1.This Act may be cited as
the Safe Schools Improvement Act of
2011
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)Bullying and
harassment fosters a climate of fear and disrespect that can seriously impair
the physical and psychological health of its victims and create conditions that
negatively affect learning, thereby undermining the ability of students to
achieve their full potential.
(2)Bullying and
harassment contribute to high dropout rates, increased absenteeism, and
academic underachievement.
(3)Bullying and
harassment include a range of behaviors that negatively impact a student’s
ability to learn and participate in educational opportunities and activities
that schools offer. Such behaviors can include hitting or punching,
name-calling, intimidation through gestures or social exclusion, and sending
insulting or offensive messages through electronic communications such as
internet sites, e-mail, instant messaging, mobile phones and messaging,
telephone, or any other means.
(4)Schools with
enumerated anti-bullying and harassment policies have an increased level of
reporting and teacher intervention in incidents of bullying and harassment,
thereby reducing the overall frequency and number of such incidents.
(5)Students have
been particularly singled out for bullying and harassment on the basis of their
actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability status,
sexual orientation or gender identity, among other categories.
(6)Some young people
experience a form of bullying called relational aggression or psychological
bullying, which harms individuals by damaging, threatening, or manipulating
their relationships with their peers, or by injuring their feelings of social
acceptance.
(7)Interventions to
address bullying and harassment and create a positive and safe school climate,
combined with evidence-based discipline policies and practices, such as
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and restorative practices,
can minimize suspensions, expulsions, and other exclusionary discipline
policies to ensure that students are not pushed-out
or diverted
to the juvenile justice system.
(8)According to a
recent poll, 85 percent of Americans strongly support or somewhat support a
Federal law to require schools to enforce specific rules to prevent
bullying.
(9)Students,
parents, educators, and policymakers have come together to call for leadership
and action to address the national crisis of bullying and harassment.
3.
(a)Title IV of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
D
4401.The purpose of this part is to address the
problem of bullying and harassment of students in public elementary schools and
secondary schools.
4402.
(a)State
reporting, needs assessment, and technical assistanceEach State
that receives funds under this Act shall carry out the following:
(1)Collection and
report of information
(A)The State shall collect and report information on the
incidence, prevalence, age of onset, perception of health risk, and perception
of social disapproval of bullying and harassment by youth in elementary schools
and secondary schools and communities in the State.
(B)In collecting information described in subparagraph
(A), the State shall include information collected from incident reports by
school officials, anonymous student surveys, and anonymous teacher,
administrator, specialized instructional support personnel, and other school
personnel surveys reported to the State on a school-by-school basis but shall
not identify victims of bullying or harassment or persons accused of bullying
or harassment.
(C)The
chief executive officer of the State, in cooperation with the State educational
agency, shall—
(i)submit a biennial
report on the information described in this paragraph to the Secretary;
and
(ii)make such
information readily available to the public.
(2)The State shall conduct, and publicly report the
results of, a needs assessment for bullying and harassment prevention programs,
which shall be based on ongoing State evaluation activities, including data
on—
(A)the incidence and
prevalence of reported incidents of bullying and harassment; and
(B)the perception of
students, parents, and communities regarding their school environment,
including with respect to the prevalence and seriousness of incidents of
bullying and harassment and the responsiveness of the school to those
incidents.
(3)The State shall provide technical assistance to local
educational agencies and schools in their efforts to prevent and appropriately
respond to incidents of bullying and harassment.
(b)Available
funding for StatesTo implement the requirements described in
subsection (a), the State may use—
(1)administrative
funds consolidated under section 9201; or
(2)other funds
available to the State under this Act, to the extent consistent with the
authorized uses of such funds.
4403.Local
educational agency requirements
(a)Local
educational agency discipline policies, performance indicators, and grievance
proceduresEach local educational agency that receives funds
under this Act shall—
(1)include within
the agency's comprehensive discipline policies clear prohibitions against
bullying and harassment for the protection of all students;
(2)establish and
monitor performance indicators for incidents of bullying and harassment;
(3)provide annual
notice to parents, students, and educational professionals—
(A)describing the
full range of bullying and harassment conduct prohibited by the agency's
discipline policies; and
(B)reporting on the
numbers and nature of bullying and harassment incidents for each school served
by the local educational agency; and
(4)establish and
provide annual notice to students, parents, and educational professionals of
grievance procedures for students, parents, or educational professionals who
seek to register complaints regarding bullying and harassment prohibited by the
discipline policies, including—
(A)the name of the
local educational agency official who is designated as responsible for
receiving such complaints; and
(B)timelines that
the local educational agency will follow in the resolution of such
complaints.
(b)Available
funding for local educational agenciesTo implement the
requirements described in subsection (a), the local educational agency may
use—
(1)administrative
funds consolidated under section 9203; or
(2)other funds
available to the local educational agency under this Act, to the extent
consistent with the authorized uses of such funds.
4404.
(a)The Secretary shall conduct an independent biennial
evaluation of programs to combat bullying and harassment in elementary schools
and secondary schools, including implementation of the requirements described
in sections 4402 and 4403, including whether such programs have appreciably
reduced the level of bullying and harassment and have conducted effective
parent involvement and training programs.
(b)The Commissioner for Education Statistics shall
collect data, that are subject to independent review, to determine the
incidence and prevalence of bullying and harassment in elementary schools and
secondary schools in the United States. The collected data shall include
incident reports by school officials, anonymous student surveys, anonymous
parent surveys, and anonymous teacher, administrator, specialized instructional
support personnel, and other school personnel surveys.
(c)Not later than January 1, 2012, and every 2 years
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the President and Congress a report
on the findings of the evaluation conducted under subsection (a) together with
the data collected under subsection (b) and data submitted by the States under
section 4402(a)(1)(C)(i).
4405.In this part:
(1)The
term bullying—
(A)means conduct,
including an electronic communication, that adversely affects the ability of 1
or more students to participate in or benefit from the school's educational
programs or activities by placing the student (or students) in reasonable fear
of physical harm; and
(B)includes conduct
that is based on—
(i)a
student's actual or perceived—
(I)race;
(II)color;
(III)national
origin;
(IV)sex;
(V)disability;
(VI)sexual
orientation;
(VII)gender
identity; or
(VIII)religion;
(ii)any other
distinguishing characteristics that may be defined by a State or local
educational agency; or
(iii)association
with a person or group with 1 or more of the actual or perceived
characteristics listed in clause (i) or (ii).
(2)The term electronic communication
means a communication transmitted by means of an electronic device, such as a
telephone, cellular phone, computer, or pager.
(3)The
term harassment—
(A)means conduct,
including an electronic communication, that adversely affects the ability of 1
or more students to participate in or benefit from the school's educational
programs or activities because the conduct, as reasonably perceived by the
student (or students), is so severe, persistent, or pervasive; and
(B)includes conduct
that is based on—
(i)a
student's actual or perceived—
(I)race;
(II)color;
(III)national
origin;
(IV)sex;
(V)disability;
(VI)sexual
orientation;
(VII)gender
identity; or
(VIII)religion;
(ii)any other
distinguishing characteristic that may be defined by a State or local
educational agency; or
(iii)association
with a person or group with 1 or more of the actual or perceived
characteristics listed in clause (i) or (ii).
4406.
(a)Federal and
State nondiscrimination lawsNothing in this part shall be
construed to invalidate or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal
standards available to victims of discrimination under any other Federal law or
law of a State or political subdivision of a State, including title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 or 505 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794, 794a), or the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by
this part are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
(20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101
et seq.).
(b)Free speech and
expression lawsNothing in this part shall be construed to alter
legal standards regarding, or affect the rights (including remedies and
procedures) available to individuals under, other Federal laws that establish
protections for freedom of speech or expression.
4407.Nothing in this
part shall be construed to prohibit a State or local entity from enacting any
law with respect to the prevention of bullying or harassment of students that
is not inconsistent with this
part.
.
(b)The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 4304 the following:
PART D—Safe Schools Improvement
Sec. 4401. Purpose.
Sec. 4402. State requirements.
Sec. 4403. Local educational agency requirements.
Sec. 4404. Evaluation.
Sec. 4405. Definitions.
Sec. 4406. Effect on other laws.
Sec. 4407. Rule of
construction.
.