I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5229 
To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2019 
Mr. DIAZ-BALART (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mrs. 
MURPHY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety 
Best Practices, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Luke and Alex School 
Safety Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SCHOOL SAFETY 
BEST PRACTICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XXII of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 
is amended by inserting after section 2214 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 2215. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SCHOOL SAFETY 
BEST PRACTICES. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina-
tion with the Secretary of Education, the Attorney 
General, and the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, shall establish a Federal Clearinghouse on 
School Safety Best Practices (in this section referred 
to as the ‘Clearinghouse’) within the Department. 
‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The Clearinghouse shall be 
the primary resource of the Federal Government to 
identify and publish the best practices and rec-
ommendations for school safety for use by State and 
local educational agencies, institutions of higher edu-
cation, State and local law enforcement agencies, 
health professionals, and the general public. 
‘‘(3) PERSONNEL.— 
‘‘(A) ASSIGNMENTS.—The Clearinghouse 
shall be assigned such personnel and resources 
as the Secretary considers appropriate to carry 
out this section. 
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‘‘(B) DETAILEES.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation, the Attorney General, and the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services may detail per-
sonnel to the Clearinghouse. 
‘‘(4) EXEMPTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) 
PAPERWORK
REDUCTION
ACT.— 
Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 
(commonly known as the ‘Paperwork Reduction 
Act’) shall not apply to any rulemaking or in-
formation collection required under this section. 
‘‘(B) FEDERAL
ADVISORY
COMMITTEE 
ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) shall not apply for the purposes of 
carrying out this section. 
‘‘(b) CLEARINGHOUSE CONTENTS.— 
‘‘(1) CONSULTATION.—In identifying the best 
practices and recommendations for the Clearing-
house, the Secretary may consult with appropriate 
Federal, State, local, Tribal, private sector, and non-
governmental organizations. 
‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR BEST PRACTICES AND REC-
OMMENDATIONS.—The best practices and rec-
ommendations of the Clearinghouse shall, at a min-
imum— 
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‘‘(A) involve comprehensive school safety 
measures, including threat prevention, pre-
paredness, protection, mitigation, incident re-
sponse, and recovery to improve the safety pos-
ture of a school upon implementation; 
‘‘(B) include any evidence or research ra-
tionale supporting the determination of the 
Clearinghouse that the best practice or rec-
ommendation has been shown to have a signifi-
cant effect on improving the health, safety, and 
welfare of persons in school settings, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(i) evidence from an experimental or 
quasi-experimental study; 
‘‘(ii) high-quality research findings or 
a positive evaluation that such activity, 
strategy, or intervention is likely to im-
prove the health, safety, and welfare of 
persons in school settings; 
‘‘(iii) findings and data from previous 
Federal or State commissions relating to 
school climate, health, safety, and welfare; 
or 
‘‘(iv) any other supporting evidence or 
findings relied upon by the Clearinghouse 
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in determining best practices and rec-
ommendations; and 
‘‘(C) include information on Federal grant 
programs for which implementation of each best 
practice or recommendation is an eligible use 
for the program. 
‘‘(3) PAST COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS.— 
To the greatest extent practicable, the Clearinghouse 
shall present, as appropriate, Federal, State, local, 
Tribal, private sector, and nongovernmental organi-
zation issued best practices and recommendations 
and identify any best practice or recommendation of 
the Clearinghouse that was previously issued by any 
such organization or commission. 
‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE
AND TRAINING.—The Secretary 
may produce and publish materials on the Clearinghouse 
to assist and train educational agencies and law enforce-
ment agencies on the implementation of the best practices 
and recommendations. 
‘‘(d) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.—The Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(1) collect for the purpose of continuous im-
provement of the Clearinghouse— 
‘‘(A) Clearinghouse data analytics; 
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‘‘(B) user feedback on the implementation 
of resources, best practices, and recommenda-
tions identified by the Clearinghouse; and 
‘‘(C) any evaluations conducted on the best 
practices and recommendations of the Clearing-
house; and 
‘‘(2) in coordination with the Secretary of Edu-
cation, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
and the Attorney General— 
‘‘(A) regularly assess and identify Clear-
inghouse best practices and recommendations 
for which there are no resources provided by 
Federal Government programs for implementa-
tion; and 
‘‘(B) establish an external advisory board, 
which shall be comprised of appropriate State, 
local, private sector, and nongovernmental orga-
nizations, including organizations representing 
parents of elementary and secondary school stu-
dents, to— 
‘‘(i) provide feedback on the imple-
mentation of best practices and rec-
ommendations of the Clearinghouse; and 
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‘‘(ii) propose additional recommenda-
tions for best practices for inclusion in the 
Clearinghouse. 
‘‘(e) PARENTAL ASSISTANCE.—The Clearinghouse 
shall produce materials to assist parents and legal guard-
ians of students with identifying relevant Clearinghouse 
resources and engaging with appropriate officials to sup-
port the implementation of Clearinghouse best practices 
and recommendations.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of con-
tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 2214 the 
following: 
‘‘Sec. 2215. Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices.’’. 
SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF CLEARINGHOUSE. 
(a) NOTIFICATION
BY
THE SECRETARY
OF EDU-
CATION.—The Secretary of Education shall provide writ-
ten notification of the publication of the Federal Clearing-
house on School Safety Best Practices (referred to in this 
section and section 4 as the ‘‘Clearinghouse’’), as required 
to be established under section 2215 of the Homeland Se-
curity Act of 2002, as added by section 2 of this Act, to— 
(1) every State and local educational agency; 
and 
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(2) other Department of Education partners in 
the implementation of the best practices and rec-
ommendations of the Clearinghouse, as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary of Education. 
(b) NOTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF HOME-
LAND SECURITY.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall provide written notification of the publication of the 
Clearinghouse, as required to be established under section 
2215 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added 
by section 2 of this Act, to— 
(1) every State homeland security advisor; 
(2) every State department of homeland secu-
rity; and 
(3) other Department of Homeland Security 
partners in the implementation of the best practices 
and recommendations of the Clearinghouse, as deter-
mined appropriate by the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity. 
(c) NOTIFICATION BY THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH 
AND HUMAN SERVICES.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall provide written notification of the 
publication of the Clearinghouse, as required to be estab-
lished under section 2215 of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002, as added by section 2 of this Act, to— 
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(1) every State department of public health; 
and 
(2) other Department of Health and Human 
Services partners in the implementation of the best 
practices and recommendations of the Clearing-
house, as determined appropriate by the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services. 
(d) NOTIFICATION BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
The Attorney General shall provide written notification of 
the publication of the Clearinghouse, as required to be es-
tablished under section 2215 of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002, as added by section 2 of this Act, to— 
(1) every State department of justice; and 
(2) other Department of Justice partners in the 
implementation of the best practices and rec-
ommendations of the Clearinghouse, as determined 
appropriate by the Attorney General. 
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM REVIEW. 
(a) FEDERAL GRANTS AND RESOURCES.—The Sec-
retary of Education, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the At-
torney General shall each— 
(1) review all grant programs administered by 
their respective agency and identify any grant pro-
gram that may be used to award grants for the pur-
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poses of implementing best practices and rec-
ommendations of the Clearinghouse; 
(2) identify any best practices and rec-
ommendations of the Clearinghouse for which there 
is not a Federal grant program that may be award-
ed for the purposes of implementing the best prac-
tice or recommendation; and 
(3) report any findings under paragraph (2) to 
the appropriate committees of Congress. 
(b) STATE GRANTS AND RESOURCES.—The Clearing-
house shall, to the extent practicable, identify, for each 
State— 
(1) each agency responsible for school safety in 
the State, or any State that does not have such an 
agency designated; 
(2) any grant program that may be used to 
award grants for the purposes of implementing best 
practices and recommendations of the Clearing-
house; and 
(3) any resources other than grant programs 
that may be used to assist in implementation of best 
practices and recommendations of the Clearing-
house. 
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SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall be construed to create, satisfy, or waive any re-
quirement under— 
(1) title II of the Americans With Disabilities 
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.); 
(2) the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
701 et seq.); 
(3) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
U.S.C. 2000d et seq.); 
(4) title IX of the Education Amendments of 
1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); or 
(5) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 
U.S.C. 6101 et seq.). 
Æ 
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