Plan banning police from ticketing students for breaking school rules arrives on Pritzker's desk

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The proposal to ban police from giving tickets and citations to students for breaking school rules arrived on Gov. JB Pritzker's desk Thursday night.

Lawmakers filed the plan after ProPublica found 11,800 tickets were handed to students from 2019 to 2022.

This bill also requires police officers to be trained on how to handle students with disabilities if they enforce the law on school grounds.

"It also requires any district utilizing a school resource officer to create a MOU with their local law enforcement that would establish the role and responsibilities of SROs," said Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago).

Students could still be penalized for any serious crimes committed on school grounds.

Senate Bill 1519 passed out of the House on a 69-44 vote and received a 37-17 vote in the Senate.

"Disciplinary action, such as ticketing, has not and will not ever address the root causes of these behaviors," said Sen. Karina Villa (D-West Chicago). "The practice of issuing tickets instead transfers the responsibility of paying the ticket on families, which can create an overwhelming financial hardship."