I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7848 
To divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence of police in 
schools and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that 
address the needs of marginalized students and improve academic out-
comes, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 29, 2020 
Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself and Ms. OMAR) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition 
to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To divert Federal funding away from supporting the presence 
of police in schools and toward evidence-based and trau-
ma informed services that address the needs of 
marginalized students and improve academic outcomes, 
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 ‘‘Counseling Not Crim-
inalization in Schools Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Over the last 50 years, our Nation’s schools 
have become sites for increased criminalization and 
surveillance of young people, particularly Black, Na-
tive American, and Latinx students, immigrant stu-
dents, students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students, 
students experiencing homelessness, students in-
volved in the foster care system, and other histori-
cally marginalized students. 
(2) Despite significant decreases in the rate of 
serious crimes and violence on school campuses over 
the past 20 years, improving upon already low rates, 
67 percent of high school students, 45 percent of 
middle school students, and 19 percent of elemen-
tary school students attend a school with a police of-
ficer. 
(3) Since 1999, the Federal Government has in-
vested more than $1,000,000,000 to subsidize the 
placement of police in schools, resulting in roughly 
46,000 school resource officers patrolling the halls of 
elementary and secondary public schools across the 
Nation. 
(4) A growing body of research has not found 
any evidence that school resource officers make 
schools safer, and school resource officers have been 
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shown to increase the likelihood that children will be 
arrested, often by the school resource officer while 
on campus. 
(5) Research has shown that schools with a des-
ignated school law enforcement officer on duty ar-
rested students at 5 times the rate of comparable 
schools without such an officer. 
(6) When police are present in schools, students 
of color face an increased risk of being assaulted by 
police. Student-recorded videos of police violence in 
schools regularly circulate through news channels, 
articles, and social media, exposing violence per-
petrated by police within schoolhouse gates. 
(7) Black, Native American, and Latinx stu-
dents are more likely than their White peers to at-
tend schools with police officers on campus and are 
more likely to be referred to law enforcement or ar-
rested while in school. 
(8) Black students represent 31 percent of all 
school-related arrests, despite making up only 15 
percent of all public school students, and are 3 times 
more likely to be suspended or expelled than White 
students. Native American and Pacific Islander and 
Native Hawaiian students are more than twice as 
likely to be arrested as White students. 
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(9) Students with disabilities are more likely 
than their peers without disabilities to be referred to 
law enforcement or arrested. Students of color with 
disabilities are more likely to be referred to law en-
forcement than either their White peers with disabil-
ities, or their peers of color without disabilities. 
These students are also disproportionately restrained 
and secluded in schools. Of the 87,000 students who 
were restrained during the 2015–2016 school year, 
71 percent received special education services and 27 
percent of students restrained were Black. 
(10) According to the Department of Edu-
cation, while Black girls comprise only 16 percent of 
girls in elementary and secondary schools, they make 
up 42 percent of girls receiving the most severe 
forms of school discipline and severe punishment, 
such as corporal punishment, and represent 34 per-
cent of girls arrested on campus. 
(11) Research shows that these racial dispari-
ties in discipline rates are not a result of differences 
in student behavior but instead reflect the ways in 
which students of color face more punitive discipline 
than their White peers for similar behavior. 
(12) Students who are LGBTQ+ often have 
intersecting marginalized identities and experience 
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exclusionary discipline at disproportionate rates that 
make it more likely they will interact with the juve-
nile justice system than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. 
(13) Students who are suspended or expelled 
are nearly threefold more likely to be in contact with 
the juvenile justice system the following year. 
(14) According to the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation, more than 30,000 children under the age of 
10 were arrested since 2013. On school campuses, 
more than 290,000 students were referred to law en-
forcement. The United States spends $240 daily, on 
average, per youth detained in juvenile facilities. 
(15) While schools should be sanctuaries for all 
students, reports have shown instances where school 
resource officers collect tips and disciplinary infor-
mation from teachers and school administrators and 
share it with U.S. Immigration and Customs En-
forcement agents to build deportation cases against 
students and their families. 
(16) School hardening, including the presence 
of school resource officers on campus, causes stu-
dents to experience higher levels of fear, perpetuate 
the school to prison pipeline, and undermine the 
ability of schools and educators to build learning en-
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vironments undergirded by mutual trust, respect, 
and safety. 
(17) Ninety percent of students are in public 
schools where the number of counselors, social work-
ers, nurses, and psychologists do not meet rec-
ommended 
professional 
standards. 
Professional 
standards recommend at least 1 counselor and 1 so-
cial worker for every 250 students and at least 1 
nurse and 1 psychologist for every 750 students and 
every 700 students, respectively. 
(18) 1,700,000 students attend schools with po-
lice but not 1 counselor. 
(19) 3,000,000 students attend schools with po-
lice but not 1 school nurse. 
(20) 6,000,000 students attend schools with po-
lice but no school psychologists. 
(21) 10,000,000 students attend schools with 
police but no social workers. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
It is the purpose of this Act to— 
(1) address the needs of marginalized students, 
ensure schools are welcoming for students, and im-
prove academic outcomes by eliminating Federal 
funding for school-based law enforcement and estab-
lishing a continuum of care and positive schoolwide 
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systems of services that are evidence-based, inclu-
sive, racially and gender responsive, and trauma in-
formed; and 
(2) support local educational agencies that 
choose to terminate their contracts with local law en-
forcement agencies or, where applicable, dissolve or 
disband district-based police departments, and invest 
resources in personnel and services that create truly 
safe and inclusive schools for all students based on 
community engagement and deliberative consulta-
tion. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 
school’’, ‘‘evidence-based’’, ‘‘local educational agen-
cy’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘professional development’’, ‘‘school 
leader’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘spe-
cialized instructional support personnel’’ have the 
meaning given those terms in section 8101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(2) POSITIVE
BEHAVIOR
INTERVENTION
AND 
SUPPORT.—The term ‘‘positive behavior intervention 
and support’’ means using a systematic and evi-
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dence-based approach to achieve improved academic 
and social outcomes for students. 
(3) SWORN LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The 
term ‘‘sworn law enforcement officer’’ means any 
person who— 
(A) has the power to detain, arrest, issue 
a citation, perform a custodial investigation, or 
refer a person to criminal or juvenile court; or 
(B) is considered under State law to meet 
the definition of law enforcement. 
(4) TRAUMA-INFORMED SERVICES.—The term 
‘‘trauma-informed services’’ means a service delivery 
approach that— 
(A) recognizes and responds to the impacts 
of trauma with evidence-based supports and 
intervention; 
(B) emphasizes physical, psychological, and 
emotional safety for both providers of services 
and survivors of trauma; and 
(C) creates opportunities for survivors of 
trauma to rebuild a sense of healing and em-
powerment. 
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SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR POLICE IN 
SCHOOLS. 
(a) 
FEDERAL
FUNDS
PROHIBITION.—Notwith-
standing the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), including the COPS 
grant program, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice As-
sistance Grant Program, or any other provision of law, 
no Federal funding shall be appropriated or used for hir-
ing, maintaining, or training sworn law enforcement offi-
cers to be used or employed in elementary or secondary 
schools, preschools, or programs based in elementary or 
secondary schools in any capacity. 
(b) COPS GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 1701 of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 
U.S.C. 10381) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b), by repealing paragraph 
(12); and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR SWORN 
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—A recipient of a grant 
under this part may not use such funds for sworn law 
enforcement officers who operate in and around elemen-
tary and secondary schools.’’. 
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SEC. 6. SUPPORTING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES IN 
TRANSITIONING 
AWAY 
FROM 
POLICE 
IN 
SCHOOLS. 
(a) GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary 
of Education shall award grants, on a competitive and roll-
ing basis, to local educational agencies to enable those 
local educational agencies— 
(1) to replace sworn law enforcement officers in 
elementary and secondary schools with personnel 
and services that support mental health and trauma- 
informed services; and 
(2) to reform school safety and disciplinary 
policies so they reflect evidence-based practices that 
do not rely on the criminal justice system and pro-
vide the necessary staff training and support to im-
plement such policies. 
(b) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency desir-
ing a grant under this section shall submit an application 
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may require, in-
cluding an assurance that— 
(1) the local educational agency will terminate 
any existing contract with local law enforcement or, 
where applicable, dissolve school district-based police 
departments, at least 30 days prior to the entity re-
ceiving funds under this section; and 
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(2) the local educational agency will not estab-
lish any new contract with law enforcement or create 
its own school police department for the duration of 
the grant. 
(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to— 
(1) local educational agencies that terminated 
their contract with all law enforcement or disbanded 
their school district police department prior to sub-
mitting an application and provide assurances that 
the local educational agency will not create or re-
start a contract with State or local law enforcement, 
create or reinstate a school district police depart-
ment, or create or restart a program of other armed 
school personnel during the duration of this grant; 
(2) local educational agencies with a larger 
share of students who are economically disadvan-
taged, in the event that funds are insufficient to 
award grants to all eligible applicants; and 
(3) local educational agencies that identify the 
uses of funds in subsection (d) based on meaningful 
community engagement and deliberative consulta-
tion. 
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(d) USES OF FUNDS.—A local educational agency re-
ceiving funds under this section shall use such grant funds 
to carry out 1 or more of the following: 
(1) Hiring or training school counselors, school 
psychologists, nurses, or social workers, community 
health workers and trauma-informed personnel, 
dedicated staff specifically trained in deescalation 
and violence interruption practices, staff trained in 
anti-bias practices, doctoral level specialists in be-
havior planning and intervention, or other specialists 
or individuals with expertise in school climate and 
behavior. 
(2) Implementing schoolwide positive behavior 
interventions and supports, restorative justice pro-
grams and interventions, mediators, social and emo-
tional learning programs, or other evidence-based 
trauma-informed services. 
(3) Providing professional development to 
teachers, teacher assistants, school leaders, coun-
selors, specialized instructional support personnel, 
and mental health professionals that— 
(A) fosters safe, inclusive, and stable learn-
ing environments that support the social, emo-
tional, mental, and academic well-being of stu-
dents and prevent and mitigate the effects of 
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trauma, including through social and emotional 
learning; 
(B) improves school capacity to identify, 
refer, and provide services to students in need 
of trauma support services; 
(C) reflects the best practices for trauma- 
informed identification, referral, and support 
developed by the Interagency Task Force on 
Trauma-Informed Care; and 
(D) reduces the number of students with 
disabilities experiencing school discipline for 
their disability-related behavior through specific 
training on the identification, development, and 
implementation of Behavior Intervention Plans 
(BIPs). 
(e) PROHIBITION.—No portion of any grant funds 
awarded under this section may be used for— 
(1) the development, establishment, implemen-
tation, or enforcement of zero-tolerance school dis-
cipline policies, including the commission, con-
tracting of, or agreements with law enforcement that 
support the presence of police in schools, including 
formal or informal partnerships or data and infor-
mation sharing agreements with the Department of 
Justice or Secretary of Homeland Security, includ-
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ing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 
(2) the purchase, maintenance, or installation 
of surveillance equipment, including metal detectors, 
facial recognition technology, or software programs 
that monitor or mine the social media use or tech-
nology use of students; or 
(3) arming teachers, principals, school leaders, 
or other school personnel. 
(f) GRANT AMOUNTS.—The amount of grant funds 
received under this section by a local educational agency 
shall be based on the number of students enrolled in the 
local educational agency. 
(g) REPORTING.—Each local educational agency re-
ceiving a grant under this section shall prepare and submit 
a report to the Secretary containing information about— 
(1) how the grant funds were used; 
(2) the number of students who were arrested 
by or referred to sworn law enforcement officers in 
the previous year compared to the number arrested 
or referred during the term of the grant; 
(3) the reasons for arrests; and 
(4) demographic data of students arrested or 
referred 
to 
sworn 
law 
enforcement 
officers, 
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, gender, status 
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as a child with a disability, and socioeconomic sta-
tus. 
(h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A local edu-
cational agency shall use Federal funds received under this 
section only to supplement the funds that would, in the 
absence of such Federal funds, be made available from 
State and local sources for the activities described in sub-
section (d), and not to supplant such funds. 
(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$2,500,000,000. 
Æ 
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