I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2234 

To direct the Secretary of Education to establish the Recognizing Inspiring 

School Employees (RISE) Award Program recognizing excellence exhibited by public school system employees providing services to students 

in prekindergarten through higher education. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2017 

Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. POCAN, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. LEE, Mr. KILMER, 

Mr. TAKANO, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. GARAMENDI, and Mr. MCGOVERN) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to establish the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award Program recognizing excellence exhibited by public school 

system employees providing services to students in prekindergarten through higher education. 

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 ‘‘Recognizing Achieve5 ment in Classified School Employees Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Classified school employees provide valuable 

4 service to public schools in the United States. 

5 (2) Classified school employees provide essential 

6 services, such as transportation, facilities mainte7 nance and operations, food service, safety, and 

8 health care. 

9 (3) Classified school employees play a vital role 

10 in providing for the welfare and safety of students. 

11 (4) Classified school employees strive for excel12 lence in all areas of service to the education commu13 nity. 

14 (5) Exemplary classified school employees 

15 should be recognized for their outstanding contribu16 tions to quality education in the United States. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF CLASSIFIED SCHOOL EMPLOYEE. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) CLASSIFIED SCHOOL EMPLOYEE.—The term 

20 ‘‘classified school employee’’ means a public em21 ployee of a State or of any political subdivision of a 

22 State, who works in any grade from prekindergarten 

23 through higher education in any of the following oc24 cupational specialties: 

25 (A) Paraeducator services. 

26 (B) Clerical and administrative services. 


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1 (C) Transportation services. 

2 (D) Food and nutrition services. 

3 (E) Custodial and maintenance services. 

4 (F) Security services. 

5 (G) Health and student services. 

6 (H) Technical services. 

7 (I) Skilled trades. 

8 (2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms used in 

9 this Act have the meaning given the terms in section 

10 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

11 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

12 SEC. 4. RECOGNITION PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 

14 establish a national recognition program to be known as 

15 the ‘‘Recognizing Inspiring School Employees Award Pro16 gram’’ or the ‘‘award program’’. The purpose of the award 

17 program shall be to recognize and promote the commit18 ment and excellence exhibited by classified school employ19 ees in public schools who provide exemplary service to stu20 dents in prekindergarten through higher education. 

21 (b) AWARD.—Prior to March 31 of each year (begin22 ning with the second calendar year that begins after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act), the award program 

24 shall recommend to the Secretary a classified school emVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 May 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2234.IH H2234

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1 ployee to receive the Recognizing Inspiring School Em2 ployees Award for the year. 

3 (c) SELECTION PROCESS.— 

4 (1) NOMINATION PROCESS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Novem6 ber 1 of each year (beginning with the first cal7 endar year that begins after the date of the en8 actment of this Act), the Secretary shall solicit 

9 nominations of classified school employees in 

10 public schools from the occupational specialties 

11 described in section 3(1) from the chief State 

12 school officer of each State. 

13 (B) NOMINATION SUBMISSIONS.—In order 

14 for individuals in a State to be eligible to re15 ceive recognition under this section, the chief 

16 State school officer shall consider nominations 

17 submitted by the following: 

18 (i) Local educational agencies. 

19 (ii) School administrators. 

20 (iii) Professional associations. 

21 (iv) Labor organizations. 

22 (v) Educational service agencies. 

23 (vi) Any other group determined ap24 propriate by the award program. 


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1 (2) DEMONSTRATION.—Each chief State school 

2 officer of a State who desires individuals in the 

3 State to receive recognition under this section shall 

4 submit the nominations described in paragraph (1) 

5 to the Secretary in such manner as may be required 

6 by the award program. Each such nomination shall 

7 contain, at a minimum, demonstrations of excellence 

8 in the following areas: 

9 (A) Work performance. 

10 (B) School and community involvement. 

11 (C) Leadership and commitment. 

12 (D) Local support. 

13 (E) Enhancement of classified school em14 ployees’ image in the community and schools. 

15 (F) Any other area of superior perform16 ance, such as health and safety promotion or ef17 ficient use of energy or other resources. 

18 (3) SELECTION.—The award program shall de19 velop uniform national guidelines for evaluating 

20 nominations submitted under paragraph (2) in order 

21 to select the most deserving nominees based on the 

22 demonstrations made in the areas described in such 

23 paragraph. 

Æ 


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