STOP Bullying Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 549 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grant program that will support efforts at the State level to establish anti-bullying task forces to study, address, and reduce bullying in elemen- tary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. SUOZZI, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grant program that will support efforts at the State level to establish anti-bullying task forces to study, address, and reduce bullying in elemen- tary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STOP Bullying Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 The Congress finds the following: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H549.IH H549 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 549 IH (1) Between one in four and one in three stu- 1 dents in the United States report being bullied at 2 school, and over 70 percent of young people say they 3 have seen bullying in their schools. 4 (2) Since most instances of bullying take place 5 on school grounds, school staff and teachers play an 6 instrumental role in bullying prevention. 7 (3) Research shows that engaged educators who 8 are supportive of all students help to reduce the 9 overall presence of bullying and harassment on 10 school grounds. 11 (4) 87.3 percent of transgender students report 12 feeling unsafe at school, and nine out of ten stu- 13 dents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, 14 transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) report being har- 15 assed and bullied every year. 16 (5) Hostile school environments have a detri- 17 mental effect on the academic success and health of 18 students. 19 (6) Law in effect before the date of the enact- 20 ment of this Act does not sufficiently address bul- 21 lying prevention, and governments and educators in 22 every State have a responsibility to ensure State and 23 local education systems have processes in place for 24 students to be able to learn in a safe environment, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H549.IH H549 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 549 IH regardless of their actual or perceived race, color, 1 national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, 2 gender identity, or religion. 3 SEC. 3. STATE ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE REQUIRE- 4 MENT. 5 Subpart 2 of part F of title VIII of the Elementary 6 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881 7 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 8549D. STATE ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE GRANTS. 9 ‘‘(a) ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE GRANT PRO- 10 GRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out a program to make 11 grants to each State to establish and implement a task 12 force to study, address, and reduce bullying in elementary 13 schools and secondary schools. 14 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State task force estab- 15 lished under a grant under this section shall use the grant 16 funds to conduct a study on bullying in the elementary 17 schools and secondary schools of such State that in- 18 cludes— 19 ‘‘(1) policies of the local educational agencies in 20 such State with respect to bullying; 21 ‘‘(2) teacher, parent, and student education 22 with respect to bullying; and 23 ‘‘(3) the incidents of student violence and self- 24 harm as a result of bullying. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H549.IH H549 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 549 IH ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 1 ‘‘(1) CHAIR.—Each Chief Education Officer of 2 a State shall designate one individual to serve as the 3 chair of the task force of such State. 4 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—Each State shall des- 5 ignate at least one individual from each of the fol- 6 lowing categories to serve on the task force of such 7 State: 8 ‘‘(A) At least one teacher at elementary 9 schools and secondary schools selected in con- 10 sultation with the union or association rep- 11 resenting educators. 12 ‘‘(B) At least one school administrator. 13 ‘‘(C) At least one parent of students. 14 ‘‘(D) At least one K–12 student. 15 ‘‘(E) At least one guidance counselor. 16 ‘‘(F) At least one child psychologist. 17 ‘‘(G) At least one school psychologist. 18 ‘‘(H) At least one paraprofessional. 19 ‘‘(I) At least one lawyer. 20 ‘‘(J) At least one representative from a 21 community-based organization who specializes 22 in providing supportive services to students who 23 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 24 or queer. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H549.IH H549 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 549 IH ‘‘(K) Professionals who specialize in pro- 1 viding support services to students who identify 2 as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. 3 ‘‘(L) At least one individual from the Sate 4 Education Agency office focused on school im- 5 provement and school climate. 6 ‘‘(M) Additional individuals, as determined 7 by the chair of the task force. 8 ‘‘(3) TERMS OF MEMBERS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of a 10 task force of State shall be appointed for the 11 duration of the existence of such task force. 12 ‘‘(B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on a task 13 force shall be filled in the manner in which the 14 original designation was made under paragraph 15 (2). 16 ‘‘(4) DISCRETIONARY COORDINATION.—A task 17 force of a State may coordinate activities under this 18 section with other boards and commissions of such 19 State. 20 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 22 the date on which the State submits the study re- 23 quired under subsection (b), the State task force of 24 such State shall submit a final report to the Chief 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H549.IH H549 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 549 IH Education Officer of such State and the Secretary of 1 Education containing— 2 ‘‘(A) the annual findings and conclusions 3 of the task force; 4 ‘‘(B) the recommendations of the task 5 force for legislation or administrative actions; 6 and 7 ‘‘(C) best practices with respect to bullying 8 in elementary schools and secondary schools 9 that includes recommendations for how— 10 ‘‘(i) to address and reduce bullying; 11 ‘‘(ii) to best educate all relevant 12 school staff on recognizing bullying; and 13 ‘‘(iii) parents can best address and 14 discuss with their children the early warn- 15 ing signs of bullying. 16 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Each State task force 17 shall make the final report submitted under para- 18 graph (1) publicly available.’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Feb 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H549.IH H549 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS