I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2455

To help local school systems achieve Goal Six of the National Education

Goals, which provides that by the year 2000, every school in America

will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment

conducive to learning, by ensuring that all schools are safe and free

of violence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 17, 1993

Mr. OWENS (for himself, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. ENGEL, Mr.

KLINK, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, Mrs. UNSOELD, Mr. REED, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. CLAY, and Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA) introduced

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

Labor

A BILL

To help local school systems achieve Goal Six of the National

Education Goals, which provides that by the year 2000,

every school in America will be free of drugs and violence

and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to

learning, by ensuring that all schools are safe and free

of violence.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Schools Act of

3 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. SAFE SCHOOLS PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—With funds appropriated under

6 subsection (b)(1), the Secretary of Education shall make

7 competitive grants to eligible local educational agencies to

8 carry out projects designed to achieve Goal Six of the Na9 tional Education Goals, which provides that by the year

10 2000, every school in America will be free of drugs and

11 violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive

12 to learning, by helping to ensure that all schools are safe

13 and free of violence.

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND RES15 ERVATION.—

16 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to

17 be appropriated to carry out this Act $75,000,000

18 for fiscal year 1994, $100,000,000 for fiscal year

19 1995, and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal

20 year 1996 and each of the 2 succeeding fiscal years.

21 (2) RESERVATION.—From the sums appro22 priated to carry out this Act for any fiscal year, the

23 Secretary may reserve not more than 5 percent to

24 carry out national leadership activities under section

25 6.
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1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.

2 To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a

3 local educational agency shall demonstrate in its applica4 tion under section 4(a) that it—

5 (1) receives assistance under section 1006 of

6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2712) or meets the criteria of

8 clauses (i) and (ii) of section 1006(a)(1)(A) of such

9 Act;

10 (2) serves an area in which there is a high rate

11 of—

12 (A) homicides committed by persons be13 tween the ages 5 to 18, inclusive;

14 (B) referrals of youth to juvenile court;

15 (C) youth under the supervision of the

16 courts;

17 (D) expulsions and suspensions of students

18 from school;

19 (E) referrals of youth, for disciplinary rea20 sons, to alternative schools; or

21 (F) victimization of youth by violence,

22 crime, or other forms of abuse; and

23 (3) has serious school crime, violence, and dis24 cipline problems, as indicated by other appropriate

25 data.
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1 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS AND PLANS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive a grant under

3 this Act, an eligible local educational agency shall submit

4 to the Secretary an application that includes—

5 (1) an assessment of the current violence and

6 crime problems in the schools to be served by the

7 grant and in the community to be served by the ap8 plicant;

9 (2) an assurance that the applicant has written

10 policies regarding school safety, student discipline,

11 and the appropriate handling of violent or disruptive

12 acts;

13 (3) a description of the schools and commu14 nities to be served by the grant, the activities and

15 projects to be carried out with grant funds, and how

16 these activities and projects will help to reduce the

17 current violence and crime problems in the schools

18 and communities served;

19 (4) if the local educational agency receives Fed20 eral education funds, an explanation of how activi21 ties assisted under this Act will be coordinated with

22 and support any systemic education improvement

23 plan prepared with such funds;

24 (5) the applicant’s plan to establish school-level

25 advisory committees, which include faculty, parents,

26 staff, and students, for each school to be served by
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1 the grant and a description of how each committee

2 will assist in assessing that school’s violence and dis3 cipline problems as well as in designing appropriate

4 programs, policies, and practices to combat those

5 problems;

6 (6) the applicant’s plan for collecting baseline

7 and future data, by individual schools, to monitor vi8 olence and discipline problems and to measure its

9 progress in achieving the purpose of this Act;

10 (7) an assurance that grant funds under this

11 Act will be used to supplement and not supplant

12 State and local funds that would, in the absence of

13 funds under this Act, be made available by the appli14 cant for the purposes of the grant;

15 (8) an assurance that the applicant will cooper16 ate with, and provide assistance to, the Secretary in

17 gathering statistics and other data the Secretary de18 termines are necessary to determine the effectiveness

19 of projects and activities under this Act or the ex20 tent of school violence and discipline problems

21 throughout the Nation; and

22 (9) such other information as the Secretary

23 may require.

24 (b) SECOND YEAR REQUIREMENT.—In order to re25 ceive funds under this Act for the second year of a project,
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1 a grantee shall submit to the Secretary its comprehensive,

2 long-term, school safety plan for combating and prevent3 ing school violence and discipline problems. Such plan

4 shall contain—

5 (1) a description of how the grantee will coordi6 nate its school crime and violence prevention efforts

7 with education, law-enforcement, judicial, health, so8 cial service, and other appropriate agencies and or9 ganizations serving the community; and

10 (2) if the grantee receives Federal education

11 funds to prepare a systemic education improvement

12 plan, an explanation of how the grantee’s com13 prehensive plan under this subsection is consistent

14 with and supports such systemic education improve15 ment plan, if such explanation differs from that pro16 vided in the grantee’s application.

17 SEC. 5. GRANTS AND USE OF FUNDS.

18 (a) DURATION AND AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Grants

19 under this Act may not exceed—

20 (1) 2 years in duration; and

21 (2) $3,000,000 for each year.

22 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—

23 (1) ACTIVITIES.—A local educational agency

24 may use funds awarded under section 2(a) for 1 or

25 more of the following activities:
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1 (A) Identifying and assessing school vio2 lence and discipline problems, including coordi3 nating needs assessment activities with edu4 cation, law-enforcement, judicial, health, social

5 service, and other appropriate agencies and or6 ganizations.

7 (B) Conducting school safety reviews or vi8 olence prevention reviews of programs, policies,

9 practices, and facilities to determine what

10 changes are needed to reduce or prevent vio11 lence and promote safety and discipline.

12 (C) Planning for comprehensive, long-term

13 strategies for combating and preventing school

14 violence and discipline problems through the in15 volvement and coordination of school programs

16 with other education, law-enforcement, judicial,

17 health, social service, and other appropriate

18 agencies and organizations.

19 (D) Community education programs in20 volving parents, businesses, local government,

21 the medical, and other appropriate entities

22 about the local educational agency’s plan to

23 promote school safety and reduce and prevent

24 school violence and discipline problems and the

25 need for community support.
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1 (E) Coordination of school-based activities

2 designed to promote school safety and reduce or

3 prevent school violence and discipline problems

4 with related efforts of education, law-enforce5 ment, judicial, health, social service, and other

6 appropriate agencies and organizations.

7 (F) Developing and implementing violence

8 prevention activities, including—

9 (i) conflict resolution and social skills

10 development for students, teachers, aides,

11 other school personnel, and parents;

12 (ii) disciplinary alternatives to expul13 sion and suspension of students who ex14 hibit violent or anti-social behavior;

15 (iii) student-led activities such as peer

16 mediation, peer counseling, and student

17 courts; or

18 (iv) alternative after-school programs

19 that provide safe havens for students,

20 which may include cultural, recreational,

21 and educational and instructional activi22 ties.

23 (G) Educating students and parents about

24 the dangers of guns and other weapons and the

25 consequences of their use.
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1 (H) Developing and implementing innova2 tive curricula to prevent violence in schools and

3 training staff how to stop disruptive or violent

4 behavior if it occurs.

5 (I) Supporting ‘‘safe zones of passage’’ for

6 students between home and school through such

7 measures as Drug- and Weapon-Free School

8 Zones, enhanced law enforcement, and neigh9 borhood patrols.

10 (J) Counseling programs for victims and

11 witnesses of school violence and crime.

12 (K) Minor remodeling to promote security

13 and reduce the risk of violence, such as remov14 ing lockers, installing better lights, and upgrad15 ing locks.

16 (L) Acquiring and installing metal detec17 tors and hiring security personnel.

18 (M) Reimbursing law enforcement authori19 ties for their personnel who participate in

20 school violence prevention activities.

21 (N) Evaluating its project under this Act.

22 (O) The cost of administering the project

23 of the local educational agency under this Act.

24 (P) Other activities that meet the purposes

25 of this Act.
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1 (2) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—A local educational

2 agency may use not more than—

3 (A) a total of 33 percent of its grant for

4 activities described in subparagraphs (K), (L),

5 and (M) of paragraph (1); and

6 (B) 5 percent of its grant for activities de7 scribed in paragraph (1)(O).

8 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—A local educational

9 agency may not use funds under this Act for

10 construction.

11 SEC. 6. NATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

12 To carry out the purpose of this Act, the Secretary

13 may use funds reserved under section 2(b)(2) to conduct

14 national leadership activities such as research, program

15 development and evaluation, data collection, public aware16 ness activities, training and technical assistance, and peer

17 review of applications under this Act. The Secretary may

18 carry out such activities directly, through interagency

19 agreements, or through grants, contracts, or cooperative

20 agreements.

21 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

22 For purposes of this Act:

23 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

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

25 such term in section 1471(12) of the Elementary
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1 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

2 2891(12)).

3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

4 the Secretary of Education.

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