Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2548 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to address and take action to prevent bullying and harassment of students. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. UDALL, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. ROSEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. REED, Mr. WARNER, Mr. BOOK- ER, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen- sions 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2548 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Bullying and harassment foster a climate of 3 fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the 4 physical and psychological health of its victims and 5 create conditions that negatively affect learning, 6 thereby undermining the ability of students to 7 achieve their full potential. 8 (2) Bullying and harassment contribute to high 9 dropout rates, increased absenteeism, and academic 10 underachievement. 11 (3) Bullying and harassment include a range of 12 behaviors that negatively impact a student’s ability 13 to learn and participate in educational opportunities 14 and activities that schools offer. Such behaviors can 15 include hitting or punching, name-calling, intimida- 16 tion through gestures or social exclusion, and send- 17 ing insulting or offensive messages through elec- 18 tronic communications, such as internet sites, e- 19 mail, instant messaging, mobile phones and mes- 20 saging, telephone, or any other means. 21 (4) Schools with enumerated anti-bullying and 22 harassment policies have an increased level of re- 23 porting and teacher intervention in incidents of bul- 24 lying and harassment, thereby reducing the overall 25 frequency and number of such incidents. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2548 IS (5) Students have been particularly singled out 1 for bullying and harassment on the basis of their ac- 2 tual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, 3 disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, 4 or religion, among other categories. 5 (6) Some young people experience a form of 6 bullying called relational aggression or psychological 7 bullying, which harms individuals by damaging, 8 threatening, or manipulating their relationships with 9 their peers, or by injuring their feelings of social ac- 10 ceptance. 11 (7) Interventions to address bullying and ha- 12 rassment conduct to create a positive and safe school 13 climate, combined with evidence-based discipline 14 policies and practices, such as Positive Behavior 15 Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and restorative 16 practices, can minimize suspensions, expulsions, and 17 other exclusionary discipline policies to ensure that 18 students are not ‘‘pushed-out’’ or diverted to the ju- 19 venile justice system. 20 (8) According to one poll, 85 percent of Ameri- 21 cans strongly support or somewhat support a Fed- 22 eral law to require schools to enforce specific rules 23 to prevent bullying. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2548 IS (9) Students, parents, educators, and policy- 1 makers have come together to call for leadership and 2 action to address the national crisis of bullying and 3 harassment. 4 SEC. 3. SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Elementary and 6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 7 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘PART G—SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT 9 ‘‘SEC. 4701. PURPOSE. 10 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to address the problem 11 of bullying and harassment conduct of students in public 12 elementary schools and secondary schools. 13 ‘‘SEC. 4702. ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES. 14 ‘‘(a) BULLYING.—In this part, the term ‘bullying’ in- 15 cludes cyber-bullying through electronic communications. 16 ‘‘(b) POLICIES.—A State that receives a grant under 17 this title shall require all local educational agencies in the 18 State to carry out the following: 19 ‘‘(1) Establish policies that prevent and prohibit 20 conduct, including bullying and harassment, that— 21 ‘‘(A) limits a student’s ability to partici- 22 pate in, or benefit from, a program or activity 23 of a public school or local educational agency; 24 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2548 IS ‘‘(B) creates a hostile or abusive edu- 1 cational environment, adversely affecting a stu- 2 dent’s education, at a program or activity of a 3 public school or local educational agency, in- 4 cluding acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical 5 aggression or intimidation. 6 ‘‘(2) The policies required under paragraph (1) 7 shall include a prohibition of bullying or harassment 8 conduct based on— 9 ‘‘(A) a student’s actual or perceived race, 10 color, national origin, sex (including sexual ori- 11 entation and gender identity), disability, or reli- 12 gion; 13 ‘‘(B) the actual or perceived race, color, 14 national origin, sex (including sexual orienta- 15 tion and gender identity), disability, or religion 16 of a person with whom a student associates or 17 has associated; or 18 ‘‘(C) any other distinguishing characteris- 19 tics that may be defined by the State or local 20 educational agency. 21 ‘‘(3) Provide— 22 ‘‘(A) annual notice to students, parents, 23 and educational professionals describing the full 24 range of prohibited conduct contained in such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2548 IS local educational agency’s discipline policies; 1 and 2 ‘‘(B) grievance procedures for students or 3 parents to register complaints regarding the 4 prohibited conduct contained in such local edu- 5 cational agency’s discipline policies, including— 6 ‘‘(i) the name of the local educational 7 agency officials who are designated as re- 8 sponsible for receiving such complaints; 9 and 10 ‘‘(ii) timelines that the local edu- 11 cational agency will establish in the resolu- 12 tion of such complaints. 13 ‘‘(4) Collect annual incidence and frequency of 14 incidents data about the conduct prohibited by the 15 policies described in paragraph (1) at the school 16 level that are accurate and complete and publicly re- 17 port such data at the school level and local edu- 18 cational agency level. The local educational agency 19 shall ensure that victims or persons responsible for 20 such conduct are not identifiable. 21 ‘‘SEC. 4703. STATE REPORTS. 22 ‘‘The chief executive officer of a State that receives 23 a grant under this title, in cooperation with the State edu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2548 IS cational agency, shall submit a biennial report to the Sec- 1 retary— 2 ‘‘(1) on the information reported by local edu- 3 cational agencies in the State pursuant to section 4 4702(b)(4); and 5 ‘‘(2) describing the State’s plans for supporting 6 local educational agency efforts to address the con- 7 duct prohibited by the policies described in section 8 4702(b)(1). 9 ‘‘SEC. 4704. EVALUATION. 10 ‘‘(a) BIENNIAL EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 11 conduct an independent biennial evaluation of programs 12 and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elemen- 13 tary schools and secondary schools, including implementa- 14 tion of the requirements described in section 4702, includ- 15 ing whether such requirements have appreciably reduced 16 the level of the prohibited conduct and have conducted ef- 17 fective parent involvement and training programs. 18 ‘‘(b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Commissioner for 19 Education Statistics shall collect data from States, that 20 are subject to independent review, to determine the inci- 21 dence and frequency of conduct prohibited by the policies 22 described in section 4702. 23 ‘‘(c) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 24 2020, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2548 IS submit to the President and Congress a report on the find- 1 ings of the evaluation conducted under subsection (a) to- 2 gether with the data collected under subsection (b) and 3 data submitted by the States under section 4703. 4 ‘‘SEC. 4705. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 5 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL AND STATE NONDISCRIMINATION 6 LAWS.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to invali- 7 date or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal stand- 8 ards available to victims of discrimination under any other 9 Federal law or law of a State or political subdivision of 10 a State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 11 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 12 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 13 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 14 794, 794a), or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 15 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this 16 part are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the 17 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title 18 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 19 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 20 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabil- 21 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 22 ‘‘(b) FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION LAWS.—Noth- 23 ing in this part shall be construed to alter legal standards 24 regarding, or affect the rights (including remedies and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2548 IS procedures) available to individuals under, other Federal 1 laws that establish protections for freedom of speech or 2 expression. 3 ‘‘SEC. 4706. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 4 ‘‘Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit 5 a State or local entity from enacting any law with respect 6 to the prevention of bullying or harassment of students 7 that is not inconsistent with this part.’’. 8 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 9 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 10 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 11 to section 4644 the following: 12 ‘‘PART D—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 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2548.IS S2548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS