II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 811 

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

States to develop policies on positive school climates and school discipline. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 19, 2015 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, and Mrs. MURRAY) 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 require States to develop policies on positive 

school climates and school discipline. 

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 ‘‘Supportive School Cli5 mate Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE AND SCHOOL DIS2 CIPLINE POLICIES. 

3 (a) STATE PLANS.—Section 1111 of the Elementary 

4 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(3) POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE AND SCHOOL

9 DISCIPLINE POLICIES.—In addition to the plan de10 scribed in paragraph (1), a State desiring to receive 

11 a grant under this part to support positive behav12 ioral interventions and support, shall submit to the 

13 Secretary a plan that describes how the State edu14 cational agency will— 

15 ‘‘(A) coordinate with the local educational 

16 agencies and schools served by the State edu17 cational agency to implement positive, preventa18 tive approaches to exclusionary discipline ac19 tions that promote a positive school climate for 

20 all students and improve engagement for dis21 connected youth, juvenile offenders, and other 

22 students, while minimizing students’ removal 

23 from instruction and, if students are removed, 

24 upon students’ return to the instructional pro25 gram, maximizing students’ opportunities to 


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1 make up education lost during the period of re2 moval from instruction; 

3 ‘‘(B) provide technical assistance and 

4 training to local educational agencies to im5 prove and support the development, implemen6 tation, and coordination of comprehensive posi7 tive behavioral interventions and supports car8 ried out under this Act with activities carried 

9 out under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu10 cation Act; 

11 ‘‘(C) evaluate the effects of providing posi12 tive behavioral interventions and supports for 

13 all students, including improvement of the 

14 learning environment, academic achievement, 

15 disciplinary problems, such as incidents of sus16 pensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforce17 ment, and other actions that remove students 

18 from instruction, and any other effects the 

19 State chooses to evaluate; 

20 ‘‘(D) ensure all students are on track to be 

21 college and career ready by promoting student 

22 engagement, and preventing dropout; 

23 ‘‘(E) ensure involvement of students in the 

24 criminal or juvenile justice system is avoided 

25 when addressing minor misbehavior such as 


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1 non-threatening, non-violent, and non-criminal 

2 misbehavior; 

3 ‘‘(F) through preventative and alternative 

4 approaches, reduce out-of-school suspensions, 

5 in-school suspensions, expulsions, referrals to 

6 law enforcement, school-based arrests, and ex7 clusionary discipline practices that remove stu8 dents from instruction and, upon students’ re9 turn to the educational program, maximize stu10 dents’ opportunities to make up education lost 

11 during the period of removal from instruction; 

12 ‘‘(G) in coordination with the State depart13 ment of corrections or a similar agency, ensure 

14 re-entering juvenile offenders receive referrals 

15 to a local educational agency and provide that, 

16 for any juvenile who commits an offense subject 

17 to school expulsion and is subsequently com18 mitted to a detention center, secure facility, or 

19 any other residential placement within the juve20 nile or adult criminal justice system for such of21 fense, the period of expulsion shall run concur22 rently with the period of commitment to the de23 tention center, secure facility, or other residen24 tial placement; 


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1 ‘‘(H) ensure that school discipline policies 

2 are in compliance with applicable civil rights 

3 laws, are procedurally fair, and practices are 

4 applied equally to all students regardless of 

5 their economic status, English learner status, 

6 race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sex, 

7 including gender identity, and ensure that 

8 school discipline policies meet the requirements 

9 of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

10 1973, title II of the Americans with Disabilities 

11 Act of 1990, the Individuals with Disabilities 

12 Education Act, and implementing regulations of 

13 such section, title, and Act, and that the dis14 ciplinary policies and practices are applied in a 

15 manner that complies with the equal oppor16 tunity requirements of section 504 of the Reha17 bilitation Act of 1973, title II of the Americans 

18 with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Individuals 

19 with Disabilities Education Act, and imple20 menting regulations of such section, title, and 

21 Act; and 

22 ‘‘(I) in coordination with local educational 

23 agencies and schools, provide annual and public 

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1 ferrals to law enforcement, school-based arrests, 

2 and disciplinary transfers (including placements 

3 in alternative schools) in the State 

4 (disaggregated by each category of students de5 scribed in subsection (b)(2)(C)(v), except that 

6 such disaggregation shall not be required in a 

7 case in which the number of students in a cat8 egory is insufficient to yield statistically reliable 

9 information or the results would reveal person10 ally identifiable information about an individual 

11 student).’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (h)(6)(B)— 

13 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

14 the semicolon; 

15 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(iii) the number of incidences of 

19 school violence, bullying, drug abuse, alco20 hol abuse, in-school student suspensions, 

21 out-of-school student suspensions, expul22 sions, referrals to law enforcement, school23 based arrests, disciplinary transfers (in24 cluding placements in alternative schools), 

25 and student detentions, disaggregated by 


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1 each category of students described in sub2 section (b)(2)(C)(v) for each such type of 

3 incident.’’. 

4 (b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLANS.—Section 

5 1112(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

6 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)(1)) is amended— 

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

8 after the semicolon; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (Q), by striking the period 

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

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

12 ‘‘(R) where appropriate, a description of 

13 how the local educational agency will support 

14 positive behavior interventions and supports 

15 by— 

16 ‘‘(i) establishing parental notification 

17 requirements for out-of-school suspensions, 

18 in-school suspensions, expulsions, school19 based arrests, referrals to law enforcement, 

20 and exclusionary discipline practices that 

21 remove students from instruction, in ac22 cordance with section 444 of the General 

23 Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 

24 1232g) (commonly known as the ‘Family 


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1 Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 

2 1974’); 

3 ‘‘(ii) establishing systems to engage 

4 families and community members with the 

5 school in meaningful and sustained ways, 

6 such as through case management services 

7 and mentoring to promote positive student 

8 academic achievement, developmental, and 

9 social emotional growth, including non-cog10 nitive skill development; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) establishing best practices for a 

12 school conduct and discipline code, that— 

13 ‘‘(I) protects students and staff 

14 from harm; 

15 ‘‘(II) provides constructive oppor16 tunities for students to learn from 

17 their mistakes rather than exclude 

18 them from the learning community; 

19 ‘‘(III) fosters a positive learning 

20 community by providing a continuum 

21 of interventions, supports, and strate22 gies within a tiered prevention frame23 work; 

24 ‘‘(IV) keeps students in school; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(V) shows mindful consideration 

2 of negative impacts that may have oc3 curred as a result of involvement with 

4 the criminal justice system.’’. 

5 (c) PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

6 FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE NEGLECTED, DE7 LINQUENT, OR AT RISK OF DROPPING OUT.—Part D of 

8 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

9 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6421 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 1414— 

11 (A) in subsection (a)(2)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iv), by strik15 ing the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

16 and’’; and 

17 (iii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(D) provide assurances that the State 

20 educational agency has established— 

21 ‘‘(i) procedures to ensure that each 

22 student who has been placed in the juve23 nile justice system is promptly re-enrolled 

24 in secondary school or placed in a re-entry 


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1 program that best meets the education and 

2 social needs of the student; 

3 ‘‘(ii) procedures for facilitating the 

4 transfer of credits that such student 

5 earned during placement; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) opportunities for such student to 

7 participate in postsecondary and career 

8 pathways.’’; and 

9 (B) in subsection (c)(9)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘encourage’’ and in11 serting ‘‘require, to the extent prac12 ticable,’’; 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and following’’ after 

14 ‘‘youth prior to’’; and 

15 (iii) by inserting ‘‘and that transition 

16 plans are in place’’ before the semicolon at 

17 the end; 

18 (2) in section 1416(4), by inserting ‘‘and the 

19 development and implementation of transition plans’’ 

20 before the semicolon at the end; 

21 (3) in section 1423— 

22 (A) by striking paragraph (4) and insert23 ing the following: 

24 ‘‘(4) a description of the activities that the local 

25 educational agency will carry out to facilitate the 


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1 successful transition of children and youth in locally 

2 operated institutions for neglected and delinquent 

3 children and other correctional institutions into 

4 schools served by the local education agency or, as 

5 appropriate, into career and technical education and 

6 postsecondary education programs, including sup7 port services to help ensure the success of those chil8 dren and youth after leaving an institution, such 

9 as— 

10 ‘‘(A) personal, career, and academic coun11 seling; 

12 ‘‘(B) placement services designed to place 

13 those youth in a university, college, or commu14 nity college program, including academic eval15 uations; 

16 ‘‘(C) information concerning, and assist17 ance in obtaining, available student financial 

18 aid; and 

19 ‘‘(D) job placement services;’’; and 

20 (B) by striking paragraph (10) and insert21 ing the following: 

22 ‘‘(10) as appropriate, a description of how the 

23 local educational agency will address the needs of 

24 children and youth who return from institutions for 

25 neglected and delinquent children and youth or from 


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1 other correctional institutions and attend regular or 

2 alternative schools;’’; 

3 (4) in section 1425— 

4 (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

5 after the semicolon; 

6 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe7 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(12) develop an initial educational services 

10 transition plan for each child or youth served under 

11 this subpart upon entry into the correctional facility, 

12 in partnership with the child’s or youth’s family 

13 members and the local educational agency that most 

14 recently provided services to the child or youth (if 

15 applicable), consistent with section 1414(a)(1); and 

16 ‘‘(13) consult with the local educational agency 

17 for a period jointly determined necessary by the cor18 rectional facility and local educational agency upon 

19 discharge from that facility, to coordinate edu20 cational services so as to minimize disruption to the 

21 child’s or youth’s achievement.’’; and 

22 (5) by striking section 1426 and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 1426. ACCOUNTABILITY. 

25 ‘‘The State educational agency— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall require correctional facilities or insti2 tutions for neglected or delinquent children and 

3 youth to annually report on the number of children 

4 and youth released from the correctional facility or 

5 institution who returned or did not return to school, 

6 the number of children and youth obtaining a high 

7 school diploma or its recognized equivalent, and the 

8 number of children and youth obtaining employment; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(2) may require correctional facilities or insti11 tutions for neglected and delinquent children and 

12 youth to demonstrate, after receiving assistance 

13 under this subpart for 3 years, that there has been 

14 an increase in the number of children and youth re15 turning to school, obtaining a high school diploma or 

16 its recognized equivalent, or obtaining employment 

17 after such children and youth are released.’’. 

18 (d) NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR TECHNICAL ASSIST19 ANCE.—Section 4121 of the Elementary and Secondary 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7131) is amended by 

21 adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR TECHNICAL ASSIST23 ANCE.—From funds made available to carry out this sub24 part, not more than 5 percent shall be made available to 

25 the Secretary to provide technical assistance to State chief 


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1 executive officers, State agencies, local educational agen2 cies and other recipients of funding under this part to sup3 port these entities in achieving the goals and outcomes de4 scribed in this part. Such activities for technical assistance 

5 may include developing comprehensive, evidence-based 

6 professional development and training programs for rel7 evant school staff and contractors to improve school safety 

8 and climate for students and staff that may include— 

9 ‘‘(1) implementation of a school-wide, multi10 tiered system of behavioral support, with a con11 tinuum of interventions and supports to address the 

12 needs of all students; 

13 ‘‘(2) effective classroom management strategies 

14 that recognize appropriate behavior and provide de15 velopmentally appropriate conflict resolution prac16 tices, incident de-escalation techniques and data17 based decisionmaking; 

18 ‘‘(3) crisis management techniques; 

19 ‘‘(4) effective strategies for asserting authority 

20 with adolescents that recognize age-appropriate be21 havior and provide developmentally appropriate re22 sponses; 

23 ‘‘(5) training in prevention of racial bias and 

24 culturally responsive pedagogy, and training on how 

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1 ior, in accordance with title II, the Individuals with 

2 Disabilities Education Act, and section 504 of the 

3 Rehabilitation Act of 1973; 

4 ‘‘(6) trauma-informed approaches and interven5 tions, with particular attention to recognizing the 

6 signs of trauma; 

7 ‘‘(7) for schools in need of improvement with 

8 high or significantly disparate disciplinary rates 

9 based on race, ethnicity, sex (including gender iden10 tity), disability, providing technical assistance and 

11 support to identify the root causes of such rates or 

12 disparities through diagnostic analysis of data or as13 sessing school-wide discipline issues, and imple14 menting evidence-based practices to reduce such 

15 rates or disparities; 

16 ‘‘(8) developing, implementing, and evaluating 

17 comprehensive programs and activities, in coordina18 tion with other schools and community-based serv19 ices and programs, rooted in holistic and positive ap20 proaches, that encompasses a ‘strategy or frame21 work’ based on positive discipline strategies that 

22 limit the use and scope of exclusionary discipline 

23 strategies; and 

24 ‘‘(9) developing guidelines regarding the use of 

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1 ticular, distinguishing between incidents to be han2 dled by educators and those to be handled by law en3 forcement officers.’’. 

Æ 


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