Students in third grade through high school will be able to receive free annual mental health screenings in Illinois public schools beginning in the 2027-28 school year.

The new requirement comes from Senate Bill 1560, which Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law July 31.

Some unknown factors remain surrounding the legislation.

School districts still don’t know what the screenings will look like, how they will be implemented, and where their funding will come from.

Still, some school leaders agree that proactive mental health support for students is needed.

‘National first’

Pritzker lauded the new law as “a national first worth celebrating” at a news conference after the legislation passed.

“Access to mental healthcare – especially for children – is too often overlooked or ignored," he said.

State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said the universal screenings are part of a shift “from reaction to prevention.”

“Too often, we only recognize a student’s distress when it becomes a crisis,” Sanders said at the conference.

The bill was approved 52-0 by the Senate, but there was some disagreement in the House, where it passed on a partisan 72-36 vote, with Democrats supporting it.

Specifically, House Republicans argued that the bill would not be as effective as Pritzker believed in addressing students’ mental health, and that it could lead to issues with confidentiality.

Coal City Superintendent Chris Spencer said he has questions on what type of screener the state will put in place, how it will be funded, if hiring additional personnel will be needed, and whether the district’s current initiatives will count toward the requirement.

However, he views the new law in a positive light.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing, when you look at the grand scheme of things,” Spencer said. “You still offer parents an opportunity to opt out, but I think it’s something that, at this time right now, students have more needs for social and emotional [support] than we’ve noticed in the past.”

Bradley Superintendent Chris Hammond is curious about how the state’s new requirement will be funded.

It is yet unclear whether districts will be asked to partner with organizations that provide mental health services or employ their own staff for the evaluations.

With service providers typically already having heavy workloads, Hammond said he will be interested to hear the state’s implementation plan.

“The implementation piece will be where the rubber hits the road,” he said.

But, Hammond said, he foresees benefits to offering the screenings.

“What we don’t know is how many students are dealing with mental health concerns from home,” he said.

Specifics of the law

The legislation gives parents the ability to opt their children out of the screenings.

The screenings will be free for school districts, but they’ll only be available in years when the state has designated funds for the development of a mental health screening tool.

The State Board of Education and a children’s behavioral health team within the governor’s office will develop procedures and guidance for a “phased approach” to implementing universal screenings, the new law states.

Mental health materials will be provided to school districts beginning Sept. 1, 2026.

The guidance is to include mental health screening tools and associated training for school personnel.

In addition to the ability to opt out, the procedures must also include confidentiality and privacy considerations, communication about the use of mental health screenings, data sharing and storage of screening results, and plans for follow-up and linkage to resources after screenings, the law states.

Kane County Regional Superintendent John Jonak said there is clearly positive intention behind the legislation.

With a shortage of school social workers and psychologists, though, Jonak said determining who will be doing the screenings will be critical.

“It is going to be very interesting once we get that information from the Board of Education,” Jonak said.

The other key piece will be making sure students are connected to the appropriate resources once their needs are identified.

“Just trying to make sure all that is connected in a way that’s going to truly help the child, it’s going to be challenging for that reason,” he said.

Some people have serious reservations about public schools doing mental health screenings, so the ability for parents to opt their children out is also important, he said.

Along with the personnel piece, superintendents will have other factors to figure out before implementation can be successful.

How long is it going to take from the child’s school day? Is it a worthy disruption? What are the children whose parents opt out going to be doing while the screenings are going on?

“I think it’s great that people are trying to help solve some of the problems [with mental health] we have out there,” Jonak said. “It [raises] a lot of questions, too.”