Mason-Supported Seizure Smart School Act Goes Into Effect

GURNEE, Ill. – Students with epilepsy will be safer at school under legislation backed by state Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, that went into effect on July 1. Mason sponsored the Seizure Smart School Act, a measure that creates new seizure training requirements for all Illinois school employees.

“When young people with epilepsy are at home, they’re typically around family members who know the best way to respond during a seizure. At school, that’s not always the case,” Mason said. “Under previous law, school employees weren’t required to be trained on epilepsy, which led to young people potentially experiencing unnecessary harm when they would have a seizure at school.”

The Seizure Smart School Act allows for a parent or guardian of a student with epilepsy to create a seizure action plan and submit it to their child’s school. A student’s seizure action plan gives school employees specific care guidelines that should be followed when that child has a seizure. The law requires all school staff to undergo seizure first aid training, and it also calls for schools to assign an employee to be a designated care aid for each student with epilepsy to make sure seizure action plans are being followed.

“The Seizure Smart School Act addresses a lack of epilepsy preparedness in our schools and makes sure that students with epilepsy receive appropriate assistance when they have a seizure at school,” Mason said. “This measure takes critically needed action to make our schools safer for young people with epilepsy, and I’m glad to have joined my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in passing the Seizure Smart School Act into law.”

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