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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 672 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Keep Kids in School Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE PLANS.

    Section 1111(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (14) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) the State educational agency will work with other 
        State agencies, local educational agencies, organizations 
        representing teachers, administrators, and other school 
        personnel, organizations representing parents, and community-
        based programs to reduce suspensions and expulsions in public 
        early childhood education programs, as applicable, and 
        elementary school and secondary school including by--
                    ``(A) focusing on local educational agencies with a 
                high rate of suspensions and expulsions and with a 
                disparity between the rates of suspension and expulsion 
                for students who are members of the categories 
                described in section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd), and 
                all students at the school;
                    ``(B) expanding professional development provided 
                to principals, administrators, teachers, specialized 
                instructional support personnel, para-educators, and 
                other staff that regularly interact with students, on a 
                schoolwide basis, to educate such individuals about 
                evidence-based approaches to reduce suspensions and 
                expulsions, such as prevention and deescalation 
                strategies, conflict resolution, understanding and 
                responding to the effects of trauma and violence on 
                students, and multi-tiered systems of support that 
                include developmentally, culturally, and linguistically 
                appropriate positive behavioral interventions for 
                students in public early childhood education programs, 
                as applicable, and elementary school and secondary 
                school; and
                    ``(C) developing a plan to ensure that each student 
                who is suspended will receive ongoing educational 
                services that will allow the student to successfully 
                participate in the student's previous educational 
                program upon the student's return to school following a 
                suspension.''.

SEC. 3. LOCAL PLANS.

    Section 1112(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (P), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) is subparagraph (Q), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(R) a description of--
                            ``(i) the actions the local educational 
                        agency will take to reduce suspensions and 
                        expulsions in public early childhood education 
                        programs, as applicable, and elementary school 
                        and secondary school; and
                            ``(ii) how the local educational agency 
                        will measure progress and benchmarks of 
                        improvement in reducing suspensions and 
                        expulsions, and the professional development 
                        that is necessary to achieve such a reduction, 
                        with a particular focus on reducing disparities 
                        between the rates of suspension and expulsion 
                        for students who are members of the categories 
                        described in section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd) 
                        as compared to such rates for all students at 
                        the school;
                    ``(S) an assurance that, in consultation with local 
                government agencies, and community-based programs, if 
                applicable, the local educational agency will provide a 
                report on--
                            ``(i) the professional development provided 
                        to principals, administrators, teachers, 
                        specialized instructional support personnel, 
                        para-educators, and other staff that regularly 
                        interact with students on evidence-based 
                        approaches to reduce suspensions and expulsions 
                        for students in public school, which may 
                        include prevention and deescalation strategies, 
                        conflict resolution, understanding and 
                        responding to the effects of trauma and 
                        violence on students, and multi-tiered systems 
                        of support that include developmentally, 
                        culturally, and linguistically appropriate 
                        positive behavioral interventions; and
                            ``(ii) a description of how the local 
                        educational agency will ensure that each 
                        student who is suspended will receive ongoing 
                        educational services that will allow the 
                        student to successfully participate in the 
                        student's previous educational program upon the 
                        student's return to school following a 
                        suspension;
                    ``(T) an assurance that each school served by the 
                local educational agency will make publicly available, 
                the school's individual suspension and expulsion 
                policy, or the suspension and expulsion policy of the 
                local educational agency that serves the school, if 
                such policy operates on the local educational agency 
                level; and
                    ``(U) an assurance that each school served by the 
                local educational agency will make available, upon 
                request, information about the behavior that resulted 
                in each suspension or expulsion that was issued to a 
                student at the school.''.

SEC. 4. REPORTING.

    (a) LEA Report.--Section 1111(h)(2)(B) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(2)(B)) is amended by 
striking clause (ii) and inserting the following:
                            ``(ii) in the case of a school--
                                    ``(I) whether the school has been 
                                identified for school improvement;
                                    ``(II) information that shows how 
                                the school's students achievement on 
                                the statewide academic assessments and 
                                other indicators of adequate yearly 
                                progress compared to students in the 
                                local educational agency and the State 
                                as a whole; and
                                    ``(III) information about 
                                suspensions and expulsions, including--
                                            ``(aa) the number of 
                                        suspensions and expulsions;
                                            ``(bb) the length of each 
                                        suspension;
                                            ``(cc) the number of 
                                        children suspended and the 
                                        number of children suspended 
                                        more than once;
                                            ``(dd) the number of police 
                                        arrests and referrals to law 
                                        enforcement of students, 
                                        disaggregated by grade, race, 
                                        ethnicity, gender, disability 
                                        status (in accordance with 
                                        section 602 of the Individuals 
                                        with Disabilities Education 
                                        Act), migrant status, English 
                                        proficiency status, and status 
                                        as economically disadvantaged;
                                            ``(ee) the number of times 
                                        multiple suspensions were 
                                        issued for the same student for 
                                        the same offense;
                                            ``(ff) the number of times 
                                        a student is transferred as 
                                        part of a disciplinary removal 
                                        to an alternative educational 
                                        setting, disaggregated by the 
                                        categories described in 
                                        subclause (IV);
                                            ``(gg) the percentage of 
                                        the student population that was 
                                        suspended or expelled, 
                                        disaggregated by the groups 
                                        described in item (dd); and
                                            ``(hh) information on the 
                                        professional development and 
                                        implementation support provided 
                                        to principals, administrators, 
                                        teachers, and other appropriate 
                                        staff on schoolwide evidence-
                                        based approaches, such as those 
                                        described in section 
                                        1111(c)(15) to reduce 
                                        suspensions and expulsions in 
                                        public early childhood 
                                        education programs, as 
                                        applicable, and elementary 
                                        school and secondary school.''.
    (b) State Report.--Section 1111(h)(1)(C) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating clause (vii) and (viii) as clause 
        (viii) and (ix), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after clause (vi) the following;
                            ``(vii) the information described in 
                        paragraph (2)(B)(ii)(III), as applicable, 
                        aggregated to reflect the State as a whole;''.

SEC. 5. RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.

    Section 4121 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7131) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by inserting ``, and not reserved 
        under subsection (c)'' after ``carry out this subpart under 
        section 4003(2),'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking this section and 
        inserting subsection (a); and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Reservation of Funds for School Discipline.--
            ``(1) In general.--No less than 7.5 percent of the funds 
        made available to carry out this subpart under section 4003(2) 
        shall be reserved for the Secretary to make grants to the 50 
        local educational agencies with an approved application that 
        have the highest rates of suspension and expulsion and the 
        greatest disparity between the rates of suspension and 
        expulsion for students who are members of the categories 
        described in section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd), and all 
        students at the school, as determined by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Allocation of funds.--The Secretary shall allocate 
        the funds described in paragraph (1) among such local 
        educational agencies in a manner determined by the Secretary.
            ``(3) Application.--In order to receive funds under this 
        subsection, a local educational agency shall submit a plan to 
        the Secretary in such form and containing such information as 
        the Secretary may reasonably require and shall include a 
        description of how the local educational agency will use the 
        funds awarded under this subsection for the professional 
        development of principals, administrators, teachers, 
        specialized instructional support personnel, para-educators, 
        school resource officers, and school police to reduce 
        suspensions and expulsions.
            ``(4) Eligible activities.--A local educational agency 
        receiving funds under this subsection may use such funds to 
        carry out one or more of the following activities:
                    ``(A) training on developmentally, culturally, and 
                linguistically appropriate prevention and deescalation 
                strategies;
                    ``(B) implementing positive behavioral intervention 
                systems;
                    ``(C) implementing tiered disciplinary systems;
                    ``(D) carrying out training on conflict resolution 
                and restorative justice;
                    ``(E) hiring additional school-based mental health 
                services providers; and
                    ``(F) carrying out other evidence-based approaches 
                to reducing school suspensions and expulsions.
            ``(5) Report.--
                    ``(A) Reports to the secretary.--At the conclusion 
                of each grant period, each local educational agency 
                that receives a grant under this subsection shall 
                prepare and submit a report to the Secretary on the 
                uses for the funding received as well as the techniques 
                used by the local educational agency to reduce 
                suspensions and expulsions.
                    ``(B) Report on best practices.--The Secretary 
                shall publish and make publicly available an annual 
                report on the best practices for State educational 
                agencies and local educational agencies to reduce the 
                use of suspensions and expulsions, and may include 
                information from the reports described in subparagraph 
                (A).''.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(44) Suspension.--The term `suspension' means an instance 
        in which a student, including a student with a disability, is 
        temporarily removed from the student's regular educational 
        setting for disciplinary purposes to another setting (such as 
        home, a behavior center, or an interim alternative educational 
        setting, which may be at the school), regardless of whether the 
        student receives educational or other services from the school 
        in that setting.
            ``(45) Expulsion.--The term `expulsion' means an action 
        taken by the local educational agency removing a student from 
        the student's regular school for disciplinary purposes for the 
        remainder of the school year or longer, in accordance with 
        local educational agency policy, and includes any removal from 
        school, or modified removal, of a student of a period of less 
        than 1 year, as required by State law in accordance with 
        section 4141.''.

SEC. 7. STATE AND LOCAL USES OF FUNDS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) State Use of Funds.--Section 2113(c) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(19) Encouraging and supporting local educational 
        agencies in providing professional development to teachers, 
        administrators, other school personnel, and school leaders in 
        ways to reduce the use of suspensions and expulsions, 
        especially when resulting in disparities between the rates of 
        suspension and expulsion for students who are members of the 
        categories described in section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd) as 
        compared to such rates for all students at the school, which 
        may include developing tools such as developmentally, 
        culturally, and linguistically appropriate prevention and 
        deescalation strategies, positive behavioral intervention 
        systems, tiered disciplinary systems, conflict resolution and 
        restorative justice, and other evidence-based approaches.''.
    (b) Local Use of Funds.--Section 2123(a)(3)(B) of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6623(a)(3)(B)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
        ``teachers and principals and, in appropriate cases, 
        paraprofessionals,'' and inserting ``teachers, administrators, 
        other personnel, and school leaders'';
            (2) by redesignating clauses (iii) through (v) as clauses 
        (iv) through (vi), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
                            ``(iii) provide professional development 
                        regarding ways to reduce the use of suspensions 
                        and expulsions, especially when resulting in 
                        disparities between the rates of suspension and 
                        expulsion for students who are members of the 
                        categories described in section 
                        1111(h)(1)(C)(ii)(III)(dd) as compared to such 
                        rates for all students at the school, which may 
                        include developing tools or establishing 
                        school-level teams that are well-versed and 
                        familiar with tools such as developmentally, 
                        culturally, and linguistically appropriate 
                        prevention and deescalation strategies, 
                        positive behavioral intervention systems, 
                        tiered disciplinary systems, conflict 
                        resolution, and other evidence-based 
                        approaches;''.
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