Restoring Students’ Right to Appeal Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8994 To amend the Department of Education Organization Act to permit appeals of certain determinations made by the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education made with respect to complaints filed between March 5, 2018, and November 18, 2018. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 16, 2020 Ms. UNDERWOOD (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. MOORE, Mr. KIL- DEE, and Ms. JAYAPAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Department of Education Organization Act to permit appeals of certain determinations made by the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Edu- cation made with respect to complaints filed between March 5, 2018, and November 18, 2018. 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 ‘‘Restoring Students’ 4 Right to Appeal Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8994.IH H8994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8994 IH SEC. 2. RIGHT TO APPEAL CERTAIN DETERMINATIONS 1 MADE WITH RESPECT TO CIVIL RIGHTS COM- 2 PLAINTS FILED BETWEEN MARCH 5, 2018, 3 AND NOVEMBER 18, 2018. 4 Section 203 of the Department of Education Organi- 5 zation Act (20 U.S.C. 3413) is amended by adding at the 6 end the following: 7 ‘‘(d)(1) An individual who filed a complaint with the 8 Office of Civil Rights between March 5, 2018, and Novem- 9 ber, 18, 2018, and who received an investigative deter- 10 mination of insufficient evidence shall have the right to 11 file with such Office an appeal of such determination in 12 accordance with this subsection. 13 ‘‘(2) Not later than 60 days after the effective date 14 of this subsection, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 15 shall conduct outreach to inform each individual described 16 in paragraph (1) of the right to file such appeal. Such 17 outreach shall include the following: 18 ‘‘(A) The Assistant Secretary shall publish on 19 the website of the Department a notice that each in- 20 dividual described in paragraph (1) has the right to 21 file such appeal. 22 ‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary shall notify in 23 writing each individual described in paragraph (1) of 24 the right to file such appeal during the 60–day pe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8994.IH H8994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8994 IH riod that begins on the date such individual receives 1 the written notice of such right. 2 ‘‘(C) Not later than 180 days after the effective 3 date of this subsection, the Secretary shall submit a 4 report to the Committee on Education and Labor of 5 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 6 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen- 7 ate that includes— 8 ‘‘(i) with respect to each complaint de- 9 scribed in paragraph (1), information that 10 specifies— 11 ‘‘(I) each Federal civil rights law that 12 such complainant alleged was violated; 13 ‘‘(II) the date on which such com- 14 plaint was filed; 15 ‘‘(III) the date on which any previous 16 appeal of such determination was filed; 17 and 18 ‘‘(IV) the then current status of such 19 complaint; and 20 ‘‘(ii) information describing in detail the 21 outreach conducted under this paragraph to in- 22 form individuals described in paragraph (1) of 23 the right to appeal under this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8994.IH H8994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8994 IH ‘‘(D) Data reported under this subsection shall 1 be reported in accordance with applicable privacy 2 laws and regulations.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8994.IH H8994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS