I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5229 

To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Mr. DIAZ-BALART (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mrs. 

MURPHY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety 

Best Practices, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Luke and Alex School 

5 Safety Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SCHOOL SAFETY 

2 BEST PRACTICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XXII of the 

4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 

5 is amended by inserting after section 2214 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 2215. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SCHOOL SAFETY 

7 BEST PRACTICES. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina10 tion with the Secretary of Education, the Attorney 

11 General, and the Secretary of Health and Human 

12 Services, shall establish a Federal Clearinghouse on 

13 School Safety Best Practices (in this section referred 

14 to as the ‘Clearinghouse’) within the Department. 

15 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The Clearinghouse shall be 

16 the primary resource of the Federal Government to 

17 identify and publish the best practices and rec18 ommendations for school safety for use by State and 

19 local educational agencies, institutions of higher edu20 cation, State and local law enforcement agencies, 

21 health professionals, and the general public. 

22 ‘‘(3) PERSONNEL.— 

23 ‘‘(A) ASSIGNMENTS.—The Clearinghouse 

24 shall be assigned such personnel and resources 

25 as the Secretary considers appropriate to carry 

26 out this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DETAILEES.—The Secretary of Edu2 cation, the Attorney General, and the Secretary 

3 of Health and Human Services may detail per4 sonnel to the Clearinghouse. 

5 ‘‘(4) EXEMPTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.— 

7 Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 

8 (commonly known as the ‘Paperwork Reduction 

9 Act’) shall not apply to any rulemaking or in10 formation collection required under this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

12 ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

13 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply for the purposes of 

14 carrying out this section. 

15 ‘‘(b) CLEARINGHOUSE CONTENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) CONSULTATION.—In identifying the best 

17 practices and recommendations for the Clearing18 house, the Secretary may consult with appropriate 

19 Federal, State, local, Tribal, private sector, and non20 governmental organizations. 

21 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR BEST PRACTICES AND REC22 OMMENDATIONS.—The best practices and rec23 ommendations of the Clearinghouse shall, at a min24 imum— 


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1 ‘‘(A) involve comprehensive school safety 

2 measures, including threat prevention, pre3 paredness, protection, mitigation, incident re4 sponse, and recovery to improve the safety pos5 ture of a school upon implementation; 

6 ‘‘(B) include any evidence or research ra7 tionale supporting the determination of the 

8 Clearinghouse that the best practice or rec9 ommendation has been shown to have a signifi10 cant effect on improving the health, safety, and 

11 welfare of persons in school settings, includ12 ing— 

13 ‘‘(i) evidence from an experimental or 

14 quasi-experimental study; 

15 ‘‘(ii) high-quality research findings or 

16 a positive evaluation that such activity, 

17 strategy, or intervention is likely to im18 prove the health, safety, and welfare of 

19 persons in school settings; 

20 ‘‘(iii) findings and data from previous 

21 Federal or State commissions relating to 

22 school climate, health, safety, and welfare; 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(iv) any other supporting evidence or 

25 findings relied upon by the Clearinghouse 


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1 in determining best practices and rec2 ommendations; and 

3 ‘‘(C) include information on Federal grant 

4 programs for which implementation of each best 

5 practice or recommendation is an eligible use 

6 for the program. 

7 ‘‘(3) PAST COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

8 To the greatest extent practicable, the Clearinghouse 

9 shall present, as appropriate, Federal, State, local, 

10 Tribal, private sector, and nongovernmental organi11 zation issued best practices and recommendations 

12 and identify any best practice or recommendation of 

13 the Clearinghouse that was previously issued by any 

14 such organization or commission. 

15 ‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The Secretary 

16 may produce and publish materials on the Clearinghouse 

17 to assist and train educational agencies and law enforce18 ment agencies on the implementation of the best practices 

19 and recommendations. 

20 ‘‘(d) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.—The Secretary 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) collect for the purpose of continuous im23 provement of the Clearinghouse— 

24 ‘‘(A) Clearinghouse data analytics; 


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1 ‘‘(B) user feedback on the implementation 

2 of resources, best practices, and recommenda3 tions identified by the Clearinghouse; and 

4 ‘‘(C) any evaluations conducted on the best 

5 practices and recommendations of the Clearing6 house; and 

7 ‘‘(2) in coordination with the Secretary of Edu8 cation, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

9 and the Attorney General— 

10 ‘‘(A) regularly assess and identify Clear11 inghouse best practices and recommendations 

12 for which there are no resources provided by 

13 Federal Government programs for implementa14 tion; and 

15 ‘‘(B) establish an external advisory board, 

16 which shall be comprised of appropriate State, 

17 local, private sector, and nongovernmental orga18 nizations, including organizations representing 

19 parents of elementary and secondary school stu20 dents, to— 

21 ‘‘(i) provide feedback on the imple22 mentation of best practices and rec23 ommendations of the Clearinghouse; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) propose additional recommenda2 tions for best practices for inclusion in the 

3 Clearinghouse. 

4 ‘‘(e) PARENTAL ASSISTANCE.—The Clearinghouse 

5 shall produce materials to assist parents and legal guard6 ians of students with identifying relevant Clearinghouse 

7 resources and engaging with appropriate officials to sup8 port the implementation of Clearinghouse best practices 

9 and recommendations.’’. 

10 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of con11 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 

12 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended 

13 by inserting after the item relating to section 2214 the 

14 following: 

‘‘Sec. 2215. Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF CLEARINGHOUSE. 

16 (a) NOTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF EDU17 CATION.—The Secretary of Education shall provide writ18 ten notification of the publication of the Federal Clearing19 house on School Safety Best Practices (referred to in this 

20 section and section 4 as the ‘‘Clearinghouse’’), as required 

21 to be established under section 2215 of the Homeland Se22 curity Act of 2002, as added by section 2 of this Act, to— 

23 (1) every State and local educational agency; 

24 and 


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1 (2) other Department of Education partners in 

2 the implementation of the best practices and rec3 ommendations of the Clearinghouse, as determined 

4 appropriate by the Secretary of Education. 

5 (b) NOTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF HOME6 LAND SECURITY.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 

7 shall provide written notification of the publication of the 

8 Clearinghouse, as required to be established under section 

9 2215 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added 

10 by section 2 of this Act, to— 

11 (1) every State homeland security advisor; 

12 (2) every State department of homeland secu13 rity; and 

14 (3) other Department of Homeland Security 

15 partners in the implementation of the best practices 

16 and recommendations of the Clearinghouse, as deter17 mined appropriate by the Secretary of Homeland Se18 curity. 

19 (c) NOTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH

20 AND HUMAN SERVICES.—The Secretary of Health and 

21 Human Services shall provide written notification of the 

22 publication of the Clearinghouse, as required to be estab23 lished under section 2215 of the Homeland Security Act 

24 of 2002, as added by section 2 of this Act, to— 


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1 (1) every State department of public health; 

2 and 

3 (2) other Department of Health and Human 

4 Services partners in the implementation of the best 

5 practices and recommendations of the Clearing6 house, as determined appropriate by the Secretary of 

7 Health and Human Services. 

8 (d) NOTIFICATION BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

9 The Attorney General shall provide written notification of 

10 the publication of the Clearinghouse, as required to be es11 tablished under section 2215 of the Homeland Security 

12 Act of 2002, as added by section 2 of this Act, to— 

13 (1) every State department of justice; and 

14 (2) other Department of Justice partners in the 

15 implementation of the best practices and rec16 ommendations of the Clearinghouse, as determined 

17 appropriate by the Attorney General. 

18 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM REVIEW. 

19 (a) FEDERAL GRANTS AND RESOURCES.—The Sec20 retary of Education, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

21 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the At22 torney General shall each— 

23 (1) review all grant programs administered by 

24 their respective agency and identify any grant pro25 gram that may be used to award grants for the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5229.IH H5229

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1 poses of implementing best practices and rec2 ommendations of the Clearinghouse; 

3 (2) identify any best practices and rec4 ommendations of the Clearinghouse for which there 

5 is not a Federal grant program that may be award6 ed for the purposes of implementing the best prac7 tice or recommendation; and 

8 (3) report any findings under paragraph (2) to 

9 the appropriate committees of Congress. 

10 (b) STATE GRANTS AND RESOURCES.—The Clearing11 house shall, to the extent practicable, identify, for each 

12 State— 

13 (1) each agency responsible for school safety in 

14 the State, or any State that does not have such an 

15 agency designated; 

16 (2) any grant program that may be used to 

17 award grants for the purposes of implementing best 

18 practices and recommendations of the Clearing19 house; and 

20 (3) any resources other than grant programs 

21 that may be used to assist in implementation of best 

22 practices and recommendations of the Clearing23 house. 


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1 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

3 Act shall be construed to create, satisfy, or waive any re4 quirement under— 

5 (1) title II of the Americans With Disabilities 

6 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.); 

7 (2) the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

8 701 et seq.); 

9 (3) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

10 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.); 

11 (4) title IX of the Education Amendments of 

12 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); or 

13 (5) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 

14 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.). 

Æ 


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