Federal

SAFE School Act

Source: Congress.gov · 798 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill creates a grant program run by the Attorney General to give money to states and local school districts to improve school security. The bill specifically allows states and school districts to use these grants to hire and train veterans and former law enforcement officers as school safety officers.

Who It Affects

The Attorney General and the Office of Justice Programs. States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Local educational agencies (school districts). Elementary schools and secondary schools. Veterans and former law enforcement officers. Public and private schools, including religiously affiliated schools.

Key Provisions

• The Attorney General must establish a grant program and award grants to states and local educational agencies for school security activities (Sec. 2(b)). • States can use grant money to create or implement training programs that teach veterans or former law enforcement officers to become school safety officers, and these programs may include firearm training or de-escalation training (Sec. 2(c)(1)). • Schools can hire veterans or former law enforcement officers who completed the state training program, as well as off-duty law enforcement officers, to work as school safety officers (Sec. 2(c)(2)). • Schools can use grant money to install security infrastructure including metal detectors, surveillance cameras, controlled access doors, bulletproof glass, emergency call boxes, and emergency lighting (Sec. 2(c)(3)). • The Attorney General cannot prevent states or schools from using grant money for security activities or impose requirements on how states design their training programs (Sec. 2(d)).

What Changes

States and local school districts will have access to federal grant money to hire trained veterans and former law enforcement officers as school safety officers and to purchase and install security equipment and technology at schools.

Important Definitions

Elementary school, secondary school, and local educational agency have the same meanings as defined in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1107 To establish a grant program to improve school security, including by training and hiring veterans and former law enforcement officers as school safety officers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 30, 2023 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. HAGERTY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish a grant program to improve school security, including by training and hiring veterans and former law enforcement officers as school safety officers, 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 ‘‘Securing Aid for Every 4 School Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE School Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. IMPROVING SCHOOL SECURITY. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1107.IS S1107 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1107 IS (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 1 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary 2 school’’ have the meanings given the terms in section 3 8001 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 5 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 6 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 7 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Attorney 9 General shall establish within the Office of Justice Pro- 10 grams a grant program under which the Attorney General 11 shall make grants to States and local educational agencies 12 to carry out eligible activities described in subsection (c). 13 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The eligible activities de- 14 scribed in this subsection are the following: 15 (1) Establish, if necessary, and implement a 16 State certification or licensure program, or other 17 training program required by the State, that— 18 (A) is designed to train individuals who are 19 veterans or former law enforcement officers to 20 serve as school safety officers; and 21 (B) may include firearm or de-escalation 22 training. 23 (2) Hire veterans or former law enforcement of- 24 ficers who have completed the State certification or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1107.IS S1107 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1107 IS licensure program described in paragraph (1), or off- 1 duty law enforcement officers, to serve as school 2 safety officers in elementary schools and secondary 3 schools in the State. 4 (3) Improve the security of elementary schools 5 and secondary schools in the State by installing in- 6 frastructure and implementing technology and other 7 measures that strengthen security on school prem- 8 ises, including— 9 (A) controlling access to school facilities 10 through the installation of metal detectors, x- 11 ray machines, fencing or gating, and surveil- 12 lance cameras or systems; 13 (B) securing doors through the installation 14 of external door passcodes, internal door locks, 15 peepholes for classroom doors, bulletproof glass 16 or ballistic film, automatic door locking mecha- 17 nisms, and access control doors; and 18 (C) enhancing emergency responsiveness 19 through the installation of increased lighting on 20 school grounds, emergency call boxes, emer- 21 gency alerts, and emergency generators. 22 (d) NO FEDERAL INTERFERENCE.—In awarding 23 grants pursuant to subsection (b), Attorney General may 24 not— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1107.IS S1107 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1107 IS (1) prevent or discourage any State or local 1 educational agency from using any grant funds for 2 a school security activity described in subsection (b); 3 (2) impose any requirements relating to the 4 content or structure of the State certification, licen- 5 sure, or other training program described in sub- 6 section (c)(1); or 7 (3) enforce any requirement relating to grant 8 funds that would prevent a State or local edu- 9 cational agency from carrying out an eligible activity 10 described in subsection (c). 11 (e) NONDISCRIMINATION.—The Attorney General 12 shall award grants pursuant to subsection (b) without re- 13 spect to whether a recipient or subrecipient— 14 (1) is a public or private school; 15 (2) is religiously affiliated; or 16 (3) receives any Federal or State funding for 17 school resource officers. 18 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 20 $900,000,000. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Apr 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1107.IS S1107 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.