Public Act 93-0504

SB805 Enrolled                       LRB093 04801 NHT 11184 b

    AN ACT regarding school students.

    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  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.
    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, 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.   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. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 92-703, eff. 7-19-02.)