Ending PUSHOUT Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2248 To reduce exclusionary discipline practices in schools, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. HASTINGS, and Ms. CLARKE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To reduce exclusionary discipline practices in 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 ‘‘Ending Punitive, Un- 4 fair, School-based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive 5 to Trauma Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Ending PUSHOUT Act 6 of 2021’’. 7 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 8 It is the purpose of this Act to— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2248 IH (1) strengthen data collection related to exclu- 1 sionary discipline practices in schools and the dis- 2 criminatory application of such practices, which dis- 3 proportionately impacts students of color, particu- 4 larly girls of color; 5 (2) eliminate the discriminatory use and over- 6 use of exclusionary discipline practices based on ac- 7 tual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, national ori- 8 gin, sex (including sexual orientation, gender iden- 9 tity, pregnancy, childbirth, a medical condition re- 10 lated to pregnancy or childbirth, or other stereotype 11 related to sex), or disability; and 12 (3) prevent the criminalization and pushout of 13 students from school, especially Black and brown 14 girls, as a result of educational barriers that include 15 discrimination, adultification, punitive discipline poli- 16 cies and practices, and a failure to recognize and 17 support students with mental health needs or experi- 18 encing trauma. 19 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING CIVIL RIGHTS DATA COLLECTION 20 WITH RESPECT TO EXCLUSIONARY DIS- 21 CIPLINE IN SCHOOLS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary for Civil 23 Rights shall annually carry out data collection authorized 24 under section 203(c)(1) of the Department of Education 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2248 IH Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3413(c)(1)), which shall in- 1 clude data with respect to students enrolled in a public 2 preschool, elementary, or secondary school (including tra- 3 ditional public, charter, virtual, special education school, 4 and alternative schools) who received the following dis- 5 ciplinary actions during the preceding school year: 6 (1) Suspension (including the classification of 7 the suspension as in-school suspension or out-of- 8 school suspension), which shall include data with re- 9 spect to— 10 (A) the number of students who were sus- 11 pended; 12 (B) the number and length of suspensions 13 each such student received; 14 (C) the reason for each such suspension, 15 including— 16 (i) a violation of a zero-tolerance pol- 17 icy and whether such violation was due to 18 a violent or nonviolent offense; 19 (ii) a violation of an appearance or 20 grooming policy; 21 (iii) an act of insubordination; 22 (iv) willful defiance; and 23 (v) a violation of a school code of con- 24 duct; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2248 IH (D) the number of days of lost instruction 1 due to each out-of-school suspension. 2 (2) Expulsion, which shall include data with re- 3 spect to— 4 (A) the number of students who were ex- 5 pelled; and 6 (B) the reason for each such expulsion, in- 7 cluding— 8 (i) a violation of a zero-tolerance pol- 9 icy and whether such violation was due to 10 a violent or nonviolent offense; 11 (ii) a violation of an appearance or 12 grooming policy; 13 (iii) an act of insubordination, willful 14 defiance, or violation of a school code of 15 conduct; and 16 (iv) the use of profane or vulgar lan- 17 guage. 18 (3) The number of students subject to an out- 19 of-school transfer to a different school, including a 20 virtual school, and if so, the primary reason for each 21 such transfer. 22 (4) The number of students subject to a refer- 23 ral to law enforcement, including the primary reason 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2248 IH for each such referral, and whether such referral re- 1 sulted in an arrest. 2 (b) REPORT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an- 5 nually thereafter, the Assistant Secretary for Civil 6 Rights shall submit to Congress a report on the data 7 collected under subsection (a). 8 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The report required 9 under paragraph (1) shall— 10 (A) identify, with respect to the data col- 11 lected under subsection (a), schools, local edu- 12 cational agencies, and States that demonstrate, 13 in the opinion of the Secretary, the overuse and 14 discriminatory use of exclusionary disciplinary 15 practices; 16 (B) be disaggregated and cross tabulated 17 by— 18 (i) enrollment in a preschool or in an 19 elementary school and secondary school by 20 grade level; 21 (ii) race; 22 (iii) ethnicity; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2248 IH (iv) sex (including, to the extent pos- 1 sible, sexual orientation and gender iden- 2 tity); 3 (v) low-income status; 4 (vi) disability status (including stu- 5 dents eligible for disability under the Indi- 6 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 7 U.S.C. 1401 et. seq.) or section 504 of the 8 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 9 794)); 10 (vii) English learner status; 11 (viii) Tribal citizenship or descent, in 12 the first or second degree, of an Indian 13 Tribe; and 14 (ix) if applicable, pregnant and par- 15 enting student status; 16 (C) be publicly accessible in multiple lan- 17 guages, accessibility formats, and provided in a 18 language that parents, family, and community 19 members can understand; and 20 (D) be presented in a manner that protects 21 the privacy of individuals consistent with the re- 22 quirements of section 444 of the General Edu- 23 cation Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g), com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2248 IH monly known as the ‘‘Family Educational 1 Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’’. 2 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO REDUCE EXCLUSIONARY SCHOOL DIS- 3 CIPLINE PRACTICES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 5 (which shall be known as the ‘‘Healing School Climate 6 Grants’’), on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for 7 the purpose of reducing the overuse and discriminatory 8 use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools. 9 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 10 under this section shall submit an application to the Sec- 11 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 12 information as the Secretary may require, including an as- 13 surance that the eligible entity shall prioritize schools with 14 the highest rates of suspensions and expulsions. The Sec- 15 retary shall make applications publicly accessible in an ap- 16 propriate digital format. 17 (c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENT.—An eligible entity 18 that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall prohibit 19 the use of— 20 (1) out-of-school suspension or expulsion for 21 any student in preschool through grade 5 for inci- 22 dents that do not involve serious bodily injury; 23 (2) out-of-school suspension or expulsion for 24 any student in preschool through grade 12 for insub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2248 IH ordination, willful defiance, vulgarity, truancy, tardi- 1 ness, chronic absenteeism, or as a result of a viola- 2 tion of a grooming or appearance policy; 3 (3) corporal punishment; 4 (4) seclusion; 5 (5) a mechanical or chemical restraint on a stu- 6 dent; or 7 (6) a physical restraint on a student, except 8 when— 9 (A) the behavior of a student poses a high 10 risk of serious bodily injury to the student or 11 another individual and less restrictive interven- 12 tions would be ineffective in addressing such a 13 high risk; 14 (B) a limited amount of force is used to 15 protect the student or another individual from 16 an injury and such ends immediately upon the 17 cessation of the imminent danger of serious 18 bodily injury to the student or another indi- 19 vidual; 20 (C) the physical restraint does not restrict 21 breathing or the flow of blood to the brain, in- 22 cluding restraining in the prone or supine posi- 23 tion; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2248 IH (D) the physical restraint does not inter- 1 fere with the ability of a student to commu- 2 nicate in the language or other mode of commu- 3 nication primarily used by such student; 4 (E) the physical restraint is imposed— 5 (i) by personnel who are trained and 6 certified by a State in crisis intervention; 7 or 8 (ii) when personnel described in clause 9 (i) are not available, in the case of a rare 10 and unforeseeable emergency; or 11 (F) the physical restraint does not affect 12 or interfere with, with respect to a student, a 13 disability, health care needs, or a medical or 14 psychiatric condition documented in a— 15 (i) health care directive or medical 16 management plan; 17 (ii) a behavior intervention plan; 18 (iii) an individualized education pro- 19 gram or an individualized family service 20 plan (as defined in section 602 of the Indi- 21 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 22 U.S.C. 1401)); or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2248 IH (iv) another relevant record made 1 available to the State or eligible entity in- 2 volved. 3 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 4 (1) REQUIRED USES.—An eligible entity that 5 receives a grant under this section shall use funds 6 to— 7 (A) evaluate the current discipline policies 8 of a school and, in partnership with students 9 (including girls of color), the family members of 10 students, and the local community of such 11 school, develop discipline policies for such school 12 to ensure that such policies are not exclusionary 13 or discriminately applied toward students; 14 (B) provide training and professional de- 15 velopment for teachers, principals, school lead- 16 ers, and other school personnel to avoid or ad- 17 dress the overuse and discriminatory dispropor- 18 tionate use of exclusionary discipline practices 19 in schools and to create awareness of implicit 20 and explicit bias and use culturally affirming 21 practices, including training in— 22 (i) identifying and providing support 23 to students who may have experienced or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2248 IH are at risk of experiencing trauma or have 1 other mental health needs; 2 (ii) administering and responding to 3 assessments on adverse childhood experi- 4 ences; 5 (iii) providing student-centered, trau- 6 ma-informed positive behavior management 7 intervention and support that creates safe 8 and supportive school climates; 9 (iv) using restorative practices; 10 (v) using culturally and linguistically 11 responsive intervention strategies; 12 (vi) developing social and emotional 13 learning competencies; and 14 (vii) increasing student engagement 15 and improving dialogue between students 16 and teachers; 17 (C) implement evidence-based alternatives 18 to suspension or expulsion, including— 19 (i) multi-tier systems of support, such 20 as schoolwide positive behavioral interven- 21 tions and supports; 22 (ii) social, emotional, and academic 23 learning strategies designed to engage stu- 24 dents and avoid escalating conflicts; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2248 IH (iii) other data-driven approaches to 1 improving school environments; 2 (D) improve behavioral and academic out- 3 comes for students by creating a safe and sup- 4 portive learning environment and school cli- 5 mate, which may include— 6 (i) restorative practices with respect 7 to improving relationships among students, 8 school officials, and members of the local 9 community, which may include partnering 10 with local mental health agencies or non- 11 profit organizations; 12 (ii) access to mentors and peer-based 13 support programs; 14 (iii) extracurricular programs, includ- 15 ing sports and art programs; 16 (iv) social and emotional learning 17 strategies designed to engage students and 18 avoid escalating conflicts; 19 (v) access to counseling, mental health 20 programs, and trauma-informed care pro- 21 grams, including suicide prevention pro- 22 grams; and 23 (vi) access to culturally responsive 24 curricula that affirms the history and con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2248.IH H2248 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2248 IH tributions of traditionally marginalized 1 people and communities; 2 (E) hire social workers, school counselors, 3 trauma-informed care personnel, and other 4 mental health personnel; and 5 (F) support the development, delivery, and 6 analysis of school climate surveys. 7 (2) PROHIBITED USES.—An eligible entity that 8 receives a grant under this section may not use 9 funds to— 10 (A) hire or retain school-based law enforce- 11 ment personnel, including school resource offi- 12 cers; 13 (B) purchase, maintain, or install surveil- 14 lance equipment, including metal detectors or 15 software programs that monitor or mine the so- 16 cial media use or technology use of students; 17 (C) arm teachers, principals, school lead- 18 ers, or other school personnel; and 19 (D) enter into formal or informal partner- 20 ships or data and information sharing agree- 21 ments with— 22 (i) [Text truncated for display. 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