Fiscal Note (State Board of Education)
HB 4739 amends the School Code to provide that, subject to funding from the Illinois State Board of Education, a school district shall ensure that all active classrooms are equipped with an air quality monitor. Section 2-3.12 of the School Code requires the inspection of all buildings in a school district once every 10 years. This statutory requirement helps populate the data collected in ISBE's health/life safety survey system about public school facilities, including school buildings, for all school districts other than Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Utilizing this health/life/safety survey data in combination with the ISBE Entity Profile System data the agency estimates that there are approximately 110,000 active classrooms statewide including CPS. It's possible that this number is understated, since many schools utilize smaller rooms that may be considered active classrooms for services such as tutoring, speech therapy and individual instruction. HB 4739 does not specify what types of air quality monitors would be funded by an appropriation. Commercial air quality monitors can cost as little as $200 to several thousands of dollars per unit. This bill also does not contemplate ongoing maintenance costs that districts might face, such as the cost of repairing or replacing damaged or obsolete monitors, or ongoing subscription costs that some monitors require. Ultimately, the State Board of Education cannot determine potential costs to districts. Agency implementation costs would likely be minimal; however, resources may be needed to support the application funding process.

State Mandates Fiscal Note (Dept. of Commerce & Economic Opportunity)
House Bill 4739 would require each school district in the state to equip all active classrooms within the district with an air quality monitor. Active classrooms are defined in the bill as a room currently being used for any duration of in-person instruction, which includes spaces typically thought of as classrooms as well as smaller spaces in which individual or small-group instruction may occur. The initial requirement is subject to appropriation. The legislation does not contemplate ongoing maintenance costs that districts will face, such as the cost of repairing or replacing damaged or obsolete monitors, or ongoing subscription costs that some monitors require.