[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2530 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2530
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a School
Safety Clearinghouse, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 23, 2019
Mr. Perdue (for himself, Mr. Jones, Mr. Tillis, and Mrs. Capito)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a School
Safety Clearinghouse, and for other purposes.
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 ``School Safety Clearinghouse Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Incidents of gun violence in schools have severe long-
term effects on students and teachers, such as--
(A) moderate to severe post-traumatic stress
disorder;
(B) depression;
(C) violent behavior; and
(D) lower proficiencies in math and reading.
(2) According to the American Institute of Architects, most
of the 132,853 public and private elementary and secondary
schools in the United States are not designed to deter these
violent acts.
(3) Following the tragic 2018 school shooting at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission reported
that the greatest vulnerabilities of the school existed because
of voids in basic safety policies and strategies.
(4) The final report of the Federal Commission on School
Safety found that one of the biggest concerns raised by schools
and school districts was the inability to sift through the
multitude of safety options, equipment, technologies, and
building designs that are available to improve the safety and
design of their schools.
(5) While there is no general approach to school safety,
architects and engineers as well as other experts in the school
security community have suggested the establishment of a
Federal clearinghouse that could assess, identify, and share
best practices on school building design and overall safety.
SEC. 3. SCHOOL SAFETY CLEARINGHOUSE.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of title XXII of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), is amended by inserting after
section 2214 the following:
``SEC. 2215. SCHOOL SAFETY CLEARINGHOUSE.
``(a) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a School
Safety Clearinghouse (in this section referred to as the
`Clearinghouse') within the Department.
``(2) Requirements.--The Clearinghouse shall--
``(A) be managed by the Secretary, in coordination
with--
``(i) the Secretary of Education;
``(ii) the Attorney General; and
``(iii) the Secretary of Health and Human
Services;
``(B) engage appropriate Federal, State, local, and
nongovernmental organizations to identify, cross-
promote, and disseminate information; and
``(C) be assigned such personnel and resources as
the Secretary considers appropriate to carry out this
section, including not fewer than 5 full-time
equivalent employees.
``(3) Evidence-based tiers.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation
with the Secretary of Education, the Attorney General,
and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall
develop tiers for determining evidence-based practices
that demonstrate a significant effect on improving the
health, safety, and welfare of persons in school
settings.
``(B) Requirements.--The tiers required to be
developed under subparagraph (A) shall--
``(i) prioritize--
``(I) strong evidence from not less
than 1 well-designed and well-
implemented experimental study; and
``(II) moderate evidence from not
less than 1 well-designed and well-
implemented quasi-experimental study;
and
``(ii) consider promising evidence that
demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality
research findings or positive evaluations that
such activity, strategy, or intervention is
likely to improve school climate and promote
school safety.
``(b) Functions.--The Clearinghouse shall--
``(1) serve as a central resource to identify, catalog, and
describe best practices, case studies, and relevant Federal
grants related to safe school design and evidence-based
practices, for use by local education agencies, local law
enforcement agencies, schools, architects, engineers, and
others, and any other school safety topics related to school
design as determined appropriate by the Secretary;
``(2) review and, as appropriate, incorporate finalized
school safety recommendations from other related agencies,
State and local partners, and appropriate nongovernmental
organizations, such as national associations of architects and
engineers;
``(3) determine a means to solicit input from institutions
of higher education and design schools, national associations
of architects, engineers, school safety experts, building
supervisors, school facilities managers, community-based
organizations, and other school safety stakeholders for the
purpose of regularly updating the resources and evidence-based
recommendations of the Clearinghouse;
``(4) make training and technical assistance available to
local education agencies seeking Federal grants to improve
school safety, including providing a website with up-to-date
information on resources, and may partner with nongovernmental
organizations, such as national associations of architects and
engineers and security experts, to provide the training and
technical assistance; and
``(5) perform such other functions necessary to carry out
the functions described in paragraphs (1) through (4) as the
Secretary determines appropriate.
``(c) Exemption.--Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code
(commonly known as the `Paperwork Reduction Act'), shall not apply to
any rulemaking or information collection required under this section.
``(d) Prohibition.--
``(1) In general.--In carrying out this section, an officer
or employee of the Department may not approve, sponsor,
endorse, or take any other action that may be deemed or
construed to be an approval, sponsorship, or endorsement of any
product of a specific organization (including a nonprofit
organization), such as a building material or technology, that
provides a financial gain or other benefit to the organization.
``(2) Rule of construction.--Paragraph (1) shall not be
construed to prevent an officer or employee of the Department
from implementing--
``(A) recommendations, training, and other
assistance developed under subsection (b), including by
broadly identifying building materials and technologies
that could uphold health, safety, and welfare on school
property; or
``(B) the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering
Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 441 et
seq.).''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents in
section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296;
116 Stat. 2135) is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 2214 the following:
``Sec. 2215. School Safety Clearinghouse.''.
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