Public Act 093-0966
 
SB2940 Enrolled LRB093 20927 RXD 46904 b

    AN ACT concerning public health.
 
    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 dental and vision examinations, may be required when
deemed necessary by school authorities. Parents are encouraged
to have their children undergo dental and vision examinations
at the same points in time required for health examinations.
    (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 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 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 vision exams required by school
authorities and shall sign all report forms required by
subsection (4) of this Section that pertain to the 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
shall record the fact of having conducted the examination, and
such additional information as required, including 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 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.
    (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 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).
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 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
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 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; revised 9-11-03.)
 
    Section 10. The Illinois Health Statistics Act is amended
by changing Section 4 as follows:
 
    (410 ILCS 520/4)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 5604)
    Sec. 4. (a) In carrying out the purposes of this Act, the
Department may:
    (1) Collect and maintain health data on:
    (i) The extent, nature, and impact of illness, including
factors relating to obesity and disability on the population of
the State;
    (ii) The determinants of health and health hazards
including obesity;
    (iii) Health resources, including the extent of available
manpower and resources;
    (iv) Utilization of health care;
    (v) Health care costs and financing; and
    (vi) Other health or health-related matters.
    (2) Undertake and support research, demonstrations, and
evaluations respecting new or improved methods for obtaining
current data on the matters referred to in subparagraph (1).
    (b) The Department may collect health data under authority
granted by any unit of local government and on behalf of other
governmental or not-for-profit organizations, including data
collected by local schools and the State Board of Education
relating to obesity on the health examination form required
pursuant to Section 27-8.1 of the School Code. The data shall
be de-identified and aggregated pursuant to rules promulgated
by the Department to prevent disclosure of personal identifying
information.
    (c) The Department shall collect data only on a voluntary
basis from individuals and organizations, except when there is
specific legal authority to compel the mandatory reporting of
the health data so requested. In making any collection of
health data from an individual or organization the Department
must give to such individual or organization a written
statement which states:
    (1) Whether the individual or organization is required to
respond, and any sanctions for noncompliance;
    (2) The purposes for which the health data are being
collected; and
    (3) In the case of any disclosure of identifiable health
data for other than research and statistical purposes, the
items to be disclosed, to whom the data are to be disclosed and
the purposes for which the data are to be disclosed.
    (d) Except as provided in Section 5, no health data
obtained in the course of activities undertaken or supported
under this Act may be used for any purpose other than the
purpose for which they were supplied or for which the
individual or organization described in the data has otherwise
consented.
    (e) The Department shall take such actions as may be
necessary to assure that statistics developed under this Act
are of high quality, timely, comprehensive, as well as
specific, standardized and adequately analyzed and indexed.
    (f) The Department shall take such action as is appropriate
to effect the coordination of health data activities, including
health data specifically relating to obesity collected
pursuant to Section 27-8.1 of the School Code, within the State
to eliminate unnecessary duplication of data collection and
maximize the usefulness of data collected.
    (g) The Department shall (1) participate with state, local
and federal agencies in the design and implementation of a
cooperative system for producing comparable and uniform health
information and statistics at the federal, state, and local
levels; and (2) undertake and support research, development,
demonstrations, and evaluations respecting such cooperative
system.
(Source: P.A. 82-215.)