Public Act 098-0883
 
HB2513 EnrolledLRB098 08242 NHT 38340 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 
2-3.12 as follows:
 



    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.12)  (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.12)

    Sec. 2-3.12. School building code. 
    (a) To prepare for school boards with the
advice of the 
Department of Public Health, the Capital Development Board, and

the State Fire Marshal a school building code that will 
conserve the health and
safety and general welfare of the 
pupils and school personnel and others who
use public school 
facilities.

    (b) Within 2 years after September 23, 1983,
and every 10 
years thereafter, or at such other times as the State Board of

Education deems necessary or the regional superintendent so 
orders, each school
board subject to the provisions of this 
Section shall again survey its school
buildings and effectuate 
any recommendations in accordance with the procedures
set forth 
herein.
        (1) An architect or engineer licensed in the State of 
    Illinois is
required to conduct the surveys under the 
    provisions of this Section and shall
make a report of the 
    findings of the survey titled "safety survey report" to
the 
    school board.
        (2)  The school board shall approve the safety survey 
    report,
including any recommendations to effectuate 
    compliance with the code, and
submit it to the Regional 
    Superintendent.
        (3)  The Regional Superintendent shall
render a 
    decision regarding approval or denial and submit the safety 
    survey
report to the State Superintendent of Education.
        (4)  The State Superintendent of
Education shall 
    approve or deny the report including recommendations to

    effectuate compliance with the code and, if approved, issue 
    a certificate of
approval.
        (5) Upon receipt of the certificate of approval, the 
    Regional
Superintendent shall issue an order to effect any 
    approved recommendations
included in the report. The 
    report shall meet all of the following requirements:

            (A)  Items in the report shall be prioritized.
            (B)  Urgent
items shall be considered as those items 
        related to life safety problems that
present an 
        immediate hazard to the safety of students.
            (C)  Required items shall be
considered as those 
        items that are necessary for a safe environment but 
        present
less of an immediate hazard to the safety of 
        students.
            (D)  Urgent and required
items shall reference a 
        specific rule in the code authorized by this Section

        that is currently being violated or will be violated 
        within the next 12 months
if the violation is not 
        remedied.
        (6)  The school board of each district so
surveyed and 
    receiving a report of needed recommendations to be made to

    maintain standards of safety and health of the pupils 
    enrolled shall effectuate
the correction of urgent items as 
    soon as achievable to ensure the safety of
the students, 
    but in no case more than one year after the date of the 
    State
Superintendent of Education's approval of the 
    recommendation.
        (7)
Required items shall be corrected in a timely 
    manner, but in
no case more than 5 years from the date of 
    the State Superintendent
of
Education's approval of the 
    recommendation.
        (8)  Once each year the school
board shall submit a 
    report of progress on completion of any
recommendations to 
    effectuate compliance with the code.

    (c) As soon as practicable, but not later than 2 years 
after January 1, 1993, the State Board of Education shall 
combine
the document known as "Efficient and Adequate Standards 
for the Construction of
Schools" with the document known as 
"Building Specifications for Health and
Safety in Public 
Schools" together with any modifications or additions that may

be deemed necessary.  The combined document shall be known as 
the "Health/Life
Safety Code for Public Schools" and shall be 
the governing code for all
facilities that house public school 
students or are otherwise used for public
school purposes, 
whether such facilities are permanent or temporary and
whether 
they are owned, leased, rented, or otherwise used by the 
district.
Facilities owned by a school district but that are 
not used to house public
school students or are not used for 
public school purposes shall be
governed by separate provisions 
within the code authorized by this Section.

    (d) The 10 year survey cycle specified in this Section 
shall continue to
apply based upon the standards contained in 
the "Health/Life Safety Code
for Public Schools", which shall 
specify building standards for buildings that
are constructed 
prior to January 1, 1993 and
for buildings that are constructed 
after that date.

    (e) The "Health/Life Safety Code for Public Schools" shall 
be the governing code
for public schools; however, the 
provisions of this Section shall not preclude
inspection of 
school premises and buildings pursuant to Section 9 of the Fire

Investigation Act, provided that the provisions of the 
"Health/Life Safety Code
for Public Schools", or such 
predecessor document authorized by this Section as
may be 
applicable are used, and provided that those inspections are 
coordinated
with the Regional Superintendent having 
jurisdiction over the public school
facility.
 
    (e-5)  After the effective date of this amendatory Act of 
the 98th General Assembly, all new school building construction 
governed by the "Health/Life Safety Code for Public Schools" 
must include in its design and construction a storm shelter 
that meets the minimum requirements of the ICC/NSSA Standard 
for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC-500), 
published jointly by the International Code Council and the 
National Storm Shelter Association. Nothing in this subsection 
(e-5) precludes the design engineers, architects, or school 
district from applying a higher life safety standard than the 
ICC-500 for storm shelters. 
    (f) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit 
the State Fire Marshal or a qualified fire official to whom the 
State Fire Marshal has delegated his or her authority

from

conducting a fire safety check in a public school.
    (g)  The Regional Superintendent shall address any 
violations that are not corrected in a timely manner pursuant 
to subsection (b) of Section 3-14.21 of this Code.

    (h) Any agency having jurisdiction beyond the scope of the 
applicable
document authorized by this Section may issue a 
lawful order to a school board
to effectuate recommendations, 
and the school board receiving the order shall
certify to the 
Regional Superintendent and the State Superintendent of

Education when it has complied with the order.

    (i) The State Board of Education is authorized to adopt any 
rules that are
necessary relating to the administration and 
enforcement of the provisions of
this Section.
    (j)  The code authorized by this Section shall apply only to 
those
school districts having a population of less than 500,000 
inhabitants.

    (k) In this Section, a "qualified fire official" means an 
individual  that meets the requirements of rules adopted by the 
State Fire Marshal in cooperation with the State Board of 
Education to administer this Section.  These rules shall be 
based on recommendations made by the task force established 
under Section 2-3.137 of this Code.

(Source: P.A. 94-225, eff. 7-14-05; 94-875, eff. 7-1-06; 
94-1105, eff. 6-1-07; 95-876, eff. 8-21-08.)