I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8612 

To direct the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to establish a School Cybersecurity Clearinghouse, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2020 

Ms. MATSUI (for herself and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Science, Space, and 

Technology, 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 direct the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to establish a School Cybersecurity 

Clearinghouse, 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 cited as the ‘‘Enhancing K–12 

5 Cybersecurity Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL CYBERSECURITY CLEARINGHOUSE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the 

3 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency shall es4 tablish a publicly accessible website (to be known as the 

5 ‘‘School Cybersecurity Clearinghouse’’) to disseminate in6 formation, best practices, and grant opportunities in ac7 cordance with subsection (b) and section 2(e). 

8 (b) DUTIES.—In establishing the School 

9 Cybersecurity Clearinghouse under subsection (a), the 

10 Secretary shall— 

11 (1) engage appropriate Federal, State, local, 

12 and nongovernmental organizations to identify, pro13 mote, and disseminate information and best prac14 tices for local educational agencies (as defined in 

15 section 101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8101)) with respect 

17 to cybersecurity, data protection, remote learning se18 curity, and student online privacy; and 

19 (2) maintain a searchable database for an ele20 mentary school, secondary school, local educational 

21 agency, State educational agency, and educational 

22 service agency to find and apply for funding oppor23 tunities (including the opportunity provided under 

24 section 3) to improve cybersecurity. 


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1 (c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the duties 

2 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult with the 

3 following: 

4 (1) The Secretary of Education. 

5 (2) The Director of the National Institute of 

6 Standards and Technology. 

7 (3) The Federal Communication Commission. 

8 (4) The Director of the National Science Foun9 dation. 

10 (5) The Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

11 (6) State and local leaders, including, when ap12 propriate, Governors, members of State legislatures 

13 and State boards of education, local educational 

14 agencies, representatives of Indian tribes, teachers, 

15 principals, other school leaders, charter school lead16 ers, specialized instructional support personnel, 

17 paraprofessionals, administrators, other staff, and 

18 parents. 

19 SEC. 3. CYBERSECURITY REGISTRY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Cybersecurity 

21 and Infrastructure Security Agency shall establish a vol22 untary registry of information relating to cyber attacks 

23 on elementary schools and secondary schools. 

24 (b) USE.—Information in the registry established 

25 pursuant to subsection (a) may be used to— 


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1 (1) improve data collection and coordination ac2 tivities related to the nationwide monitoring of the 

3 incidence and financial impact of cyber attacks on 

4 elementary schools and secondary schools; 

5 (2) conduct analyses regarding trends in cyber 

6 attacks against such schools; 

7 (3) develop systematic approaches to assist such 

8 schools in preventing and responding to cyber at9 tacks; 

10 (4) increase the awareness and preparedness of 

11 elementary school and secondary school administra12 tors regarding the cybersecurity of such schools; and 

13 (5) identify, prevent, or investigate cyber at14 tacks on elementary schools and secondary schools. 

15 (c) INFORMATION COLLECTION.—The Director of the 

16 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency may 

17 collect information relating to cyber attacks on schools to 

18 store in the registry established pursuant to subsection 

19 (a). Such information may be submitted by schools and 

20 may include the following: 

21 (1) The dates of each cyber attack, including 

22 the dates on which each such attack was initially de23 tected and the dates on which each such attack was 

24 first reported. 


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1 (2) A description of each cyber attack which 

2 shall include whether each such attack was as a re3 sult of a breach, malware, distributed denial of serv4 ice attack, or other method designed to cause a vul5 nerability. 

6 (3) The effects of each cyber attack, including 

7 descriptions of the type and size of each such attack. 

8 (4) Other information determined relevant by 

9 the Secretary. 

10 (d) ACCESS.—The Director of the Cybersecurity and 

11 Infrastructure Security Agency may make information 

12 submitted to the registry established pursuant to sub13 section (a) available to relevant law enforcement agencies, 

14 and State and local government agencies, as determined 

15 appropriate, for the purpose identified in subsection 

16 (b)(5). 

17 (e) REPORT.—The Director of the Cybersecurity and 

18 Infrastructure Security Agency shall make available on 

19 the School Cybersecurity Clearinghouse established under 

20 section 1, an annual report relating to cyber attacks on 

21 elementary schools and secondary schools which includes 

22 data, and the analysis of such data, in a manner that— 

23 (1) is— 

24 (A) de-identified; and 

25 (B) presented in the aggregate; and 


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1 (2) at a minimum, protects personal privacy to 

2 the extent required by applicable Federal and State 

3 privacy laws. 

4 SEC. 4. K–12 CYBERSECURITY HUMAN CAPACITY GRANT 

5 PROGRAM. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the National 

7 Science Foundation, acting through the Director of the 

8 Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, shall establish a 

9 program (to be known as the ‘‘K–12 Cybersecurity 

10 Human Capacity grant program’’) to make grants avail11 able to eligible entities to address cybersecurity risks and 

12 threats to information systems of elementary schools and 

13 secondary schools through— 

14 (1) expanded workforce capacity and develop15 ment; and 

16 (2) improved network and cyberinfrastructure. 

17 (b) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity applying for a 

18 grant under the program shall submit to the Director a 

19 proposal that includes the following: 

20 (1) A description of how the proposed 

21 cybersecurity capacity improvements will be con22 ceived, designed, and implemented to meet local 

23 needs. Such description shall take the form of a co24 herent cybersecurity strategy and approach for a 

25 school, district, or region such that such strategy 


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1 and approach are integrated horizontally (intra2 school, district, or region) and vertically (regionally 

3 and nationally) with cybersecurity investments and 

4 best practices. 

5 (2) A plan for increasing the ability of edu6 cational leaders to prevent, recognize, and address 

7 cybersecurity threats. 

8 (3) An assessment of the sustainability of the 

9 activities under such proposal in light of any recur10 ring operational and engineering costs associated 

11 with such activities. 

12 (4) A plan to address the relevant cybersecurity 

13 issues and challenges implicated by the activities 

14 under such plan which includes issues or challenges 

15 pertaining to data integrity, privacy, network secu16 rity measures, federated access and identity manage17 ment, and infrastructure monitoring. 

18 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Director shall provide 

19 grants to eligible entities in an amount not to exceed 80 

20 percent of the total cost of the plan. 

21 (d) SELECTION.—In selecting recipients for grants 

22 under this section, the Director shall consider, and give 

23 preference to the extent practicable, the percentage of— 

24 (1) students in the eligible entity’s jurisdiction 

25 eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch under 


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1 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

2 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); or 

3 (2) household units in the eligible entity’s juris4 diction receiving non-cash benefits under the supple5 mental nutrition assistance program under the Food 

6 and Nutrition Act of 2008. 

7 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

9 section $400,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, to remain avail10 able through fiscal year 2021. 

11 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 

14 term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has the meaning 

15 given that term in section 8101 of the Elementary 

16 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 7801). 

18 (2) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen19 tary school’’ has the meaning given that term in sec20 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu21 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

22 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘eligible 

23 entities’’ means— 

24 (A) an elementary school; 

25 (B) a secondary school; 


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1 (C) a local educational agency; 

2 (D) a State educational agency; 

3 (E) an educational service agency; and 

4 (F) any combination of the entities listed 

5 in subparagraph consortia of such entities. 

6 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

7 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

8 that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

10 (5) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

11 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

12 that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

13 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 (6) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec15 ondary school’’ has the meaning given that term in 

16 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

Æ 


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