I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2262 

To amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include 

bullying and harassment prevention programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2009 

Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BISHOP of 

New York, Ms. BORDALLO, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARNAHAN, 

Ms. CLARKE, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 

DOYLE, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FARR, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 

GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIRK, Mr. LANCE, Ms. MATSUI, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. REYES, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. STARK, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. 

TONKO, Mr. WEINER, and Mr. WEXLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities 

Act to include bullying and harassment prevention programs. 

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 ‘‘Safe Schools Improve5 ment Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BULLYING AND HARASSMENT PREVENTION POLI2 CIES, PROGRAMS, AND STATISTICS. 

3 (a) STATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

4 4112(c)(3)(B)(iv) of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 

5 Communities Act (20 U.S.C. 7112(c)(3)(B)(iv)) is amend6 ed by inserting ‘‘, including bullying and harassment,’’ 

7 after ‘‘violence’’. 

8 (b) STATE APPLICATION.—Section 4113(a) of such 

9 Act (20 U.S.C. 7113(a)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (9)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(E) the incidence and prevalence of re15 ported incidents of bullying and harassment; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(F) the perception of students regarding 

18 their school environment, including with respect 

19 to the prevalence and seriousness of incidents of 

20 bullying and harassment and the responsiveness 

21 of the school to those incidents;’’; 

22 (2) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (3) in paragraph (19), by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

26 (4) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(20) provides an assurance that the State edu2 cational agency will provide assistance to districts 

3 and schools in their efforts to prevent and appro4 priately respond to incidents of bullying and harass5 ment and describes how the agency will meet this re6 quirement.’’. 

7 (c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PROGRAM APPLI8 CATION.—Section 4114(d) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

9 7114(d)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (2)(B)(i)— 

11 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(III) performance indicators for 

15 bullying and harassment prevention 

16 programs and activities; and’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (7)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 

19 including bullying and harassment’’ after ‘‘dis20 orderly conduct’’; 

21 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

22 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

23 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(F) annual notice to parents and students 

25 describing the full range of prohibited conduct 


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1 contained in the discipline policies described in 

2 subparagraph (A); and 

3 ‘‘(G) grievance procedures for students or 

4 parents that seek to register complaints regard5 ing the prohibited conduct contained in the dis6 cipline policies described in subparagraph (A), 

7 including— 

8 ‘‘(i) the name of the school district of9 ficials who are designated as responsible 

10 for receiving such complaints; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) timelines that the school district 

12 will follow in the resolution of such com13 plaints;’’. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Section 4115(b)(2) 

15 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7115(b)(2)) is amended— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

17 (A) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

18 end; 

19 (B) in clause (vii), by striking the period 

20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(viii) teach students about the con23 sequences of bullying and harassment.’’; 

24 and 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (E), by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(xxiii) Programs that address the 

4 causes of bullying and harassment and 

5 that train teachers, administrators, pupil 

6 services personnel, and other school per7 sonnel regarding strategies to prevent bul8 lying and harassment and to effectively in9 tervene when such incidents occur.’’. 

10 (e) REPORTING.—Section 4116(a)(2)(B) of such Act 

11 (20 U.S.C. 7116(a)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, in12 cluding bullying and harassment,’’ after ‘‘drug use and vi13 olence’’. 

14 (f) IMPACT EVALUATION.—Section 4122 of such Act 

15 (20 U.S.C. 7132) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘and school 

17 violence’’ and inserting ‘‘school violence, including 

18 bullying and harassment,’’; and 

19 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by in20 serting ‘‘, including bullying and harassment,’’ after 

21 ‘‘drug use and violence’’. 

22 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 

23 (1) DRUG AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION.—Para24 graph (3)(B) of section 4151 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 


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1 7151) is amended by inserting ‘‘, bullying, and other 

2 harassment’’ after ‘‘sexual harassment and abuse’’. 

3 (2) PROTECTIVE FACTOR, BUFFER, OR

4 ASSET.—Paragraph (6) of such section is amended 

5 by inserting ‘‘, including bullying and harassment’’ 

6 after ‘‘violent behavior’’. 

7 (3) RISK FACTOR.—Paragraph (7) of such sec8 tion is amended by inserting ‘‘, including bullying 

9 and harassment’’ after ‘‘violent behavior’’. 

10 (4) BULLYING, HARASSMENT, AND VIO11 LENCE.—Such section is further amended by adding 

12 at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(12) BULLYING.—The term ‘bullying’ means 

14 conduct that— 

15 ‘‘(A) adversely affects the ability of one or 

16 more students to participate in or benefit from 

17 the school’s educational programs or activities 

18 by placing the student (or students) in reason19 able fear of physical harm; and 

20 ‘‘(B) includes conduct that is based on— 

21 ‘‘(i) a student’s actual or perceived— 

22 ‘‘(I) race; 

23 ‘‘(II) color; 

24 ‘‘(III) national origin; 

25 ‘‘(IV) sex; 


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1 ‘‘(V) disability; 

2 ‘‘(VI) sexual orientation; 

3 ‘‘(VII) gender identity; or 

4 ‘‘(VIII) religion; 

5 ‘‘(ii) any other distinguishing charac6 teristics that may be defined by a State or 

7 local educational agency; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) association with a person or 

9 group with one or more of the actual or 

10 perceived characteristics listed in clause (i) 

11 or (ii). 

12 ‘‘(13) HARASSMENT.—The term ‘harassment’ 

13 means conduct that— 

14 ‘‘(A) adversely affects the ability of one or 

15 more students to participate in or benefit from 

16 the school’s educational programs or activities 

17 because the conduct, as reasonably perceived by 

18 the student (or students), is so severe, per19 sistent, or pervasive; and 

20 ‘‘(B) includes conduct that is based on— 

21 ‘‘(i) a student’s actual or perceived— 

22 ‘‘(I) race; 

23 ‘‘(II) color; 

24 ‘‘(III) national origin; 

25 ‘‘(IV) sex; 


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1 ‘‘(V) disability; 

2 ‘‘(VI) sexual orientation; 

3 ‘‘(VII) gender identity; or 

4 ‘‘(VIII) religion; 

5 ‘‘(ii) any other distinguishing charac6 teristics that may be defined by a State or 

7 local educational agency; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) association with a person or 

9 group with one or more of the actual or 

10 perceived characteristics listed in clause (i) 

11 or (ii). 

12 ‘‘(14) VIOLENCE.—The term ‘violence’ includes 

13 bullying and harassment.’’. 

14 (h) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.— 

15 (1) AMENDMENT.—The Safe and Drug-Free 

16 Schools and Communities Act (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 

17 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 4156. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

19 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL AND STATE NONDISCRIMINATION

20 LAWS.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to invali21 date or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal stand22 ards available to victims of discrimination under any other 

23 Federal law or law of a State or political subdivision of 

24 a State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

25 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 


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1 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 

2 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), 

3 or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

4 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this part are 

5 in addition to those imposed by title IX of the Education 

6 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), title VI 

7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), 

8 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

9 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

10 ‘‘(b) FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION LAWS.—Noth11 ing in this part shall be construed to alter legal standards 

12 regarding, or affect the rights available to individuals 

13 under, other Federal laws that establish protections for 

14 freedom of speech and expression.’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by 

18 adding after the item relating to section 4155 the 

19 following: 

‘‘Sec. 4156. Effect on other laws.’’. 

Æ 


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