Public Act 095-0671
 
SB0641 Enrolled LRB095 08705 NHT 28888 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 Code is amended by changing Section
27-8.1 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/27-8.1)  (from Ch. 122, par. 27-8.1)
    Sec. 27-8.1. Health examinations and immunizations.
    (1) In compliance with rules and regulations which the
Department of Public Health shall promulgate, and except as
hereinafter provided, all children in Illinois shall have a
health examination as follows: within one year prior to
entering kindergarten or the first grade of any public,
private, or parochial elementary school; upon entering the
fifth and ninth grades of any public, private, or parochial
school; prior to entrance into any public, private, or
parochial nursery school; and, irrespective of grade,
immediately prior to or upon entrance into any public, private,
or parochial school or nursery school, each child shall present
proof of having been examined in accordance with this Section
and the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder.
    A tuberculosis skin test screening shall be included as a
required part of each health examination included under this
Section if the child resides in an area designated by the
Department of Public Health as having a high incidence of
tuberculosis. Additional health examinations of pupils,
including eye vision examinations, may be required when deemed
necessary by school authorities. Parents are encouraged to have
their children undergo eye vision examinations at the same
points in time required for health examinations.
    (1.5) In compliance with rules adopted by the Department of
Public Health and except as otherwise provided in this Section,
all children in kindergarten and the second and sixth grades of
any public, private, or parochial school shall have a dental
examination. Each of these children shall present proof of
having been examined by a dentist in accordance with this
Section and rules adopted under this Section before May 15th of
the school year. If a child in the second or sixth grade fails
to present proof by May 15th, the school may hold the child's
report card until one of the following occurs: (i) the child
presents proof of a completed dental examination or (ii) the
child presents proof that a dental examination will take place
within 60 days after May 15th. The Department of Public Health
shall establish, by rule, a waiver for children who show an
undue burden or a lack of access to a dentist. Each public,
private, and parochial school must give notice of this dental
examination requirement to the parents and guardians of
students at least 60 days before May 15th of each school year.
    (1.10) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, all
children enrolling in kindergarten in a public, private, or
parochial school on or after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly and any student
enrolling for the first time in a public, private, or parochial
school on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 95th General Assembly shall have an eye examination. Each
of these children shall present proof of having been examined
by a physician licensed to practice medicine in all of its
branches or a licensed optometrist within the previous year, in
accordance with this Section and rules adopted under this
Section, before October 15th of the school year. If the child
fails to present proof by October 15th, the school may hold the
child's report card until one of the following occurs: (i) the
child presents proof of a completed eye examination or (ii) the
child presents proof that an eye examination will take place
within 60 days after October 15th. The Department of Public
Health shall establish, by rule, a waiver for children who show
an undue burden or a lack of access to a physician licensed to
practice medicine in all of its branches who provides eye
examinations or to a licensed optometrist. Each public,
private, and parochial school must give notice of this eye
examination requirement to the parents and guardians of
students in compliance with rules of the Department of Public
Health. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to allow a
school to exclude a child from attending because of a parent's
or guardian's failure to obtain an eye examination for the
child.
    (2) The Department of Public Health shall promulgate rules
and regulations specifying the examinations and procedures
that constitute a health examination, which shall include the
collection of data relating to obesity, (including at a
minimum, date of birth, gender, height, weight, blood pressure,
and date of exam), and a dental examination and may recommend
by rule that certain additional examinations be performed. The
rules and regulations of the Department of Public Health shall
specify that a tuberculosis skin test screening shall be
included as a required part of each health examination included
under this Section if the child resides in an area designated
by the Department of Public Health as having a high incidence
of tuberculosis. The Department of Public Health shall specify
that a diabetes screening as defined by rule shall be included
as a required part of each health examination. Diabetes testing
is not required.
    Physicians licensed to practice medicine in all of its
branches, advanced practice nurses who have a written
collaborative agreement with a collaborating physician which
authorizes them to perform health examinations, or physician
assistants who have been delegated the performance of health
examinations by their supervising physician shall be
responsible for the performance of the health examinations,
other than dental examinations, eye examinations, and vision
and hearing screening, and shall sign all report forms required
by subsection (4) of this Section that pertain to those
portions of the health examination for which the physician,
advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant is
responsible. If a registered nurse performs any part of a
health examination, then a physician licensed to practice
medicine in all of its branches must review and sign all
required report forms. Licensed dentists shall perform all
dental examinations and shall sign all report forms required by
subsection (4) of this Section that pertain to the dental
examinations. Physicians licensed to practice medicine in all
its branches, or licensed optometrists, shall perform all eye
examinations vision exams required by this Section school
authorities and shall sign all report forms required by
subsection (4) of this Section that pertain to the eye
examination. For purposes of this Section, an eye examination
shall at a minimum include history, visual acuity, subjective
refraction to best visual acuity near and far, internal and
external examination, and a glaucoma evaluation, as well as any
other tests or observations that in the professional judgment
of the doctor are necessary vision exam. Vision and hearing
screening tests, which shall not be considered examinations as
that term is used in this Section, shall be conducted in
accordance with rules and regulations of the Department of
Public Health, and by individuals whom the Department of Public
Health has certified. In these rules and regulations, the
Department of Public Health shall require that individuals
conducting vision screening tests give a child's parent or
guardian written notification, before the vision screening is
conducted, that states, "Vision screening is not a substitute
for a complete eye and vision evaluation by an eye doctor. Your
child is not required to undergo this vision screening if an
optometrist or ophthalmologist has completed and signed a
report form indicating that an examination has been
administered within the previous 12 months."
    (3) Every child shall, at or about the same time as he or
she receives a health examination required by subsection (1) of
this Section, present to the local school proof of having
received such immunizations against preventable communicable
diseases as the Department of Public Health shall require by
rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this Section and
the Communicable Disease Prevention Act.
    (4) The individuals conducting the health examination, or
dental examination, or eye examination shall record the fact of
having conducted the examination, and such additional
information as required, including for a health examination
data relating to obesity, (including at a minimum, date of
birth, gender, height, weight, blood pressure, and date of
exam), on uniform forms which the Department of Public Health
and the State Board of Education shall prescribe for statewide
use. The examiner shall summarize on the report form any
condition that he or she suspects indicates a need for special
services, including for a health examination factors relating
to obesity. The individuals confirming the administration of
required immunizations shall record as indicated on the form
that the immunizations were administered.
    (5) If a child does not submit proof of having had either
the health examination or the immunization as required, then
the child shall be examined or receive the immunization, as the
case may be, and present proof by October 15 of the current
school year, or by an earlier date of the current school year
established by a school district. To establish a date before
October 15 of the current school year for the health
examination or immunization as required, a school district must
give notice of the requirements of this Section 60 days prior
to the earlier established date. If for medical reasons one or
more of the required immunizations must be given after October
15 of the current school year, or after an earlier established
date of the current school year, then the child shall present,
by October 15, or by the earlier established date, a schedule
for the administration of the immunizations and a statement of
the medical reasons causing the delay, both the schedule and
the statement being issued by the physician, advanced practice
nurse, physician assistant, registered nurse, or local health
department that will be responsible for administration of the
remaining required immunizations. If a child does not comply by
October 15, or by the earlier established date of the current
school year, with the requirements of this subsection, then the
local school authority shall exclude that child from school
until such time as the child presents proof of having had the
health examination as required and presents proof of having
received those required immunizations which are medically
possible to receive immediately. During a child's exclusion
from school for noncompliance with this subsection, the child's
parents or legal guardian shall be considered in violation of
Section 26-1 and subject to any penalty imposed by Section
26-10. This subsection (5) does not apply to dental
examinations and eye examinations.
    (6) Every school shall report to the State Board of
Education by November 15, in the manner which that agency shall
require, the number of children who have received the necessary
immunizations and the health examination (other than a dental
examination or eye examination) as required, indicating, of
those who have not received the immunizations and examination
as required, the number of children who are exempt from health
examination and immunization requirements on religious or
medical grounds as provided in subsection (8). Every school
shall report to the State Board of Education by June 30, in the
manner that the State Board requires, the number of children
who have received the required dental examination, indicating,
of those who have not received the required dental examination,
the number of children who are exempt from the dental
examination on religious grounds as provided in subsection (8)
of this Section and the number of children who have received a
waiver under subsection (1.5) of this Section. Every school
shall report to the State Board of Education by June 30, in the
manner that the State Board requires, the number of children
who have received the required eye examination, indicating, of
those who have not received the required eye examination, the
number of children who are exempt from the eye examination as
provided in subsection (8) of this Section, the number of
children who have received a waiver under subsection (1.10) of
this Section, and the total number of children in noncompliance
with the eye examination requirement. This reported
information shall be provided to the Department of Public
Health by the State Board of Education.
    (7) Upon determining that the number of pupils who are
required to be in compliance with subsection (5) of this
Section is below 90% of the number of pupils enrolled in the
school district, 10% of each State aid payment made pursuant to
Section 18-8.05 to the school district for such year shall be
withheld by the regional superintendent until the number of
students in compliance with subsection (5) is the applicable
specified percentage or higher.
    (8) Parents or legal guardians who object to health, or
dental, or eye examinations or any part thereof, or to
immunizations, on religious grounds shall not be required to
submit their children or wards to the examinations or
immunizations to which they so object if such parents or legal
guardians present to the appropriate local school authority a
signed statement of objection, detailing the grounds for the
objection. If the physical condition of the child is such that
any one or more of the immunizing agents should not be
administered, the examining physician, advanced practice
nurse, or physician assistant responsible for the performance
of the health examination shall endorse that fact upon the
health examination form. Exempting a child from the health, or
dental, or eye examination does not exempt the child from
participation in the program of physical education training
provided in Sections 27-5 through 27-7 of this Code.
    (9) For the purposes of this Section, "nursery schools"
means those nursery schools operated by elementary school
systems or secondary level school units or institutions of
higher learning.
(Source: P.A. 92-703, eff. 7-19-02; 93-504, eff. 1-1-04;
93-530, eff. 1-1-04; 93-946, eff. 7-1-05; 93-966, eff. 1-1-05;
revised 12-1-05.)
 
    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 this amendatory Act of
the 95th General Assembly.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2008.