Education Law Insights

Recent legislation designated November 14 as Diabetes Awareness Day. As the University of Chicago reported when the bill was signed into law this summer, more than 800,000 Illinois residents have been diagnosed with diabetes and as many as 500,000 more are unaware that they have the disease. The day is designated for the purpose of supporting efforts to decrease the prevalence of diabetes, develop better treatments and work toward eventual cure for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Unfortunately, the law doesn’t provide much insight into what schools should do to observe Diabetes Awareness Day. But, the recent ISBE Superintendent’s Weekly Message provides some resources for administrators making plans for November. ISBE indicated that it will facilitate school implementation of Diabetes Awareness Day through notice each fall in the Weekly Message and by providing resources for improved research, treatment, and prevention on the ISBE School Health webpage. Those resources, which can be found here, currently include an insulin administration chart, an explanation of Public Act 93-0530 Diabetes Risk Assessment, and a Memorandum from Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Department of Human Services (DHS) explaining the enforcement of PA 93-0530 Diabetes Risk Assessment. The webpage also includes links to a number of other Diabetes Resources, including the American Diabetes Association and Pediatric Diabetes Information. Administrators can use the resources to make a game plan for how to observe Diabetes Awareness Day this fall.