Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2653 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to address and take action to prevent bullying and harassment of students. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 9, 2019 Ms. SA´NCHEZ (for herself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. POCAN, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. PORTER, and Mr. KING of New York) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to address and take action to prevent bullying and harassment of students. 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 ‘‘Safe Schools Improve- 4 ment Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Bullying and harassment foster a climate of 8 fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2653 IH physical and psychological health of its victims and 1 create conditions that negatively affect learning, 2 thereby undermining the ability of students to 3 achieve their full potential. 4 (2) Bullying and harassment contribute to high 5 dropout rates, increased absenteeism, and academic 6 underachievement. 7 (3) Bullying and harassment include a range of 8 behaviors that negatively impact a student’s ability 9 to learn and participate in educational opportunities 10 and activities that schools offer. Such behaviors can 11 include hitting or punching, name-calling, intimida- 12 tion through gestures or social exclusion, and send- 13 ing insulting or offensive messages through elec- 14 tronic communications, such as internet sites, e- 15 mail, instant messaging, mobile phones and mes- 16 saging, telephone, or any other means. 17 (4) Schools with enumerated anti-bullying and 18 harassment policies have an increased level of re- 19 porting and teacher intervention in incidents of bul- 20 lying and harassment, thereby reducing the overall 21 frequency and number of such incidents. 22 (5) Students have been particularly singled out 23 for bullying and harassment on the basis of their ac- 24 tual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2653 IH disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, 1 or religion, among other categories. 2 (6) Some young people experience a form of 3 bullying called relational aggression or psychological 4 bullying, which harms individuals by damaging, 5 threatening, or manipulating their relationships with 6 their peers, or by injuring their feelings of social ac- 7 ceptance. 8 (7) Interventions to address bullying and har- 9 assment conduct to create a positive and safe school 10 climate, combined with evidence-based discipline 11 policies and practices, such as Positive Behavior 12 Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and restorative 13 practices, can minimize suspensions, expulsions, and 14 other exclusionary discipline policies to ensure that 15 students are not ‘‘pushed-out’’ or diverted to the ju- 16 venile justice system. 17 (8) According to one poll, 85 percent of Ameri- 18 cans strongly support or somewhat support a Fed- 19 eral law to require schools to enforce specific rules 20 to prevent bullying. 21 (9) Students, parents, educators, and policy- 22 makers have come together to call for leadership and 23 action to address the national crisis of bullying and 24 harassment. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2653 IH SEC. 3. SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Elementary and 2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 3 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘PART G—SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT 5 ‘‘SEC. 4701. PURPOSE. 6 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to address the problem 7 of bullying and harassment conduct of students in public 8 elementary schools and secondary schools. 9 ‘‘SEC. 4702. ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES. 10 ‘‘(a) BULLYING.—In this part, the term ‘bullying’ in- 11 cludes cyber-bullying through electronic communications. 12 ‘‘(b) POLICIES.—A State that receives a grant under 13 this title shall require all local educational agencies in the 14 State to carry out the following: 15 ‘‘(1) Establish policies that prevent and prohibit 16 conduct, including bullying and harassment, that is 17 sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive— 18 ‘‘(A) to limit a student’s ability to partici- 19 pate in, or benefit from, a program or activity 20 of a public school or local educational agency; 21 or 22 ‘‘(B) to create a hostile or abusive edu- 23 cational environment, adversely affecting a stu- 24 dent’s education, at a program or activity of a 25 public school or local educational agency, in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2653 IH cluding acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical 1 aggression or intimidation. 2 ‘‘(2) The policies required under paragraph (1) 3 shall include a prohibition of bullying or harassment 4 conduct based on— 5 ‘‘(A) a student’s actual or perceived race, 6 color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual ori- 7 entation, gender identity, or religion; 8 ‘‘(B) the actual or perceived race, color, 9 national origin, sex, disability, sexual orienta- 10 tion, gender identity, or religion of a person 11 with whom a student associates or has associ- 12 ated; or 13 ‘‘(C) any other distinguishing characteris- 14 tics that may be defined by the State or local 15 educational agency, including being homeless or 16 the child or ward of a member of the Armed 17 Forces. 18 ‘‘(3) Provide— 19 ‘‘(A) annual notice to students, parents, 20 and educational professionals describing the full 21 range of prohibited conduct contained in such 22 local educational agency’s discipline policies; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2653 IH ‘‘(B) grievance procedures for students or 1 parents to register complaints regarding the 2 prohibited conduct contained in such local edu- 3 cational agency’s discipline policies, including— 4 ‘‘(i) the name of the local educational 5 agency officials who are designated as re- 6 sponsible for receiving such complaints; 7 and 8 ‘‘(ii) timelines that the local edu- 9 cational agency will establish in the resolu- 10 tion of such complaints. 11 ‘‘(4) Collect annual incidence and frequency of 12 incidents data about the conduct prohibited by the 13 policies described in paragraph (1) at the school 14 building level that are accurate and complete and 15 publicly report such data at the school level and 16 local educational agency level. The local educational 17 agency shall ensure that victims or persons respon- 18 sible for such conduct are not identifiable. 19 ‘‘(5) Encourage positive and preventative ap- 20 proaches to school discipline that minimize students’ 21 removal from instruction and ensure that students, 22 including students described in paragraph (2), are 23 not subject to disproportionate punishment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2653 IH ‘‘SEC. 4703. STATE REPORTS. 1 ‘‘The chief executive officer of a State that receives 2 a grant under this title, in cooperation with the State edu- 3 cational agency, shall submit a biennial report to the Sec- 4 retary— 5 ‘‘(1) on the information reported by local edu- 6 cational agencies in the State pursuant to section 7 4702(b)(4); and 8 ‘‘(2) describing the State’s plans for supporting 9 local educational agency efforts to address the con- 10 duct prohibited by the policies described in section 11 4702(b)(1). 12 ‘‘SEC. 4704. EVALUATION. 13 ‘‘(a) BIENNIAL EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 14 conduct an independent biennial evaluation of programs 15 and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elemen- 16 tary schools and secondary schools, including implementa- 17 tion of the requirements described in section 4702, includ- 18 ing whether such requirements have appreciably reduced 19 the level of the prohibited conduct and have conducted ef- 20 fective parent involvement and training programs. 21 ‘‘(b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Commissioner for 22 Education Statistics shall collect data from States, that 23 are subject to independent review, to determine the inci- 24 dence and frequency of conduct prohibited by the policies 25 described in section 4702. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2653 IH ‘‘(c) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 1 2021, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 2 submit to the President and Congress a report on the find- 3 ings of the evaluation conducted under subsection (a) to- 4 gether with the data collected under subsection (b) and 5 data submitted by the States under section 4703. 6 ‘‘SEC. 4705. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 7 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL AND STATE NONDISCRIMINATION 8 LAWS.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to invali- 9 date or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal stand- 10 ards available to victims of discrimination under any other 11 Federal law or law of a State or political subdivision of 12 a State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 13 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 14 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 15 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 16 794, 794a), or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 17 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this 18 part are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the 19 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title 20 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 21 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 22 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabil- 23 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2653 IH ‘‘(b) FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION LAWS.—Noth- 1 ing in this part shall be construed to alter legal standards 2 regarding, or affect the rights (including remedies and 3 procedures) available to individuals under, other Federal 4 laws that establish protections for freedom of speech or 5 expression. 6 ‘‘SEC. 4706. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 7 ‘‘Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit 8 a State or local entity from enacting any law with respect 9 to the prevention of bullying or harassment of students 10 that is not inconsistent with this part.’’. 11 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 12 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 13 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 14 to section 4304 the following: 15 ‘‘PART G—SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT ‘‘Sec. 4701. Purpose. ‘‘Sec. 4702. Anti-bullying policies. ‘‘Sec. 4703. State reports. ‘‘Sec. 4704. Evaluation. ‘‘Sec. 4705. Effect on other laws. ‘‘Sec. 4706. Rule of construction.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:43 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2653.IH H2653 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS