Sec. 5. Grants to reduce exclusionary school discipline practices
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The Secretary shall award grants (which shall be known as the Healing School Climate Grants ), on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for the purpose of reducing the overuse and discriminatory use of exclusionary discipline practices and policies in schools. In this section, the term eligible entity means— one or more local educational agencies (who may be partnered with a State educational agency), including a public charter school that is a local educational agency under State law or local educational agency operated by the Bureau of Indian Education; or a nonprofit organization (defined as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code) with a track record of success in improving school climates and supporting students.
An eligible entity seeking a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including an assurance that the eligible entity shall prioritize schools with high rates of disparities in exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions, expulsions, law enforcement referrals, and school-based arrests, for students of color, students with disabilities, LGBTQI+ students, English language learners, students experiencing homelessness, students involved in the foster care system, and students living at the intersections of these identities, and historical patterns of disparities in exclusionary school discipline.
The Secretary shall make applications publicly accessible in an appropriate digital format. An eligible entity that receives a grant under subsection
(a)shall prohibit the use of— out-of-school suspension or expulsion for any student in preschool through grade 5 for incidents that do not involve serious physical injury; out-of-school suspension or expulsion for any student in preschool through grade 12 for insubordination, willful defiance, vulgarity, truancy, tardiness, chronic absenteeism, or as a result of a violation of a grooming or appearance policy; corporal punishment; seclusion; a mechanical or chemical restraint on a student; or a physical restraint or physical escort that is life threatening, that restricts breathing, or that restricts blood flow to the brain, including prone and supine restraint, on a student, except when each of the following requirements are met: The student’s behavior poses an imminent danger of serious physical injury to the student, program personnel, or another individual. Before using physical restraint, less restrictive interventions would be ineffective in stopping such imminent danger of serious physical injury. Such physical restraint is imposed by— program personnel trained and certified by a State-approved crisis intervention training program; or program personnel not trained and certified as described in clause (i), in the case of a rare and clearly unavoidable emergency circumstance when program personnel certified as described in clause
(i)is not immediately available due to the unforeseeable nature of the emergency circumstance. Such physical restraint ends immediately upon the cessation of the imminent danger of serious physical injury to the student, any program personnel, or another individual. The physical restraint does not interfere with the student’s ability to communicate in the student’s primary language or primary mode of communication. During the physical restraint, the least amount of force necessary is used to protect the student or others from the threatened injury. The physical restraint does not affect or interfere with, with respect to a student, a disability, health care needs, or a medical or psychiatric condition documented in a— health care directive or medical management plan; a behavior intervention plan; an individualized education program or an individualized family service plan (as defined in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( 20 U.S.C. 1401 )); or another relevant record made available to the State or eligible entity involved. An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall use funds to— evaluate the current discipline policies of schools under the eligible entity and, in partnership with students (including girls of color), the family members of students, and the local community of such school, develop discipline policies for such schools to ensure that such policies are not exclusionary or discriminately applied toward students; provide training and professional development for school officials to avoid or address the overuse and discriminatory disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools and to create awareness of implicit and explicit bias and use culturally sustaining practices, including training in— identifying and providing support to students who may have experienced or are at risk of experiencing trauma or have other mental health needs; administering and responding to assessments on adverse childhood experiences; providing student-centered, trauma-informed services and positive behavior management interventions that create safe and supportive school climates; using restorative practices; using culturally and linguistically responsive intervention strategies; developing social and emotional learning competencies; and increasing student engagement and improving dialogue between students and educators; implement and evaluate evidence-based alternatives to suspension or expulsion, including— multi-tier systems of support, such as positive behavioral interventions and supports; social, emotional, and academic learning strategies designed to engage students and avoid escalating conflicts; and other data-driven approaches to improving school environments; improve behavioral and academic outcomes for students by creating a safe and supportive learning environment and school climate, which may include— restorative practices with respect to improving relationships among students, school officials, and members of the local community, which may include partnering with local mental health agencies or nonprofit organizations; access to mentors and peer-based support programs; extracurricular programs, including sports and art programs; social and emotional learning strategies designed to engage students and avoid escalating conflicts; access to counseling, mental health programs, and trauma-informed services, including suicide prevention programs; and access to culturally responsive curricula that affirms the history and contributions of traditionally marginalized people and communities; hire social workers, school counselors, trauma-informed care personnel, and other mental health personnel who shall not serve as proxies for school-based law enforcement officers; and support the development, delivery, and analysis of school climate surveys. An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section may not use funds to— hire or retain school-based law enforcement personnel, including school resource officers; purchase, maintain, or install surveillance equipment, including metal detectors or software programs that monitor or mine the social media use or technology use of students; arm educators, principals, school leaders, or other school personnel; and enter into formal or informal partnerships or data and information sharing agreements with— the Secretary of Homeland Security, including agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection; or State, local, or other law enforcement agencies, including partnerships that allow for hiring of school-based law enforcement. The Secretary, in carrying out subsection (a), may reserve not more than 2 percent of funds to provide technical assistance to eligible entities, which may include— support for data collection, compliance, and analysis of the activities of the program authorized under subsection (a); and informational meetings and seminars with respect to the application process under subsection (c). Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this section, an eligible entity receiving a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary, and to the public, a report on the activities funded through the grant. The Secretary shall make each such report publicly accessible in an appropriate digital format. Such report shall include, at a minimum, a description of— the evaluation methods of disciplinary practices prior to the grant; training and professional development services provided for school officials, including school-based law enforcement officers, to address discriminatory discipline practices, implicit and explicit bias, and other uses described in subsection (e)(1); aggregated and de-identified behavioral, social, emotional, and academic outcomes experienced by students; any instance of physical restraint used on a student with an explanation of a circumstance described in subsection (d)(6); the number of students who were referred to some form of alternative practice described in subsection (e)(1)(C); disaggregated data on students suspended, expelled, arrested at school, and referred to the juvenile or criminal legal system, except that such disaggregation shall not be required in the case of a State, local educational agency, or a school in which the number of students in a subgroup is insufficient to yield statistically reliable information or the results would reveal personally identifiable information about an individual student, cross tabulated by— reason for disciplinary action; type and length of disciplinary action; grade level; race; ethnicity; sex (including to the extent possible, sexual orientation and gender identity); low-income status; disability status; English learner status; foster care status; housing status, to the extent possible; Tribal citizenship or descent, in the first or second degree, of an Indian Tribe; and pregnant and parenting student status, to the extent possible; and any other information required by the Secretary.
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Sec. 5
Grants to reduce exclusionary school discipline practices
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