Public Act 0966 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2940 Enrolled LRB093 20927 RXD 46904 b

Public Act 093-0966

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.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2005