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The
bill also includes the requirement of a resource guide for
parents of students.
The legislation has been met with a support among lawmakers. It
has 38 sponsors.
Senate sponsor Scott Bennett, D-Champaign, said the bill could
help prevent sexual abuse in school by clearing up confusion
regarding what should be reported.
"There has been some confusion from good teachers who observe
troubling behavior that they do not know where the line is in
term of reporting, this bill fixes that issue," Bennett said.
House Bill 1975 requires school districts across the state to
implement teachers institute days to be used as teaching days
for employees to learn about certain signs of sexual abuse.
The bill also requires those districts to develop a Code Of
Conduct for employees to sign, Bennett said.
"This bill tries to make sure that schools do more to define
sexual misconduct," Bennett said. "It makes sure that they write
a code of ethics for the district."
Schools will also be required to put together information for
parents regarding sexual abuse, including response and
prevention resources for those families and requires that
information be public.
If House Bill 1975 is passed and signed by Governor J.B.
Pritzker, school districts would have until July 1st, 2022 to
adopt these new measures for students Pre-K through grade 12.
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