II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 672 

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

a reduction in school suspensions and expulsions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2015 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to support a reduction in school suspensions 

and expulsions. 

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 ‘‘Keep Kids in School 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE PLANS. 

7 Section 1111(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

10 the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (14) by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(15) the State educational agency will work 

5 with other State agencies, local educational agencies, 

6 organizations representing teachers, administrators, 

7 and other school personnel, organizations rep8 resenting parents, and community-based programs 

9 to reduce suspensions and expulsions in public early 

10 childhood education programs, as applicable, and el11 ementary school and secondary school including 

12 by— 

13 ‘‘(A) focusing on local educational agencies 

14 with a high rate of suspensions and expulsions 

15 and with a disparity between the rates of sus16 pension and expulsion for students who are 

17 members of the categories described in section 

18 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd), and all students at 

19 the school; 

20 ‘‘(B) expanding professional development 

21 provided to principals, administrators, teachers, 

22 specialized instructional support personnel, 

23 para-educators, and other staff that regularly 

24 interact with students, on a schoolwide basis, to 

25 educate such individuals about evidence-based 


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1 approaches to reduce suspensions and expul2 sions, such as prevention and deescalation 

3 strategies, conflict resolution, understanding 

4 and responding to the effects of trauma and vi5 olence on students, and multi-tiered systems of 

6 support that include developmentally, culturally, 

7 and linguistically appropriate positive behav8 ioral interventions for students in public early 

9 childhood education programs, as applicable, 

10 and elementary school and secondary school; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(C) developing a plan to ensure that each 

13 student who is suspended will receive ongoing 

14 educational services that will allow the student 

15 to successfully participate in the student’s pre16 vious educational program upon the student’s 

17 return to school following a suspension.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. LOCAL PLANS. 

19 Section 1112(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)(1)) is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (P), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

23 after the semicolon; 

24 (2) is subparagraph (Q), by striking the period 

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


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(R) a description of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the actions the local educational 

4 agency will take to reduce suspensions and 

5 expulsions in public early childhood edu6 cation programs, as applicable, and ele7 mentary school and secondary school; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) how the local educational agency 

9 will measure progress and benchmarks of 

10 improvement in reducing suspensions and 

11 expulsions, and the professional develop12 ment that is necessary to achieve such a 

13 reduction, with a particular focus on re14 ducing disparities between the rates of sus15 pension and expulsion for students who are 

16 members of the categories described in sec17 tion 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd) as com18 pared to such rates for all students at the 

19 school; 

20 ‘‘(S) an assurance that, in consultation 

21 with local government agencies, and commu22 nity-based programs, if applicable, the local 

23 educational agency will provide a report on— 

24 ‘‘(i) the professional development pro25 vided to principals, administrators, teachVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Mar 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S672.IS S672

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1 ers, specialized instructional support per2 sonnel, para-educators, and other staff 

3 that regularly interact with students on 

4 evidence-based approaches to reduce sus5 pensions and expulsions for students in 

6 public school, which may include preven7 tion and deescalation strategies, conflict 

8 resolution, understanding and responding 

9 to the effects of trauma and violence on 

10 students, and multi-tiered systems of sup11 port that include developmentally, cul12 turally, and linguistically appropriate posi13 tive behavioral interventions; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the local 

15 educational agency will ensure that each 

16 student who is suspended will receive ongo17 ing educational services that will allow the 

18 student to successfully participate in the 

19 student’s previous educational program 

20 upon the student’s return to school fol21 lowing a suspension; 

22 ‘‘(T) an assurance that each school served 

23 by the local educational agency will make pub24 licly available, the school’s individual suspension 

25 and expulsion policy, or the suspension and exVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S672.IS S672

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1 pulsion policy of the local educational agency 

2 that serves the school, if such policy operates on 

3 the local educational agency level; and 

4 ‘‘(U) an assurance that each school served 

5 by the local educational agency will make avail6 able, upon request, information about the be7 havior that resulted in each suspension or ex8 pulsion that was issued to a student at the 

9 school.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. REPORTING. 

11 (a) LEA REPORT.—Section 1111(h)(2)(B) of the El12 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

13 U.S.C. 6311(h)(2)(B)) is amended by striking clause (ii) 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a school— 

16 ‘‘(I) whether the school has been 

17 identified for school improvement; 

18 ‘‘(II) information that shows how 

19 the school’s students achievement on 

20 the statewide academic assessments 

21 and other indicators of adequate year22 ly progress compared to students in 

23 the local educational agency and the 

24 State as a whole; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) information about suspen2 sions and expulsions, including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) the number of suspen4 sions and expulsions; 

5 ‘‘(bb) the length of each sus6 pension; 

7 ‘‘(cc) the number of children 

8 suspended and the number of 

9 children suspended more than 

10 once; 

11 ‘‘(dd) the number of police 

12 arrests and referrals to law en13 forcement of students, 

14 disaggregated by grade, race, 

15 ethnicity, gender, disability sta16 tus (in accordance with section 

17 602 of the Individuals with Dis18 abilities Education Act), migrant 

19 status, English proficiency sta20 tus, and status as economically 

21 disadvantaged; 

22 ‘‘(ee) the number of times 

23 multiple suspensions were issued 

24 for the same student for the 

25 same offense; 


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1 ‘‘(ff) the number of times a 

2 student is transferred as part of 

3 a disciplinary removal to an al4 ternative educational setting, 

5 disaggregated by the categories 

6 described in subclause (IV); 

7 ‘‘(gg) the percentage of the 

8 student population that was sus9 pended or expelled, disaggregated 

10 by the groups described in item 

11 (dd); and 

12 ‘‘(hh) information on the 

13 professional development and im14 plementation support provided to 

15 principals, administrators, teach16 ers, and other appropriate staff 

17 on schoolwide evidence-based ap18 proaches, such as those described 

19 in section 1111(c)(15) to reduce 

20 suspensions and expulsions in 

21 public early childhood education 

22 programs, as applicable, and ele23 mentary school and secondary 

24 school.’’. 


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1 (b) STATE REPORT.—Section 1111(h)(1)(C) of the 

2 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating clause (vii) and (viii) as 

5 clause (viii) and (ix), respectively; and 

6 (2) by inserting after clause (vi) the following; 

7 ‘‘(vii) the information described in 

8 paragraph (2)(B)(ii)(III), as applicable, 

9 aggregated to reflect the State as a 

10 whole;’’. 

11 SEC. 5. RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR SCHOOL IMPROVE12 MENT. 

13 Section 4121 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7131) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a) by inserting ‘‘, and not re16 served under subsection (c)’’ after ‘‘carry out this 

17 subpart under section 4003(2),’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (b), by striking this section 

19 and inserting subsection (a); and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(c) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR SCHOOL DIS22 CIPLINE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No less than 7.5 percent of 

24 the funds made available to carry out this subpart 

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1 retary to make grants to the 50 local educational 

2 agencies with an approved application that have the 

3 highest rates of suspension and expulsion and the 

4 greatest disparity between the rates of suspension 

5 and expulsion for students who are members of the 

6 categories described in section 

7 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd), and all students at the 

8 school, as determined by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 

10 shall allocate the funds described in paragraph (1) 

11 among such local educational agencies in a manner 

12 determined by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—In order to receive funds 

14 under this subsection, a local educational agency 

15 shall submit a plan to the Secretary in such form 

16 and containing such information as the Secretary 

17 may reasonably require and shall include a descrip18 tion of how the local educational agency will use the 

19 funds awarded under this subsection for the profes20 sional development of principals, administrators, 

21 teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, 

22 para-educators, school resource officers, and school 

23 police to reduce suspensions and expulsions. 

24 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A local edu25 cational agency receiving funds under this subsection 


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1 may use such funds to carry out one or more of the 

2 following activities: 

3 ‘‘(A) training on developmentally, cul4 turally, and linguistically appropriate prevention 

5 and deescalation strategies; 

6 ‘‘(B) implementing positive behavioral 

7 intervention systems; 

8 ‘‘(C) implementing tiered disciplinary sys9 tems; 

10 ‘‘(D) carrying out training on conflict reso11 lution and restorative justice; 

12 ‘‘(E) hiring additional school-based mental 

13 health services providers; and 

14 ‘‘(F) carrying out other evidence-based ap15 proaches to reducing school suspensions and ex16 pulsions. 

17 ‘‘(5) REPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—At 

19 the conclusion of each grant period, each local 

20 educational agency that receives a grant under 

21 this subsection shall prepare and submit a re22 port to the Secretary on the uses for the fund23 ing received as well as the techniques used by 

24 the local educational agency to reduce suspen25 sions and expulsions. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES.—The 

2 Secretary shall publish and make publicly avail3 able an annual report on the best practices for 

4 State educational agencies and local educational 

5 agencies to reduce the use of suspensions and 

6 expulsions, and may include information from 

7 the reports described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

9 Section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended by add11 ing at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(44) SUSPENSION.—The term ‘suspension’ 

13 means an instance in which a student, including a 

14 student with a disability, is temporarily removed 

15 from the student’s regular educational setting for 

16 disciplinary purposes to another setting (such as 

17 home, a behavior center, or an interim alternative 

18 educational setting, which may be at the school), re19 gardless of whether the student receives educational 

20 or other services from the school in that setting. 

21 ‘‘(45) EXPULSION.—The term ‘expulsion’ 

22 means an action taken by the local educational agen23 cy removing a student from the student’s regular 

24 school for disciplinary purposes for the remainder of 

25 the school year or longer, in accordance with local 


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1 educational agency policy, and includes any removal 

2 from school, or modified removal, of a student of a 

3 period of less than 1 year, as required by State law 

4 in accordance with section 4141.’’. 

5 SEC. 7. STATE AND LOCAL USES OF FUNDS FOR PROFES6 SIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 

7 (a) STATE USE OF FUNDS.—Section 2113(c) of the 

8 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 6613(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(19) Encouraging and supporting local edu12 cational agencies in providing professional develop13 ment to teachers, administrators, other school per14 sonnel, and school leaders in ways to reduce the use 

15 of suspensions and expulsions, especially when re16 sulting in disparities between the rates of suspension 

17 and expulsion for students who are members of the 

18 categories described in section 

19 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd) as compared to such rates 

20 for all students at the school, which may include de21 veloping tools such as developmentally, culturally, 

22 and linguistically appropriate prevention and deesca23 lation strategies, positive behavioral intervention sys24 tems, tiered disciplinary systems, conflict resolution 


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1 and restorative justice, and other evidence-based ap2 proaches.’’. 

3 (b) LOCAL USE OF FUNDS.—Section 2123(a)(3)(B) 

4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

5 (20 U.S.C. 6623(a)(3)(B)) is amended— 

6 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik7 ing ‘‘teachers and principals and, in appropriate 

8 cases, paraprofessionals,’’ and inserting ‘‘teachers, 

9 administrators, other personnel, and school leaders’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating clauses (iii) through (v) as 

11 clauses (iv) through (vi), respectively; and 

12 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

13 ‘‘(iii) provide professional development 

14 regarding ways to reduce the use of sus15 pensions and expulsions, especially when 

16 resulting in disparities between the rates of 

17 suspension and expulsion for students who 

18 are members of the categories described in 

19 section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd) as com20 pared to such rates for all students at the 

21 school, which may include developing tools 

22 or establishing school-level teams that are 

23 well-versed and familiar with tools such as 

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1 tion strategies, positive behavioral inter2 vention systems, tiered disciplinary sys3 tems, conflict resolution, and other evi4 dence-based approaches;’’. 

Æ 


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