Illinois Sen. Villa’s school discipline data transparency bill passes House and Senate

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Karina Villa seeks to enhance transparency in reporting student referrals to law enforcement and promote clear guidelines for school discipline policies across Illinois, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 69 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while six Democrats and 38 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 36 Democrats and one Republican voted in favor of the bill, while 17 Republicans voted against it.

Villa introduced the bill in the Illinois Senate on Feb. 4, 2025 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as SB1519, was passed on May 28, 2025 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill’s official text as follows: “Amends the School Code. Provides that the State Board of Education shall require that each school district annually report the number of students who were referred to a law enforcement agency or official and the number of instances of referrals to law enforcement that students received. Provides that on or before January 31, 2027 and on or before January 31 of each subsequent year, the State Board of Education shall prepare a report on student referrals to law enforcement in all school districts in the State. Requires a parent-teacher advisory committee to develop policy guideline procedures to establish and maintain a reciprocal reporting system between the school district and local law enforcement agencies regarding both criminal and civil offenses (rather than only criminal offenses) committed by students. Removes language providing that a student may not be issued a monetary fine or fee as a disciplinary consequence. Instead, prohibits school personnel from issuing a monetary fine, fee, ticket, or citation for a municipal code violation. Provides that school personnel (rather than a school district) may not refer a truant, chronic truant, or truant minor to any other local public entity, school resource officer, or peace officer (rather than only to any other local public entity) for that local public entity, school resource officer, or peace officer to issue the child a fine or fee as punishment for truancy. Effective immediately.”

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill intends to enhance data transparency regarding student referrals to law enforcement, particularly focusing on incidents resulting in municipal tickets or citations on school grounds. From the 2027-28 school year, Illinois school districts must annually report data on students referred to law enforcement, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, grade level, English learner status, and disability. A yearly report, starting Jan. 31, 2029, must be published online by the State Board of Education. The bill also emphasizes maintaining a parent-teacher advisory committee to develop student discipline policy guidelines, and it mandates that school boards work with local law enforcement to establish memorandum agreements for school resource officers. It prohibits issuing fines or tickets to students as disciplinary action and establishes guidelines for school discipline policies, including detailed record-keeping and support services for suspended or expelled students.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Aarón M. Ortíz (Democrat-1st District), Sen. Adriane Johnson (Democrat-30th District), and Rep. Ann M. Williams (Democrat-11th District), along with 22 other sponsors.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Villa, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 2021 to represent the state’s 25th Senate District, replacing previous state senator Jim Oberweis.

Some lawmakers were in the chamber but did not cast any vote, listed as “Not Voting”. Others were not present—either marked “Absent” without explanation or noted as having an “Excused Absence” due to personal or medical reasons.