I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5286 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish 
a grant program that will support efforts at the State level to establish 
anti-bullying task forces to study, address, and reduce bullying in elemen-
tary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 3, 2019 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to establish a grant program that will support 
efforts at the State level to establish anti-bullying task 
forces to study, address, and reduce bullying in elemen-
tary and secondary schools, 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. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Between one in four and one in three stu-
dents in the United States report being bullied at 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:42 Dec 07, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5286.IH
H5286
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
school, and over 70 percent of young people say they 
have seen bullying in their schools. 
(2) Since most instances of bullying take place 
on school grounds, school staff and teachers play an 
instrumental role in bullying prevention. 
(3) Research shows that engaged educators who 
are supportive of all students help to reduce the 
overall presence of bullying and harassment on 
school grounds. 
(4) 87.3 percent of transgender students report 
feeling unsafe at school, and nine out of ten stu-
dents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) report being har-
assed and bullied every year. 
(5) Hostile school environments have a detri-
mental effect on the academic success and health of 
students. 
(6) Law in effect before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act does not sufficiently address bul-
lying prevention, and governments and educators in 
every State have a responsibility to ensure State and 
local education systems have processes in place for 
students to be able to learn in a safe environment, 
regardless of their actual or perceived race, color, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:42 Dec 07, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5286.IH
H5286
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, 
gender identity, or religion. 
SEC. 2. STATE ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE REQUIRE-
MENT. 
Subpart 2 of part F of title VIII of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 8549D. STATE ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) ANTI-BULLYING TASK FORCE GRANT PRO-
GRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out a program to make 
grants to each State to establish and implement a task 
force to study, address, and reduce bullying in elementary 
schools and secondary schools. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State task force estab-
lished under a grant under this section shall use the grant 
funds to conduct a study on bullying in the elementary 
schools and secondary schools of such State that in-
cludes— 
‘‘(1) policies of the local educational agencies in 
such State with respect to bullying; 
‘‘(2) teacher, parent, and student education 
with respect to bullying; and 
‘‘(3) the incidents of student violence and self- 
harm as a result of bullying. 
‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:42 Dec 07, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5286.IH
H5286
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(1) CHAIR.—Each Chief Education Officer of 
a State shall designate one individual to serve as the 
chair of the task force of such State. 
‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—Each State shall des-
ignate at least one individual from each of the fol-
lowing categories to serve on the task force of such 
State: 
‘‘(A) At least one teacher at elementary 
schools and secondary schools. 
‘‘(B) At least one school administrator. 
‘‘(C) At least one parent of students. 
‘‘(D) At least one K–12 student. 
‘‘(E) At least one guidance counselor. 
‘‘(F) At least one child psychologist. 
‘‘(G) At least one paraprofessional. 
‘‘(H) At least one lawyer. 
‘‘(I) At least one representative from a 
community-based organization who specializes 
in providing supportive services to students who 
identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 
or queer. 
‘‘(J) Professionals who specialize in pro-
viding support services to students who identify 
as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:42 Dec 07, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5286.IH
H5286
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(K) At least one individual from the Sate 
Education Agency office focused on school im-
provement and school climate. 
‘‘(L) Additional individuals, as determined 
by the chair of the task force. 
‘‘(3) TERMS OF MEMBERS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each member of a 
task force of State shall be appointed for the 
duration of the existence of such task force. 
‘‘(B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on a task 
force shall be filled in the manner in which the 
original designation was made under paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(4) DISCRETIONARY COORDINATION.—A task 
force of a State may coordinate activities under this 
section with other boards and commissions of such 
State. 
‘‘(d) REPORT TO CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date on which the State submits the study re-
quired under subsection (b), the State task force of 
such State shall submit a final report to the Chief 
Education Officer of such State and the Secretary of 
Education containing— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:42 Dec 07, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5286.IH
H5286
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(A) the annual findings and conclusions 
of the task force; 
‘‘(B) the recommendations of the task 
force for legislation or administrative actions; 
and 
‘‘(C) best practices with respect to bullying 
in elementary schools and secondary schools 
that includes recommendations for how— 
‘‘(i) to address and reduce bullying; 
‘‘(ii) to best educate all relevant 
school staff on recognizing bullying; and 
‘‘(iii) parents can best address and 
discuss with their children the early warn-
ing signs of bullying. 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Each State task force 
shall make the final report submitted under para-
graph (1) publicly available.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:42 Dec 07, 2019
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5286.IH
H5286
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS