care needed in daycare, at school, or at school-related activities and events. Provides that upon receipt of a student's diabetes management and treatment plan, the school principal and school nurse shall develop an individualized care plan with the student's parent or guardian. Provides that at each school in which a student with diabetes is enrolled, the principal shall seek school employees to serve as unlicensed diabetes care aides. Provides that for each school in which a student with diabetes seeks assistance, the school must ensure that every day and at all activities at which the student is present there is either a school nurse or an unlicensed diabetes care aide to provide care. Contains additional provisions concerning requirements for the diabetes management and treatment plan and the individualized care plan, training for unlicensed diabetes care aides, required care of students with diabetes, independent monitoring and treatment of students with diabetes, and school employee immunity. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Care of Students with Diabetes Act.

Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly makes all of the following findings:

(1) Diabetes is a serious chronic disease that impairs the body's ability to use food for energy. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps convert food into energy. In people with diabetes, either the pancreas does not make insulin (type 1) or the body cannot use insulin properly (type 2). Without insulin, the body's main energy source, glucose, cannot be used to fuel the body so glucose builds up in the blood. Over many years, high blood glucose can cause damage to the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart, and blood vessels.

(2) Children with diabetes still face discrimination in school and elsewhere despite the rights and protections afforded by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(3) Diabetes must be managed 24 hours a day in order to (i) avoid the potentially life-threatening, short-term consequences of blood sugar levels that are either too high or too low; and (ii) prevent or delay the serious, long-term complications of high blood sugar levels, which include blindness, amputation, heart disease, and kidney failure.

(4) Because diabetes imposes significant health risks, it is vital that schools provide a safe learning environment for students with diabetes.

(5) The school nurse is the most appropriate person in a school setting to provide care for a student with diabetes. However, many schools in this State do not have a full-time nurse, and even if a nurse is assigned to a school, the nurse will not always be available during the school day, during extracurricular activities, or on field trips.

(6) Additional school personnel who are not health care professionals need to be trained to provide routine diabetes care. Taking a team approach to diabetes care builds on what schools already do for children with other chronic diseases such as asthma and allergies. Thus, current practices and existing resources can be easily adapted for students with diabetes.

(7) Given the significant and increasing number of students with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the potential for diabetes to impede a student's ability to learn, the risk for serious medical complications, and the protracted processes currently required to enforce the rights and protections afforded by federal law for students with diabetes, the General Assembly deems it in the public interest to enact the Care of Students with Diabetes Act.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Diabetes management and treatment plan" means the document developed by the student's personal physician or other health care professional who specializes in the treatment of diabetes that prescribes the care and assistance needed by the student and that is signed by the parent or guardian and the student's personal physician or other health care professional.

"Individualized care plan" means the document developed by the school with the student's parent or guardian that activates the student's diabetes management and treatment plan and details how the student's diabetes management and treatment plan will be implemented in daycare, at school, or at school-related activities and events, including field trips.

"Principal" means the senior administrative executive of a school and includes the principal's designee or designees.

"School" means any public, charter, or private pre-primary, primary, elementary, or secondary school located in this State and includes a daycare provider.

"School employee" means (i) a person employed by a school, (ii) a person employed by a local health department and assigned to a school, or (iii) a person who contracts with a school or school district to perform services in connection with the care of students with diabetes.

"Unlicensed diabetes care aide" means a school employee who is trained in routine diabetes care.

Section 15. Diabetes management and treatment plan. A diabetes management and treatment plan must be developed for each student with diabetes who seeks assistance with the routine diabetes care needed in daycare, at school, or at school-related activities and events, including field trips. The plan must do all of the following:

(1) Prescribe the diabetes care that the student needs.

(2) Evaluate the student's ability to self-manage and perform routine diabetes care.

(3) Be signed by the student's parent or guardian and the student's personal physician or other health care professional.

(4) Be submitted to the school (i) before or at the beginning of the school year; (ii) upon enrollment of the student, if the student enrolls in the school after the beginning of the school year; or (iii) as soon as practicable following a diagnosis of diabetes for the student.

Section 20. Individualized care plan.

(a) Upon receipt of a student's diabetes management and treatment plan, the school principal and the school nurse, if one is assigned to the school, shall develop an individualized care plan for the student with the student's parent or guardian.

(b) An individualized care plan must be developed for each student with diabetes who seeks care for diabetes in daycare, at school, or at school-related activities and events, including field trips. The individualized care plan must do all of the following:

(1) Incorporate the student's diabetes management and treatment plan.

(2) Meet the unique care needs of a particular student with diabetes in a particular school.

Section 25. Unlicensed diabetes care aides.

(a) At each school in which a student with diabetes is enrolled, the school principal shall do all of the following:

(1) Seek school employees who are not health care professionals to serve as unlicensed diabetes care aides to assist students with routine diabetes care.

(2) Provide at least one unlicensed diabetes care aide if a full-time nurse is assigned to the school.

(3) Provide at least 3 unlicensed diabetes care aides if a full-time nurse is not assigned to the school.

(b) An unlicensed diabetes care aide shall serve under the supervision of the principal.

(c) A school employee must not be subject to any penalty or disciplinary action for refusing to serve as an unlicensed diabetes care aide.

Section 30. Training for unlicensed diabetes care aide.

(a) If a school nurse is assigned to a school, the school nurse shall coordinate the training of school employees acting as unlicensed diabetes care aides.

(b) Training under this Section must be provided by a health care professional that specializes in the treatment of diabetes or by the school nurse if he or she has been trained in routine diabetes care. The training must be provided before the beginning of the school year or as soon as practicable following (i) the enrollment of a student with diabetes at a school that previously had no students with diabetes or (ii) diagnosis of diabetes for a student at a school that previously had no students with diabetes. Thereafter, training must be provided annually by a health care professional with expertise in diabetes care and shall take place before the commencement of each school year.

(c) Training under this Section must include instruction in all of the following:

(1) The details of a student's individualized care plan.

(2) The symptoms of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.

(3) How to test blood glucose levels and record the results.

(4) How to administer insulin.

(5) The recommended schedules and food intake for meals and snacks for a student with diabetes, the effect of physical activity on blood glucose levels, and the proper actions to be taken if a student's schedule is disrupted.

(6) The proper action to take if the blood glucose levels of a student with diabetes are outside the target ranges indicated by the student's diabetes management and treatment plan.

(7) The symptoms and complications of diabetes that require emergency assistance.

(8) Actions to take in response to emergency situations, including when and how to administer glucagon.

(d) When no other unlicensed diabetes care aides will be traveling with students with diabetes, every school and school district shall provide training to all bus drivers responsible for the transportation of students with diabetes.

(e) The training of school personnel under this Section must meet or exceed the recommendations and guidelines set forth by the American Diabetes Association.

(f) The school nurse or principal shall maintain a copy of the training guidelines and any records associated with the training.

Section 35. Required care of students with diabetes.

(a) For each school in which a student with diabetes seeks assistance, the school must ensure that every day and at all activities at which the student is present there is either a school nurse or an unlicensed diabetes care aide to provide care.

(b) If a school nurse is assigned to a school and the nurse is available, the nurse shall perform the tasks necessary to assist a student with diabetes in accordance with the student's individualized care plan.

(c) If a school nurse is not assigned to the school or a school nurse is not available, an unlicensed diabetes care aide shall perform the tasks necessary to assist the student with diabetes in accordance with the student's individualized care plan and in compliance with any guidelines provided during training.

(d) An unlicensed diabetes care aide may provide routine diabetes care only if the parent or guardian of the student signs an agreement that does both of the following:

(1) Authorizes an unlicensed diabetes care aide to assist the student.

(2) States that the parent or guardian understands that an unlicensed diabetes care aide is not liable for civil damages.

(e) The school nurse and the unlicensed diabetes care aide must have the emergency contact information for the student's parent or guardian.

(f) At each school attended by a student with diabetes, that school shall adopt a procedure to ensure that a school nurse or at least one unlicensed diabetes care aide is available to provide the required care to each student with diabetes (i) during regular school hours, (ii) during school-related activities and events, (iii) during before school and after school programs, (iv) during field trips, and (v) during extracurricular activities.

(g) A school shall provide to each employee responsible for providing transportation for a student with diabetes or supervising a student with diabetes during an off-campus activity a one-page information sheet that does all of the following:

(1) Identifies the student who has diabetes.

(2) Identifies potential emergencies that may occur as a result of the student's diabetes and the appropriate responses to such emergencies.

(3) Provides the telephone number of a contact person in case of an emergency.

(h) A school district may not restrict the assignment of a student with diabetes to a particular school on the basis that the school does not have the required unlicensed diabetes care aides.

(i) A student's choice of schools may not be restricted in any way because the student has diabetes.

(j) An unlicensed diabetes care aide, like other school staff, acts in loco parentis and only as authorized by the student's diabetes management and treatment plan.

Section 40. Independent monitoring and treatment. In accordance with the student's diabetes management and treatment plan, a student with diabetes must be permitted to perform blood glucose tests, administer insulin through the insulin delivery system the student uses, treat hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, and otherwise attend to the care and management of his or her diabetes in the classroom, in any area of the school or school grounds, and at any school-related activity or event and to possess on his or her person, at all times, the supplies and equipment necessary to perform the monitoring and treatment functions described in this Section.

Section 45. Immunity from disciplinary action and liability.

(a) School personnel must not be held liable for civil damages that may result from acts or omissions as a result of the activities authorized or required by this Act that may constitute ordinary negligence. This immunity does not apply to acts or omissions that constitute gross negligence or willful or wanton conduct.

(b) A school employee must not be subject to any disciplinary proceeding resulting from an action taken in compliance with this Act, unless that action constituted gross negligence or willful or wanton conduct.

Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding Section 8.31 as follows:

(30 ILCS 805/8.31 new)

Sec. 8.31. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the implementation of any mandate created by the Care of Students with Diabetes Act.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.