Overview

• Illinois enacted a law requiring districts to offer annual mental health screenings to students in grades 3–12 starting in the 2027–28 school year, described as the first statewide mandate of its kind.
• The Illinois State Board of Education must provide model tools, policies, and guidance by Sept. 1, 2026 at no cost to districts, and no technical guidance has been issued yet.
• Key operational questions remain unresolved, including whether and how families can opt out, who administers the screenings, what questions are asked, how data are stored, and what follow-up occurs for flagged students.
• Editorials and commentators raise privacy concerns about collection and use of sensitive student data and point to the state’s BEACON portal as a flashpoint for data-use questions.
• Skeptics cite research on high false-positive rates and warn of limited school mental-health capacity during a nationwide shortage, arguing parents should guide decisions about children’s care.