I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5325 

To reduce exclusionary discipline practices in schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2019 

Ms. PRESSLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To reduce exclusionary discipline practices in schools, 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 ‘‘Ending Punitive, Un5 fair, School-based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive 

6 to Trauma Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Ending PUSHOUT Act 

7 of 2019’’. 

8 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

9 It is the purpose of this Act to— 

10 (1) strengthen data collection related to exclu11 sionary discipline practices in schools and the disVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Dec 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5325.IH H5325
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1 criminatory application of such practices, which dis2 proportionately impacts students of color, particu3 larly girls of color; 

4 (2) eliminate the discriminatory use and over5 use of exclusionary discipline practices based on ac6 tual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, national ori7 gin, sex (including sexual orientation, gender iden8 tity, pregnancy, childbirth, a medical condition re9 lated to pregnancy or childbirth, or other stereotype 

10 related to sex), or disability; and 

11 (3) prevent the criminalization and pushout of 

12 students from school, especially Black and brown 

13 girls, as a result of educational barriers that include 

14 discrimination, punitive discipline policies and prac15 tices, and a failure to recognize and support stu16 dents with mental health needs or experiencing trau17 ma. 

18 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING CIVIL RIGHTS DATA COLLECTION 

19 WITH RESPECT TO EXCLUSIONARY DIS20 CIPLINE IN SCHOOLS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary for Civil 

22 Rights shall annually carry out data collection authorized 

23 under section 203(c)(1) of the Department of Education 

24 Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3413(c)(1)), which shall in25 clude data with respect to students enrolled in a public 

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1 preschool, elementary, or secondary school (including tra2 ditional public, charter, virtual, special education school, 

3 and alternative schools) who received the following dis4 ciplinary actions during the preceding school year: 

5 (1) Suspension (including the classification of 

6 the suspension as in-school suspension or out-of7 school suspension), which shall include data with re8 spect to— 

9 (A) the number of students who were sus10 pended; 

11 (B) the number and length of suspensions 

12 each such student received; 

13 (C) the reason for each such suspension, 

14 including— 

15 (i) a violation of a zero-tolerance pol16 icy and whether such violation was due to 

17 a violent or nonviolent offense; 

18 (ii) a violation of an appearance or 

19 grooming policy; 

20 (iii) an act of insubordination; 

21 (iv) willful defiance; and 

22 (v) a violation of a school code of con23 duct; and 

24 (D) the number of days of lost instruction 

25 due to each out-of-school suspension. 

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1 (2) Expulsion, which shall include data with re2 spect to— 

3 (A) the number of students who were ex4 pelled; and 

5 (B) the reason for each such expulsion, in6 cluding— 

7 (i) a violation of a zero-tolerance pol8 icy and whether such violation was due to 

9 a violent or nonviolent offense; 

10 (ii) a violation of an appearance or 

11 grooming policy; 

12 (iii) an act of insubordination, willful 

13 defiance, or violation of a school code of 

14 conduct; and 

15 (iv) the use of profane or vulgar lan16 guage. 

17 (3) The number of students subject to an out18 of-school transfer to a different school, including a 

19 virtual school, and if so, the primary reason for each 

20 such transfer. 

21 (4) The number of students subject to a refer22 ral to law enforcement, including the primary reason 

23 for each such referral, and whether such referral re24 sulted in an arrest. 

25 (b) REPORT.— 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

3 thereafter, the Secretary, acting through the Assist4 ant Secretary for Civil Rights, shall submit to Con5 gress a report on the data collected under subsection 

6 (a). 

7 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The report required 

8 under paragraph (1) shall— 

9 (A) identify, with respect to the data col10 lected under subsection (a), schools, local edu11 cational agencies, and States that demonstrate, 

12 in the opinion of the Secretary, the overuse and 

13 discriminatory use of exclusionary disciplinary 

14 practices; 

15 (B) be disaggregated and cross tabulated 

16 by— 

17 (i) enrollment in a preschool or in an 

18 elementary school and secondary school by 

19 grade level; 

20 (ii) race; 

21 (iii) ethnicity; 

22 (iv) sex (including, to the extent pos23 sible, sexual orientation and gender iden24 tity); 

25 (v) low-income status; 

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1 (vi) disability status (including stu2 dents eligible for disability under the Indi3 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

4 U.S.C. 1401 et. seq.) or section 504 of the 

5 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

6 794)); 

7 (vii) English learner status; 

8 (viii) Tribal citizenship or descent, in 

9 the first or second degree, of an Indian 

10 Tribe; and 

11 (ix) if applicable, pregnant and par12 enting student status; 

13 (C) be publicly accessible in multiple lan14 guages, accessibility formats, and provided in a 

15 language that parents, family, and community 

16 members can understand; and 

17 (D) be presented in a manner that protects 

18 the privacy of individuals consistent with the re19 quirements of section 444 of the General Edu20 cation Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g), com21 monly known as the ‘‘Family Educational 

22 Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’’. 

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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO REDUCE EXCLUSIONARY SCHOOL DIS2 CIPLINE PRACTICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 

4 (which shall be known as the ‘‘Healing School Climate 

5 Grants’’), on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for 

6 the purpose of reducing the overuse and discriminatory 

7 use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools. 

8 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 

9 under this section shall submit an application to the Sec10 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

11 information as the Secretary may require, including an as12 surance that the eligible entity shall prioritize schools with 

13 the highest rates of suspensions and expulsions. 

14 (c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENT.—An eligible entity 

15 that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall prohibit 

16 the use of— 

17 (1) out-of-school suspension or expulsion for 

18 any student in preschool through grade 5 for inci19 dents that do not involve serious bodily injury; 

20 (2) out-of-school suspension or expulsion for 

21 any student in preschool through grade 12 for insub22 ordination, willful defiance, vulgarity, truancy, tardi23 ness, chronic absenteeism, or as a result of a viola24 tion of a grooming or appearance policy; 

25 (3) corporal punishment; 

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1 (4) mechanical and chemical restraints of stu2 dents; 

3 (5) physical restraints of students, except in sit4 uations involving imminent danger of serious phys5 ical harm; and 

6 (6) seclusion. 

7 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

8 (1) REQUIRED USES.—An eligible entity that 

9 receives a grant under this section shall use funds 

10 to— 

11 (A) evaluate the current discipline policies 

12 of a school and, in partnership with students 

13 (including girls of color), the family members of 

14 students, and the local community of such 

15 school, develop discipline policies for such school 

16 to ensure that such policies are not exclusionary 

17 or discriminately applied toward students; 

18 (B) provide training and professional de19 velopment for teachers, principals, school lead20 ers, and other school personnel to avoid or ad21 dress the overuse and discriminatory dispropor22 tionate use of exclusionary discipline practices 

23 in schools and to create awareness of implicit 

24 and explicit bias and use culturally affirming 

25 practices, including training in— 

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1 (i) identifying and providing support 

2 to students who may have experienced or 

3 are at risk of experiencing trauma or have 

4 other mental health needs; 

5 (ii) administering and responding to 

6 assessments on adverse childhood experi7 ences; 

8 (iii) providing student-centered, trau9 ma-informed positive behavior management 

10 intervention and support that creates safe 

11 and supportive school climates; 

12 (iv) using restorative practices; 

13 (v) using culturally and linguistically 

14 responsive intervention strategies; 

15 (vi) developing social and emotional 

16 learning competencies; and 

17 (vii) increasing student engagement 

18 and improving dialogue between students 

19 and teachers; 

20 (C) implement evidence-based alternatives 

21 to suspension or expulsion, including— 

22 (i) multi-tier systems of support, such 

23 as schoolwide positive behavioral interven24 tions and supports; 

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1 (ii) social, emotional, and academic 

2 learning strategies designed to engage stu3 dents and avoid escalating conflicts; and 

4 (iii) other data-driven approaches to 

5 improving school environments; 

6 (D) improve behavioral and academic out7 comes for students by creating a safe and sup8 portive learning environment and school cli9 mate, which may include— 

10 (i) restorative practices with respect 

11 to improving relationships among students, 

12 school officials, and members of the local 

13 community, which may include partnering 

14 with local mental health agencies or non15 profit organizations; 

16 (ii) access to mentors and peer-based 

17 support programs; 

18 (iii) extracurricular programs, includ19 ing sports and art programs; 

20 (iv) social and emotional learning 

21 strategies designed to engage students and 

22 avoid escalating conflicts; 

23 (v) access to counseling, mental health 

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1 grams, including suicide prevention pro2 grams; and 

3 (vi) access to culturally responsive 

4 curricula that affirms the history and con5 tributions of traditionally marginalized 

6 people and communities; 

7 (E) hire social workers, school counselors, 

8 trauma-informed care personnel, and other 

9 mental health personnel; and 

10 (F) support the development, delivery, and 

11 analysis of school climate surveys. 

12 (2) PROHIBITED USES.—An eligible entity that 

13 receives a grant under this section may not use 

14 funds to— 

15 (A) hire or retain law enforcement per16 sonnel, including school resource officers; 

17 (B) purchase, maintain, or install surveil18 lance equipment, including metal detectors or 

19 software programs that monitor or mine the so20 cial media use or technology use of students; 

21 (C) arm teachers, principals, school lead22 ers, or other school personnel; and 

23 (D) enter into formal or informal partner24 ships or data and information sharing agree25 ments with— 

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1 (i) the Secretary of Homeland Secu2 rity, including agreements with U.S. Immi3 gration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. 

4 Customs and Border Protection; or 

5 (ii) local law enforcement agencies, in6 cluding partnerships that allow for hiring 

7 of school-based police and school resource 

8 officers. 

9 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, in car10 rying out subsection (a), may reserve not more than 2 per11 cent of funds to provide technical assistance to eligible en12 tities, which may include— 

13 (1) support for data collection, compliance, and 

14 analysis of the activities of the program authorized 

15 under subsection (a); and 

16 (2) informational meetings and seminars with 

17 respect to the application process under subsection 

18 (b). 

19 (f) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this section, the term 

20 ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 

21 (1) 1 or more local educational agencies (who 

22 may be partnered with a State educational agency), 

23 including a public charter school that is a local edu24 cational agency under State law or local educational 

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1 agency operated by the Bureau of Indian Education; 

2 or 

3 (2) a nonprofit organization (defined as an or4 ganization described in section 501(c)(3) of the In5 ternal Revenue Code, which is exempt from taxation 

6 under section 501(a) of such Code) with a track 

7 record of success in improving school climates and 

8 supporting students. 

9 SEC. 5. JOINT TASK FORCE TO END SCHOOL PUSHOUT OF 

10 GIRLS OF COLOR. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary and the Sec12 retary of Health and Human Services shall establish and 

13 operate a joint task force to end school pushout (in this 

14 section referred to as the ‘‘Joint Task Force’’). 

15 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

16 (1) CHAIRS.—The Secretary and the Secretary 

17 of Health and Human Services shall chair the Joint 

18 Task Force. 

19 (2) MEMBERS.—The Joint Task Force shall be 

20 composed of— 

21 (A) Native American girls; 

22 (B) students, including Black and brown 

23 girls; 

24 (C) teachers; 

25 (D) parents with children in school; 

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1 (E) school officials; 

2 (F) representatives from civil rights and 

3 disability organizations; 

4 (G) psychologists, social workers, trauma5 informed personnel, and other mental health 

6 professionals; and 

7 (H) researchers with experience in behav8 ioral intervention. 

9 (3) ADVISORY MEMBERS.—In addition to the 

10 members under paragraph (2), the Assistant Attor11 ney General of the Civil Rights Division of the De12 partment of Justice and the Director of the Bureau 

13 of Indian Education shall be advisory members of 

14 the Joint Task Force. 

15 (4) MEMBER APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 

16 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

17 the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and 

18 Human Services shall appoint the members of the 

19 Joint Task Force— 

20 (A) in accordance with paragraph (2); 

21 (B) using a competitive application proc22 ess; and 

23 (C) with consideration to the racial, ethnic, 

24 gender, and geographic diversity of the Joint 

25 Task Force. 

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1 (c) STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Joint 

2 Task Force shall— 

3 (1) conduct a study to— 

4 (A) identify best practices for reducing the 

5 overuse and discriminatory use of exclusionary 

6 discipline practices; and 

7 (B) determine to what extent exclusionary 

8 discipline practices contribute to the criminal9 ization of— 

10 (i) girls of color; 

11 (ii) English learners; 

12 (iii) Native American girls; 

13 (iv) students who identify as lesbian, 

14 gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or ques15 tioning; and 

16 (v) students with disabilities; and 

17 (2) develop recommendations based on the 

18 study conducted under paragraph (1). 

19 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 360 days after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, 

21 the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human 

22 Services shall submit to Congress a report on the rec23 ommendations under subsection (c)(2). 

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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro3 priated $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

4 through 2025 to carry out sections 4 and 5. 

5 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO THE OFFICE FOR

6 CIVIL RIGHTS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

7 $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 through 2025, and each 

8 fiscal year thereafter, to carry out section 3. 

9 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) ACT OF INSUBORDINATION.—The term ‘‘act 

12 of insubordination’’ means an act that disrupts a 

13 school activity or instance when a student willfully 

14 defies the valid authority of a school official. 

15 (2) APPEARANCE OR GROOMING POLICY.—The 

16 term ‘‘appearance or grooming policy’’ means any 

17 practice, policy, or portion of a student conduct code 

18 that governs or restricts the appearance of students, 

19 including policies that— 

20 (A) restrict or prescribe clothing that a 

21 student may wear (such as hijabs, headwraps, 

22 or bandanas); 

23 (B) restrict specific hair styles (such as 

24 braids, locks, twists, bantu knots, cornrows, ex25 tensions, or afros); or 

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1 (C) restrict whether or how a student may 

2 apply make-up, nail polish, or other cosmetics. 

3 (3) CHEMICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘chem4 ical restraint’’ means a drug or medication used on 

5 a student to control behavior or restrict freedom of 

6 movement that is not— 

7 (A) prescribed by a licensed physician, or 

8 other qualified health professional acting under 

9 the scope of the professional’s authority under 

10 State law, for the standard treatment of a stu11 dent’s medical or psychiatric condition; and 

12 (B) administered as prescribed by a li13 censed physician or other qualified health pro14 fessional acting under the scope of the author15 ity of a health professional under State law. 

16 (4) DIRECT SUPERVISION.—The term ‘‘direct 

17 supervision’’ means a student is physically in the 

18 same location as a school official and such student 

19 is under the care of the school official or school. 

20 (5) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ means 

21 a mental or physical disability that meets the condi22 tions set forth in clauses (i) and (ii) of section 

23 602(3)(A) of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu24 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)(A)(i) and (ii)). 

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1 (6) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

2 ACT TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, 

3 ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘sec4 ondary school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ has 

5 the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of 

6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 (7) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 

9 identity’’ means the gender-related identity, appear10 ance, mannerisms, or other gender-related character11 istics of an individual regardless of the designated 

12 sex at birth of the individual. 

13 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

14 has the meaning given the term in section 4(e) of 

15 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist16 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 

17 (9) IN-SCHOOL SUSPENSION.—The term ‘‘in18 school suspension’’ means an instance in which a 

19 student is temporarily removed from a regular class20 room for at least half a day but remains under the 

21 direct supervision of a school official. 

22 (10) MECHANICAL RESTRAINT.—The term 

23 ‘‘mechanical restraint’’ has the meaning given the 

24 term in section 595(d)(1) of the Public Health Serv25 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(1)), except that the 

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1 meaning shall be applied by substituting ‘‘student’’ 

2 for ‘‘resident’’. 

3 (11) MULTI-TIER SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS.—The 

4 term ‘‘multi-tier system of supports’’ means a com5 prehensive continuum of evidence-based, systemic 

6 practices to support a rapid response to the needs of 

7 students, with regular observation to facilitate data8 based instructional decision making. 

9 (12) OUT-OF-SCHOOL SUSPENSION.—The term 

10 ‘‘out-of-school suspension’’ means an instance in 

11 which a student is excluded from school for discipli12 nary reasons by temporarily being removed from 

13 regular classes to another setting, including a home 

14 or behavior center, regardless of whether such dis15 ciplinary removal is deemed as a suspension by 

16 school officials. 

17 (13) PHYSICAL ESCORT.—The term ‘‘physical 

18 escort’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

19 595(d)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(2)), except that the meaning shall 

21 be applied by substituting ‘‘student’’ for ‘‘resident’’. 

22 (14) PHYSICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘phys23 ical restraint’’ means a personal restriction that im24 mobilizes or reduces the ability of an individual to 

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1 ly, except that such term does not include a physical 

2 escort, mechanical restraint, or chemical restraint. 

3 (15) POSITIVE BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION AND

4 SUPPORT.—The term ‘‘positive behavior intervention 

5 and support’’ means using a systematic and evi6 dence-based approach to achieve improved academic 

7 and social outcomes for students. 

8 (16) PUSHOUT.—The term ‘‘pushout’’ means 

9 an instance when a student leaves elementary, mid10 dle or secondary school, including a forced transfer 

11 to another school, prior to graduating secondary 

12 school due to overuse of exclusionary discipline prac13 tices, failure to address trauma or other mental 

14 health needs, discrimination, or other educational 

15 barriers that do not support or promote the success 

16 of a student. 

17 (17) SCHOOL OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘school of18 ficial’’ means a teacher, school principal, adminis19 trator, or other personnel engaged in the perform20 ance of duties with respect to a school. 

21 (18) SECLUSION.—The term ‘‘seclusion’’ means 

22 the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a 

23 room or area where the student is physically pre24 vented from leaving, and does not include a time 

25 out. 

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1 (19) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

2 means the Secretary of Education. 

3 (20) SERIOUS BODILY INJURY.—The term ‘‘se4 rious bodily injury’’ has the meaning given that term 

5 in section 1365(h)(3) of title 18, United States 

6 Code. 

7 (21) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘‘sexual 

8 orientation’’ means homosexuality, heterosexuality, 

9 or bisexuality. 

10 (22) SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL.—The term 

11 ‘‘special education school’’ means a school that fo12 cuses primarily on serving the needs of students who 

13 qualify as ‘‘a child with a disability’’ as that term 

14 is defined under section 602(3)(A)(i) of the Individ15 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

16 1401(3)(A)(i)) or are subject to section 504 of the 

17 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 

18 (23) TIME OUT.—The term ‘‘time out’’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 595(d)(5) of the 

20 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(5)), 

21 except that the meaning shall be applied by sub22 stituting ‘‘student’’ for ‘‘resident’’. 

23 (24) ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY.—The term 

24 ‘‘zero-tolerance policy’’ is a school discipline policy 

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1 sequence, including out-of-school suspension, expul2 sion, and involuntary school transfer. 

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