South West Illinois News

Pointing out that parents can also miss the indications of suicide, State Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) commented that HB0577 can place educators in a disadvantaged situation.

“I think it exposes the schools to potential liability,” Friess said, agreeing with Rep. Steve Reick’s comments.

Reick, who is also an attorney, previously said that the bill “is setting up the possibility of increased liability to school districts when or, if a child, a kid student tragically takes his or her own life.”

He acknowledged that suicide attempts and cases are regrettable events, then further explained his stand.

“I know there’s a lot of discussion on how very unfortunate suicide is, and in these cases, you have parents that missed the signs too, and if you have a teacher or an educator or administrator that misses something that the parents missed, I don't think that we should expose our schools to a potential liability for missing something that the child's parents may have missed as well.”

The Red Bud representative said he appreciates Rep. Lindsey LaPointe’s views on the matter but would need to object to it.

“As a husband of an educator, my wife's a school teacher, I can't imagine being in a situation where somebody loses a child on this, but because I think it does expose our schools to potential liability I can’t support it at this time.”