I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6202 

To divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence of police in 

schools and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that 

address the needs of marginalized students and improve academic outcomes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 

Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. OMAR, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. 

BUSH, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mrs. CHERFILUSMCCORMICK, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JACKSON

LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. 

LEE of California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. 

POCAN, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce, 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 divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence 

of police in schools and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that address the needs of 

marginalized students and improve academic outcomes, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Counseling Not Crim3 inalization in Schools Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Over the last 50 years, our Nation’s schools 

7 have become sites for increased criminalization and 

8 surveillance of young people, particularly Black, Na9 tive American, and Latino students, immigrant stu10 dents, students with disabilities, LGBTQI+ stu11 dents, students experiencing homelessness, students 

12 involved in the foster care system, and other histori13 cally marginalized students. 

14 (2) Despite significant decreases in the rate of 

15 serious crimes and violence on school campuses over 

16 the past 20 years, improving upon already low rates, 

17 55 percent of high school students, 38 percent of 

18 middle school students, and 18 percent of elemen19 tary school students attended a school with a police 

20 officer during the 2017–2018 school year. 

21 (3) Since 1999, the Federal Government has in22 vested more than $1,000,000,000 to subsidize the 

23 placement of police in schools, resulting in more 

24 than 50,000 law enforcement officers patrolling the 

25 halls of elementary and secondary public schools 

26 across the Nation. 


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1 (4) A growing body of research has not found 

2 any evidence that police stationed on school cam3 puses make schools safer, and the presence of police 

4 has been shown to increase the likelihood that chil5 dren will be arrested. 

6 (5) Research has shown that schools with a des7 ignated law enforcement officer on duty arrested 

8 students at 5 times the rate of comparable schools 

9 without such an officer. 

10 (6) When police are present in schools, students 

11 of color face an increased risk of being assaulted by 

12 police. Student-recorded videos of police violence in 

13 schools regularly circulate through news channels, 

14 articles, and social media, exposing violence per15 petrated by police within schoolhouse gates. Between 

16 2011 and 2021, news reports detailed at least 285 

17 police assaults of students. 

18 (7) Black, Native American, and Latino stu19 dents are more likely than their White peers to at20 tend schools with police officers on campus and are 

21 more likely to be referred to law enforcement or ar22 rested while in school. 

23 (8) Black students represent 31 percent of all 

24 school-related arrests, despite making up only 15 

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1 ican and Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian stu2 dents are more than twice as likely to be arrested as 

3 White students. 

4 (9) Students with disabilities are more likely 

5 than their peers without disabilities to be referred to 

6 law enforcement or arrested. Students of color with 

7 disabilities are more likely to be referred to law en8 forcement than either their White peers with disabil9 ities, or their peers of color without disabilities. 

10 (10) Students with disabilities are also dis11 proportionately restrained and secluded in schools. 

12 Of the 74,813 students who were physically or me13 chanically restrained during the 2017–2018 school 

14 year, 78 percent received special education services. 

15 Of the 27,499 students who were secluded during 

16 the 2017–2018 school year, 77 percent received spe17 cial education services. According to a 2020 Govern18 ment Accountability Office report, 70 percent of 

19 school districts report zero incidents of restraint and 

20 seclusion, but only 30 of the Nation’s 17,000 school 

21 districts are required to verify the number of inci22 dents of restraint and seclusion, likely resulting in a 

23 significant undercount of these harmful practices. 

24 (11) According to the Department of Edu25 cation, while Black girls comprise only 16 percent of 


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1 girls in elementary and secondary schools, they make 

2 up 42 percent of girls receiving the most severe 

3 forms of school discipline and severe punishment, 

4 such as corporal punishment, and represent 34 per5 cent of girls arrested on campus. In the 2017–2018 

6 school year, Black girls were 4 times more likely 

7 than White girls to be suspended or expelled. Black 

8 girls were also 3 times more likely to be referred to 

9 law enforcement and over 3 times more likely to be 

10 arrested in school. 

11 (12) Research shows that these racial dispari12 ties in discipline rates are not a result of differences 

13 in student behavior, but instead reflect the ways in 

14 which students of color face more punitive discipline 

15 than their White peers for similar behavior. 

16 (13) Students who are LGBTQI+ often have 

17 intersecting marginalized identities and experience 

18 exclusionary discipline at disproportionate rates that 

19 make it more likely they will interact with the juve20 nile justice system than their non-LGBTQI+ peers. 

21 A survey of juvenile justice facilities found 40 per22 cent of girls and 20 percent of all detained youth 

23 identified as LGBTQI+, and the overwhelming ma24 jority (85 percent) of LGBTQI+ detained youth 

25 were youth of color. 


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1 (14) Students who are suspended or expelled 

2 are nearly 3 times more likely to be in contact with 

3 the juvenile justice system the following year. 

4 (15) According to the Federal Bureau of Inves5 tigation, more than 30,000 children under the age of 

6 10 were arrested since 2013. On school campuses, 

7 more than 290,000 students were referred to law en8 forcement. The United States spends $240 daily, on 

9 average, per youth detained in juvenile facilities. 

10 (16) While schools should be sanctuaries for all 

11 students, reports have shown instances where police 

12 in schools collect tips and disciplinary information 

13 from teachers and school administrators and share 

14 it with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

15 agents to build deportation cases against students 

16 and their families. 

17 (17) School hardening, including the presence 

18 of law enforcement officers on campus, causes stu19 dents to experience higher levels of fear, perpetuates 

20 the school to prison pipeline, and undermines the 

21 ability of schools and educators to build learning en22 vironments based on mutual trust, respect, and safe23 ty. 

24 (18) Ninety percent of students are in public 

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1 ers, nurses, and psychologists do not meet rec2 ommended professional standards. Professional 

3 standards recommend at least 1 counselor and 1 so4 cial worker for every 250 students and at least 1 

5 nurse and 1 psychologist for every 750 students and 

6 every 700 students, respectively. 

7 (19) 1,700,000 students attend schools with po8 lice but not 1 counselor. 

9 (20) 3,000,000 students attend schools with po10 lice but not 1 school nurse. 

11 (21) 6,000,000 students attend schools with po12 lice but not 1 school psychologist. 

13 (22) 10,000,000 students attend schools with 

14 police but not 1 social worker. 

15 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

16 It is the purpose of this Act to— 

17 (1) address the needs of marginalized students, 

18 ensure schools are welcoming for students, and im19 prove academic outcomes by eliminating Federal 

20 funding for maintaining the presence of covered law 

21 enforcement officers in schools and establishing a 

22 continuum of care and positive schoolwide systems 

23 of services that are evidence-based, inclusive, racially 

24 and gender responsive, and trauma informed; and 


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1 (2) support local educational agencies that 

2 choose to terminate their contracts with local law en3 forcement agencies or, where applicable, dissolve or 

4 disband district-based police departments, and invest 

5 resources in personnel and services that create safe 

6 and inclusive schools for all students based on com7 munity engagement and deliberative consultation. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

11 school’’, ‘‘evidence-based’’, ‘‘local educational agen12 cy’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘professional development’’, ‘‘school 

13 leader’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘spe14 cialized instructional support personnel’’ have the 

15 meaning given those terms in section 8101 of the 

16 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

17 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

18 (2) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘covered 

19 program’’ means— 

20 (A) all the operations of an elementary 

21 school, a secondary school, or a local edu22 cational agency; or 

23 (B) a program that serves children who re24 ceive services for which financial assistance is 


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1 provided in accordance with the Head Start Act 

2 (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 

3 (3) CREDIBLE MESSENGER.—The term ‘‘cred4 ible messenger’’ means any individual who serves as 

5 a mentor, is from the same communities in which 

6 the students and families they serve live, and whose 

7 lived experiences serve as a credential in their work 

8 to provide guidance, empowerment, support, and en9 couragement to students and their families with 

10 whom the credible messenger has shared or similar 

11 experiences. Shared experiences include being a per12 son of color, being directly impacted or having in13 volvement in the legal system, having involvement in 

14 the child welfare system, being directly impacted by 

15 exclusionary school discipline and policing in schools, 

16 having experienced housing instability, having a dis17 ability, or identifying as LGBTQI+. 

18 (4) POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS

19 AND SUPPORTS.—The term ‘‘positive behavioral 

20 interventions and supports’’ means— 

21 (A) a schoolwide, systematic approach that 

22 embeds evidence-based practices and data-driv23 en decision making to improve school climate 

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1 ing for all students (including students with the 

2 most complex and intensive behavioral needs); 

3 and 

4 (B) encompasses a range of systemic and 

5 individualized positive strategies to teach and 

6 reinforce school-expected behaviors, while dis7 couraging and diminishing undesirable behav8 iors. 

9 (5) COVERED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 

10 The term ‘‘covered law enforcement officer’’— 

11 (A) means any person who— 

12 (i) is a State, Tribal, or local law en13 forcement officer (as defined in section 

14 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

15 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

16 10284)); and 

17 (ii) is assigned by the employing law 

18 enforcement agency to a covered program, 

19 who is contracting with a covered program, 

20 or who is employed by a covered program; 

21 and 

22 (B) includes an individual referred to as a 

23 ‘‘school resource officer’’ if that individual 

24 meets the definition in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (6) TRAUMA-INFORMED SERVICES.—The term 

2 ‘‘trauma-informed services’’ means a service delivery 

3 approach that— 

4 (A) recognizes and responds to the impacts 

5 of trauma with evidence-based supports and 

6 intervention; 

7 (B) emphasizes physical, psychological, and 

8 emotional safety for both providers of services 

9 and survivors of trauma; and 

10 (C) creates opportunities for survivors of 

11 trauma to rebuild a sense of healing and em12 powerment. 

13 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR POLICE IN 

14 SCHOOLS. 

15 (a) FEDERAL FUNDS PROHIBITION.—Notwith16 standing the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

17 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), including subpart 1 

18 of part E of title I of that Act (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) 

19 (relating to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assist20 ance Grant Program) and part Q of title I of that Act 

21 (34 U.S.C. 13081 et seq.) (relating to the ‘‘Cops on the 

22 Beat’’ grant program), or any other provision of law, no 

23 Federal funds may be appropriated or used for hiring, 

24 maintaining, or training covered law enforcement officers 

25 in any capacity. 


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1 (b) COPS GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 1701 of title 

2 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

3 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) by striking paragraph (12); 

6 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (13) 

7 through (23) as paragraphs (12) through (22), 

8 respectively; and 

9 (C) in paragraph (21), as so redesignated, 

10 by striking ‘‘through (21)’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘through (20)’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR COVERED

14 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—A recipient of a grant 

15 under this part may not use the grant funds for covered 

16 law enforcement officers (as defined in section 4 of the 

17 Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act).’’. 

18 SEC. 6. SUPPORTING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN 

19 TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM POLICE IN 

20 SCHOOLS. 

21 (a) GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary 

22 of Education shall award grants, on a competitive and roll23 ing basis, to local educational agencies to enable those 

24 local educational agencies— 


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1 (1) to replace covered law enforcement officers 

2 in elementary and secondary schools with personnel 

3 and services that support mental health and trauma4 informed services; and 

5 (2) to reform school safety and disciplinary 

6 policies so they reflect evidence-based practices that 

7 do not rely on the criminal justice system and pro8 vide the necessary staff training and support to im9 plement such policies. 

10 (b) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency desir11 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application 

12 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con13 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in14 cluding an assurance that— 

15 (1) the local educational agency will not have 

16 covered law enforcement officers stationed on school 

17 campuses, including by terminating any existing con18 tract with local law enforcement or, where applica19 ble, dissolving school district-based police depart20 ments, at least 30 days prior to the entity receiving 

21 funds under this section; and 

22 (2) the local educational agency will not estab23 lish any new contract with law enforcement or create 

24 its own school police department for the duration of 

25 the grant. 


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1 (c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec2 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to— 

3 (1) local educational agencies that terminated 

4 their contract with local law enforcement or dis5 solved their school district-based police department 

6 prior to submitting an application and provide assur7 ances that the local educational agency will not cre8 ate or restart a contract with State or local law en9 forcement, create or reinstate a school district police 

10 department, or create or restart a program of other 

11 law enforcement or armed school personnel during 

12 the duration of the grant; 

13 (2) local educational agencies with a larger 

14 share of students who are economically disadvan15 taged, in the event that funds are insufficient to 

16 award grants to all eligible applicants; and 

17 (3) local educational agencies that— 

18 (A) identify the uses of funds in subsection 

19 (d) based on meaningful community engage20 ment; and 

21 (B) establish ongoing stakeholder over22 sight, guidance, and coordination of the pro23 posed activities or policies with a broad group 

24 of stakeholders, including any groups of stu25 dents, as well as their families, who have been 


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1 disproportionately arrested, suspended, or ex2 pelled, to ensure proposed activities and policies 

3 mitigate disparities in the use of exclusionary 

4 discipline and promote a positive school culture. 

5 (d) USES OF FUNDS.— 

6 (1) REQUIRED USE.—A local educational agen7 cy receiving funds under this section shall use such 

8 grant funds to hire, maintain, or train school coun9 selors, school psychologists, nurses, social workers, 

10 credible messengers, community health workers and 

11 trauma-informed personnel, dedicated staff specifi12 cally trained in deescalation and violence interrup13 tion practices, staff trained in anti-bias practices, 

14 doctoral level specialists in behavior planning and 

15 intervention, or other specialists or individuals with 

16 expertise in school climate and behavior. 

17 (2) PERMITTED USES.—In addition to the re18 quired use described in paragraph (1), a local edu19 cational agency receiving funds under this section 

20 may also use grant funds to carry out 1 or more of 

21 the following: 

22 (A) Implementing schoolwide positive be23 havioral interventions and supports, restorative 

24 justice programs and interventions, mediators, 


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1 social and emotional learning programs, or 

2 other evidence-based trauma-informed services. 

3 (B) Providing ongoing professional devel4 opment to teachers, teacher assistants, school 

5 leaders, counselors, specialized instructional 

6 support personnel, credible messengers, and 

7 mental health professionals that— 

8 (i) fosters safe, inclusive, and stable 

9 learning environments that support the so10 cial, emotional, mental, and academic well11 being of students and prevent and mitigate 

12 the effects of trauma, including through 

13 social and emotional learning; 

14 (ii) improves school capacity to iden15 tify, refer, and provide services to students 

16 in need of trauma support services; 

17 (iii) reflects the best practices for 

18 trauma-informed identification, referral, 

19 and support developed by the Interagency 

20 Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care; 

21 (iv) reduces the number of students 

22 with disabilities experiencing school dis23 cipline for their disability-related behavior 

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1 tion, development, and implementation of 

2 Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs); and 

3 (v) reduces the number of Black, 

4 Latino, Native American, and LGBTQI+ 

5 students who are subjected to punitive dis6 cipline practices rather than trauma-in7 formed services and supports. 

8 (e) PROHIBITION.—No portion of any grant funds 

9 awarded under this section may be used for— 

10 (1) the development, establishment, implemen11 tation, or enforcement of punitive school discipline 

12 policies, including the commission, contracting of, or 

13 agreements with, law enforcement that support the 

14 presence of police in schools, including formal or in15 formal partnerships or data and information sharing 

16 agreements with the Department of Justice or Sec17 retary of Homeland Security, including U. S. Immi18 gration and Customs Enforcement or U. S. Customs 

19 and Border Protection; 

20 (2) the purchase, maintenance, or installation 

21 of surveillance equipment or programs, including 

22 metal detectors, surveillance cameras, facial recogni23 tion technology, or software programs that monitor 

24 or mine the social media use or technology use of 

25 students; or 


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1 (3) arming teachers, principals, school leaders, 

2 or other school personnel. 

3 (f) GRANT AMOUNTS.—The amount of grant funds 

4 received under this section by a local educational agency 

5 shall be based on the number of students enrolled in the 

6 local educational agency. 

7 (g) REPORTING.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agen9 cy receiving a grant under this section shall prepare 

10 and submit an annual report to the Secretary con11 taining the information described in paragraph (2). 

12 Such report shall be made publicly available. 

13 (2) CONTENTS.—Subject to paragraph (3), the 

14 report described in paragraph (1) shall include infor15 mation about— 

16 (A) how the grant funds were used; 

17 (B) the number and percentage of students 

18 who were arrested by or referred to law enforce19 ment officers in the previous year compared to 

20 the number and percentage arrested or referred 

21 during the term of the grant; 

22 (C) in the aggregate, the reasons for those 

23 arrests; 

24 (D) demographic data of students arrested 

25 or referred to law enforcement officers, 


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1 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race, eth2 nicity, age, gender, status as a child with a dis3 ability, and whether the student is eligible for 

4 a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard 

5 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

7 (E) the number of metal detectors and 

8 surveillance cameras used by each school served 

9 by the local educational agency, as well as poli10 cies governing the use of these devices; 

11 (F) whether facial recognition technology 

12 is used by the local educational agency, and if 

13 so, the policies governing the use of such tech14 nology; and 

15 (G) whether software programs that mon16 itor or mine the social media use or technology 

17 use of students or the families of students are 

18 used by, or at the direction of, the local edu19 cational agency, and if so, the contract with the 

20 provider of those software programs as well as 

21 the policies governing the use of such programs. 

22 (3) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA23 TION.—Collection or disaggregation of information 

24 shall not be required under subparagraphs (B) 

25 through (D) of paragraph (2) to the extent that 


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1 such collection or disaggregation would reveal per2 sonally identifiable information about an individual 

3 student or otherwise violate privacy laws. 

4 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A local edu5 cational agency shall use Federal funds received under this 

6 section only to supplement the funds that would, in the 

7 absence of such Federal funds, be made available from 

8 State and local sources for the activities described in sub9 section (d), and not to supplant such funds 

10 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

12 $5,000,000,000. 

Æ 


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