[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3973 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3973
To help local educational agencies replace zero-tolerance disciplinary
policies and punitive discipline in elementary and secondary schools
with restorative practices.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 31, 2022
Mr. Bennet introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To help local educational agencies replace zero-tolerance disciplinary
policies and punitive discipline in elementary and secondary schools
with restorative practices.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Restorative Practices in Schools Act
of 2022''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to help local educational agencies
replace zero-tolerance disciplinary policies and punitive discipline in
elementary and secondary schools with restorative practices that--
(1) provide an intentional approach to school safety and
student well-being that addresses the needs of the whole child;
(2) recognize student behavior as a result of underlying
need, and childhood emotional and behavioral development;
(3) build community and repair relationships while
developing students' proactive skills for conflict resolution,
communication, problem-solving, and empathy;
(4) reduce undesirable behavior; and
(5) promote relationship-centered schools and safe,
inclusive learning environments with positive school climates.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'',
``evidence-based'', ``local educational agency'', ``parent'',
``professional development'', ``school leader'', ``secondary
school'', ``Secretary'', ``specialized instructional support
personnel'', and ``other staff'' have the meaning given those
terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) Program personnel.--The term ``program personnel''
means--
(A) any agent of a local educational agency,
including an individual who is employed by a local
educational agency, or who performs services for a
local educational agency on a contractual basis,
including--
(i) school leaders;
(ii) educators;
(iii) specialized instructional support
personnel;
(iv) paraprofessionals; or
(v) other staff; and
(B) a school-based law enforcement officer.
(3) Restorative practices.--The term ``restorative
practices'' means evidence-based practices that--
(A) acknowledge and honor the dignity of students;
(B) are proactive approaches that teach and build
community, empathy, and accountability school-wide to
reduce and discourage undesirable student behavior;
(C) improve school climate, elevate students'
voices, and strengthen all relationships in a school
community;
(D) may include--
(i) strategies such as restorative
dialogue, informal conferencing, proactive
circles, and responsive circles;
(ii) reactive strategies that address
conflicts, individual incidents, and classroom-
wide issues; and
(iii) formal conferences, reintegration
circles, and circles of support and
accountability to cultivate empathy and repair
harm; and
(E) do not include mediation or school-based
mediation to address bullying, harassment, or other
forms of discrimination.
(4) School-based law enforcement officer.--The term
``school-based law enforcement officer'' means any person,
sworn or unsworn, who--
(A) is assigned by the employing law enforcement
agency to a local educational agency or school, who is
contracting with a local educational agency or school,
or who is employed by a local educational agency or
school;
(B)(i) has the power to detain, arrest, issue a
citation, perform a custodial investigation, or refer a
person to criminal or juvenile court; or
(ii) is considered under State law to meet the
definition of law enforcement; and
(C) includes an individual referred to as a
``school resource officer'', ``school safety agent'',
or a ``school police officer'', if that individual
meets the definition in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(5) School to prison pipeline.--The term ``school to prison
pipeline'' means the use of discipline practices such as zero-
tolerance policies that funnel students out of school and
toward the juvenile legal and criminal legal systems.
(6) Subgroup of students.--The term subgroup of students
has the meaning given that term in section 1111(c)(2) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
6311(c)(2)).
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Education shall award grants, on
a competitive basis, to local educational agencies to enable those
local educational agencies to implement and sustain restorative
practices for elementary and secondary schools and to replace existing
punitive models, in accordance with subsection (d).
(b) Applications.--
(1) In general.--Local educational agencies desiring a
grant under this section shall submit an application at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may reasonably require, including--
(A) information about--
(i) the number of students served by that
local educational agency who are in contact
with the juvenile legal system at the time the
application is submitted;
(ii) the percentage of residents living in
the area served by the local educational agency
who are in contact with the legal justice
system at the time the application is
submitted;
(iii) the percentage and number of
residents living in the area served by the
local educational agency who are admitted to
correctional facilities each year;
(iv) the percentage and number of residents
living in the area served by the local
educational agency who are on probation,
parole, or any other form of community-based
supervision at the time of the application; and
(v) the percentage or number of students
served by the local educational agency who--
(I) received one or more in-school
suspensions;
(II) received one or more out-of-
school suspensions;
(III) were expelled because of
zero-tolerance policies;
(IV) were referred to a law
enforcement agency or official;
(V) were arrested for school-
related activity; or
(VI) received corporal punishment;
(B) demographic information that shows evidence
that the community served by the local educational
agency is disproportionally impacted by the legal
justice system or that marginalized subgroups in that
community are disproportionally impacted by the legal
justice system;
(C) documentation of meaningful community
engagement and stakeholder interest in establishing or
expanding restorative practices at the local
educational agency or schools served by the local
educational agency, including engagement and interest
of teachers' unions and organizations, school
leadership parent-teacher associations, student
councils, and not less than 1 advocacy organization for
each subgroup of students, and which may include other
relevant groups;
(D) a plan to implement evidence-based,
restorative, equitable, and non-discriminatory school
discipline practices that improve the climate of the
local educational agency and that meet the requirements
of subsection (c);
(E) the number and percentage of exclusionary
discipline practices implemented by the local
educational agency, including suspensions and
expulsions, as a whole and disaggregated by student
subgroup, students experiencing homelessness, and
students who are children and youth in foster care;
(F) an assurance that the local educational agency
will meet the requirements described in subsection (c);
and
(G) a description of whether the local educational
agency meets the criteria described in subparagraph (A)
or (B) of paragraph (3).
(2) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give priority to local educational agencies
that--
(A) serve communities that have been
disproportionately impacted by the juvenile and
criminal legal systems;
(B) have disproportionally high rates of grade
retention, suspensions, and expulsions for certain
subgroups of students;
(C) serve students in an area that has a high
concentration of residents in poverty, including local
educational agencies that are in the highest quartile
of local educational agencies in a ranking of all
qualified local educational agencies in the State
ranked in descending order by the number or percentage
of children in each agency counted under section
1124(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)); or
(D) serve students in a rural community and need
additional staff to support the implementation of
restorative practices.
(3) Grant applicant pools.--In awarding grants under this
section, the Secretary shall evaluate applicants according to
the following two distinct applicant pools:
(A) Applicants seeking to implement restorative
practices in one or more schools served by the local
educational agency for the first time.
(B) Applicants seeking to expand and sustain
existing restorative practice programs in one or more
schools served by the local educational agency or
improve data collection systems under subsection
(d)(4), as the case may be.
(c) Requirements for Grant Recipients.--In order to receive a grant
under this section a local educational agency shall submit an assurance
to the Secretary as part of the application described in subsection (b)
that the local educational agency will agree to--
(1) hire a full-time employee (who shall not have academic
teaching or administrative duties distinct from the
responsibilities described in this paragraph and shall not be a
law enforcement officer or a retired law enforcement officer)
whose primary responsibility is to provide training,
professional development, coaching, and oversight for
restorative practices implementation in the local educational
agency or schools served by the local educational agency;
(2) fund ongoing restorative practices training,
professional development, and on-site coaching for all program
personnel, students, and interested parents;
(3) eliminate--
(A) zero-tolerance disciplinary policies at the
local educational agency or at all elementary and
secondary schools served by the local educational
agency; or
(B) the application of these policies to
undesirable behavior to the greatest extent possible
under State law;
(4) adopt safety and discipline policies or codes of
conduct that--
(A) emphasize ways of maintaining safety that
minimize the involvement of law enforcement (including
school-based law enforcement officers and including
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), to the
greatest extent that is practicable and permitted under
applicable Federal, State, and local laws; and
(B) eliminate the use of exclusionary discipline
policies, including suspensions and expulsions for
undesirable student behavior to the greatest extent
permitted by Federal, State, and local laws;
(5) implement implicit bias, cultural competence, and anti-
racist training for program personnel;
(6) establish policies that limit when law enforcement can
be called into schools, including by--
(A) recognizing the local educational agency as the
primary authority responsible for school climate and
safety;
(B) requiring that school discipline issues be
handled by program personnel who are not school-based
law enforcement officers, police, security officers, or
other law enforcement, unless there is a real,
immediate, specific, and credible threat of serious
physical injury to a student, teacher, or other member
of the school community; and
(C) establishing that school administrators shall
have final responsibility and jurisdiction over the
building, the grounds, and all members of the school
community, to the greatest extent permitted by law;
(7) prohibit the issuance of tickets, summonses, and
referrals of students to the juvenile or criminal legal systems
for all school disciplinary matters and school status offenses;
(8) provide proper notice and a right of action or appeals
procedures for students, parents, and guardians involved in
school discipline;
(9) prohibit the use of metal detectors, facial recognition
software, and other surveillance technology and approaches; and
(10) prohibit the sharing of student data (personal and
academic) with Federal, State, or local law enforcement, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or other law enforcement,
except as required by law.
(d) Uses of Grant Funds.--A local educational agency shall use
grant funds received under this section to support the implementation
of restorative practices in elementary and secondary schools served by
the local educational agency. Funds may be used to carry out one or
more of the following activities:
(1) Hiring additional full-time and part-time employees
(including students and parents) to lead evidence-based,
restorative practices at the district or school level.
(2) Providing anti-racist, culturally competent, and
linguistically responsive curriculum and material development
and training to program personnel.
(3) Providing trauma-informed or healing-centered
engagement practice training.
(4) If not already in place, developing data collection
systems to accurately document behavior incidents as well as
school responses to those incidents, such as restorative
circles to support implementation of restorative practices.
(5) Offering robust integrated student supports, such as
wraparound services and social services necessary to address
the underlying causes of undesirable student behavior,
including hiring specialized instructional support personnel
and related service providers such as psychologists,
counselors, nurses, social workers, paraprofessionals, conflict
resolution staff, and advisors, in a manner that is in
accordance with--
(A) evidence-based student-educator ratios; and
(B) individual education plan requirements of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
1400 et seq.).
(6) Promoting partnerships and local liaisons in order to
coordinate with existing social and community-based services
and providers to connect youth with trusted and established
resources.
(7) Developing and implementing diversion programs for
young people in their communities, such as--
(A) truancy diversion;
(B) truancy boards;
(C) peer mediation;
(D) alternative dispute resolution to reduce
referrals to a court-designated worker; and
(E) relationship-centered schools that support
strong family and community engagement.
(8) Providing training and professional development for
program personnel to identify, de-escalate, and otherwise
appropriately respond to student trauma and harm.
(e) Reporting.--
(1) Local educational agency requirements.--Not later than
1 year after receiving a grant under this section, and each
year thereafter, each local educational agency that receives a
grant under this section shall provide to the Secretary--
(A) a written assurance that--
(i) the local educational agency or schools
served by the local educational agency have
been notified of and are in compliance with the
requirements described under subsection (c);
(ii) all program personnel of the local
educational agency have received training with
respect to such requirements;
(iii) parents of students enrolled in the
local educational agency or served by such
local educational agency have been notified of
those requirements with respect to the local
educational agency based on receipt of the
grant; and
(iv) the notification required under clause
(iii) is publicly available on the website of
the local educational agency; and
(B) a school climate report, which shall be
publicly available in an easily accessible format on a
school or district website, that includes a description
of--
(i) the policies and procedures of the
local educational agency with respect
exclusionary and aversive discipline practices
or interventions in the local educational
agency or schools served by the local
educational agency;
(ii) how the local educational agency plans
to implement, is implementing, or has
implemented restorative practices and other
models to address student behavior and reduce
the use of exclusionary and aversive discipline
practices or interventions in the local
educational agency or schools served by the
local educational agency;
(iii) efforts of the local educational
agency to ensure all program personnel receive
the supports and training necessary to
implement restorative practices;
(iv) efforts of the local educational
agency to ensure program personnel are
implementing practices of anti-racism, cultural
competence, and anti-bias to ensure the school
environment is free from racial and other forms
of harassment;
(v) how the local educational agency has
taken steps to ensure its restorative practices
have centered on the needs of those who have
been harmed by zero-tolerance disciplinary
policies and punitive disciplinary practices;
(vi) the number of students that are served
by the local educational agency who engaged in
some form of restorative practice during the
reporting period and the kinds of restorative
practices that were used, disaggregated and
cross-tabulated based on race, gender, and
disability status, and by category described
under subsection (b)(1)(A)(v);
(vii) the number of students that are
served by the local educational agency that
were subject to exclusionary discipline during
the reporting period, which shall be
disaggregated and cross-tabulated based on
race, gender, and disability status;
(viii) a demonstration of continued
engagement among students, parents, and other
stakeholders; and
(ix) a plan that articulates how the local
educational agency will sustain the use of
restorative practices after the grant period is
concluded.
(2) Report.--The Secretary shall study data collected from
the grant program under this section and other relevant
programs and use such data to submit, not later than 3 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less than
once every 1 year thereafter, to the Committee on Education and
Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and make
publicly available, a report--
(A) summarizing the information from grantees as
described under paragraph (1);
(B) highlighting strong examples of restorative
practices in schools;
(C) informing guidance on school discipline that
can dramatically reduce the number of children who are
funneled into the school to prison pipeline; and
(D) containing recommendations about how schools
can strengthen compliance with Federal civil rights
laws.
(f) Accountability.--If the Secretary determines that an entity has
misused funds or failed to comply with program requirements, the
Secretary may withhold funds until an entity comes into compliance, in
accordance with part D of the General Education Provisions Act (20
U.S.C. 1234 et seq.).
SEC. 5. STUDY OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICES.
(a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct a study on the school to prison pipeline for the purposes of--
(1) identifying evidence-based interventions to improve
student well-being and improve school climate, including
restorative practices; and
(2) examining the role of State and local legal, and
education systems in exacerbating disparities among students
(based on race, sex (including sexual orientation and gender
identity), socioeconomic status, and disability status),
including the disproportionate involvement of certain students
in the legal system.
(b) Duties.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General shall initiate the study under
subsection (a), which may include--
(1) examining school discipline policies that are
alternatives to exclusionary discipline practices, that
include--
(A) the models for professional development and
family engagement in local educational agencies or
States that have adopted and effectively implemented
such policies;
(B) a review of the research on the impact that
such policies may have on student achievement,
disproportionate discipline rates, and student well-
being; and
(C) the measurement tools used to collect, analyze,
and respond to data related to student discipline,
school climate, and student well-being after such
policies have been implemented;
(2) examining the consequences that disparities in school
discipline policies may have on affected students, including
impacts on learning loss and school completion rates, families,
and local communities, including increasing trauma and other
risk factors associated with the school to prison pipeline;
(3) identifying harmful education and public safety
policies that direct more students into the justice system and
examples of efforts to disrupt such policies; and
(4) elevating public health oriented approaches to
improving student well-being and school climate.
(c) Report.--Upon the conclusion of the study under subsection (a),
the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate, the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of
Representatives, and the Department of Education a report regarding the
study and the conclusions and recommendations generated from the study.
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