I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5307 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish 

a grant program that will support efforts at the State level to establish 

anti-bullying task forces to study, address, and reduce bullying in elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 29, 2023 

Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself and Mrs. GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to establish a grant program that will support 

efforts at the State level to establish anti-bullying task 

forces to study, address, and reduce bullying in elementary and secondary 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 ‘‘STOP Bullying Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Between one in four and one in three stu2 dents in the United States report being bullied at 

3 school, and over 70 percent of young people say they 

4 have seen bullying in their schools. 

5 (2) Since most instances of bullying take place 

6 on school grounds, school staff and teachers play an 

7 instrumental role in bullying prevention. 

8 (3) Research shows that engaged educators who 

9 are supportive of all students help to reduce the 

10 overall presence of bullying and harassment on 

11 school grounds. 

12 (4) 87.3 percent of transgender students report 

13 feeling unsafe at school, and nine out of ten stu14 dents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

15 transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) report being har16 assed and bullied every year. 

17 (5) Hostile school environments have a detri18 mental effect on the academic success and health of 

19 students. 

20 (6) Law in effect before the date of the enact21 ment of this Act does not sufficiently address bul22 lying prevention, and governments and educators in 

23 every State have a responsibility to ensure State and 

24 local education systems have processes in place for 

25 students to be able to learn in a safe environment, 


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1 regardless of their actual or perceived race, color, 

2 national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, 

3 gender identity, or religion. 

4 SEC. 3. STATE ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE REQUIRE5 MENT. 

6 Subpart 2 of part F of title VIII of the Elementary 

7 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881 

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

9 ‘‘SEC. 8549D. STATE ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE GRANTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE GRANT PRO11 GRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out a program to make 

12 grants to each State to establish and implement a task 

13 force to study, address, and reduce bullying in elementary 

14 schools and secondary schools. 

15 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State task force estab16 lished under a grant under this section shall use the grant 

17 funds to conduct a study on bullying in the elementary 

18 schools and secondary schools of such State that in19 cludes— 

20 ‘‘(1) policies of the local educational agencies in 

21 such State with respect to bullying; 

22 ‘‘(2) teacher, parent, and student education 

23 with respect to bullying; and 

24 ‘‘(3) the incidents of student violence and self25 harm as a result of bullying. 


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1 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

2 ‘‘(1) CHAIR.—Each Chief Education Officer of 

3 a State shall designate one individual to serve as the 

4 chair of the task force of such State. 

5 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—Each State shall des6 ignate at least one individual from each of the fol7 lowing categories to serve on the task force of such 

8 State: 

9 ‘‘(A) At least one teacher at elementary 

10 schools and secondary schools selected in con11 sultation with the union or association rep12 resenting educators. 

13 ‘‘(B) At least one school administrator. 

14 ‘‘(C) At least one parent of students. 

15 ‘‘(D) At least one K–12 student. 

16 ‘‘(E) At least one guidance counselor. 

17 ‘‘(F) At least one child psychologist. 

18 ‘‘(G) At least one school psychologist. 

19 ‘‘(H) At least one paraprofessional. 

20 ‘‘(I) At least one lawyer. 

21 ‘‘(J) At least one representative from a 

22 community-based organization who specializes 

23 in providing supportive services to students who 

24 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 

25 or queer. 


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1 ‘‘(K) Professionals who specialize in pro2 viding support services to students who identify 

3 as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. 

4 ‘‘(L) At least one individual from the State 

5 Education Agency office focused on school im6 provement and school climate. 

7 ‘‘(M) Additional individuals, as determined 

8 by the chair of the task force. 

9 ‘‘(3) TERMS OF MEMBERS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of a 

11 task force of State shall be appointed for the 

12 duration of the existence of such task force. 

13 ‘‘(B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on a task 

14 force shall be filled in the manner in which the 

15 original designation was made under paragraph 

16 (2). 

17 ‘‘(4) DISCRETIONARY COORDINATION.—A task 

18 force of a State may coordinate activities under this 

19 section with other boards and commissions of such 

20 State. 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER.— 

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

23 the date on which the State submits the study re24 quired under subsection (b), the State task force of 

25 such State shall submit a final report to the Chief 


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1 Education Officer of such State and the Secretary of 

2 Education containing— 

3 ‘‘(A) the annual findings and conclusions 

4 of the task force; 

5 ‘‘(B) the recommendations of the task 

6 force for legislation or administrative actions; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) best practices with respect to bullying 

9 in elementary schools and secondary schools 

10 that includes recommendations for how— 

11 ‘‘(i) to address and reduce bullying; 

12 ‘‘(ii) to best educate all relevant 

13 school staff on recognizing bullying; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) parents can best address and 

15 discuss with their children the early warn16 ing signs of bullying. 

17 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Each State task force 

18 shall make the final report submitted under para19 graph (1) publicly available.’’. 

Æ 


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