Will County Gazette

Sen. John Curran, a Republican representing Downers Grove, revealed that Illinois has started a new program to add a layer of prevention against growing violence in schools.

"As lawmakers, we must do everything we can to ensure the safety of school children," Curran said. "To provide an additional tool to school officials and law enforcement, legislation was recently signed into law that refines and improves a statewide hotline that can receive reports from the public regarding potential self-harm or criminal acts directed at schools, teachers or students. Calls into the hotline would be confidential."

The Illinois legislature has put into force Senate Bill 3936, which requires the Illinois State Police to cooperate with other state groups in responding to individuals with mental health issues who have expressed thoughts about attacking others at school, according to a news release from Curran's office. The legislation adds to Illinois' existing Safe2Help program, which put into place a hotline for students to send in tips about troubling behavior.

Curran also highlighted several other new bills related to schools and students, such as Senate Bill 157, which decreases the sales tax on clothing and school supplies from 6.25% to 1.25% between Aug. 5 and 14;  and House Bill 4316, which protects students against teachers who have engaged in or been credibly accused of sexual misconduct by requiring superintendents to let parents and the school board know, and also requires school boards to go over the employment histories of new hires to verify that the teachers have not been previously fired for sexual misconduct.