47 schools in the entire Nation reported annually as 
persistently dangerous. 
(2) The Office of the New York State Comp-
troller’s May 2006 report found that at schools sam-
pled for this report more than 80 percent of the doc-
umented incidents were not reported to the State, 
and in a number of instances the most serious types 
of incidents, such as sexual offenses and incidents 
involving the use of a weapon, were unreported. 
(3) In December 2009, the National Center for 
Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Sta-
tistics released a joint report that contains the most 
recent data, based on self-reported information and 
surveys, available on crime and student safety, titled 
‘‘Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009’’ (the 
‘‘Indicators’’ report). 
(4) According to the ‘‘Indicators’’ report, in the 
2007–2008 school year, there were an estimated 
55,700,000 students in pre-kindergarten through 
grade 12. The report shows that among youth ages 
5 to 18, there were 43 school-associated violent 
deaths from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008. 
In 2007, among students ages 12 to 18, there were 
about 1.5 million victims of nonfatal crimes at 
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school, including 826,800 thefts and 684,100 violent 
crimes (simple assault and serious violent crime). 
(5) In 2007, 10 percent of male students in 
grade 9 through grade 12 reported being threatened 
or injured with a weapon on school property in the 
past year, compared to 5 percent of female students. 
(6) The ‘‘Indicators’’ report states that in 
2007, 5 percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported 
that they had been afraid of attack at school. 
(7) The ‘‘Indicators’’ report states in 2007, 32 
percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported having 
been bullied in schools during the school year. 
(8) The National Incident-Based Reporting 
System (NIBRS) was developed by the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation as part of the Uniform Crime 
Reporting (UCR) Program. NIBRS currently col-
lects data on all reported incidents of crime, includ-
ing crime occurring at school. 
(9) Accurate data is important to meet the edu-
cational goal of safe climate for academic achieve-
ment. Accurate data enables administrators to as-
sess the impact of programs that have been imple-
mented to promote school safety and to assess 
whether additional efforts are needed. 
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(10) Students involved in bullying are at a sig-
nificant risk of experiencing a wide spectrum of psy-
chosomatic symptoms, running away from home, al-
cohol and drug abuse, absenteeism and, above all, 
self-inflicted, accidental or perpetrated injuries. 
(11) Unlike traditional forms of bullying, youth 
who are the targets of cyberbullying at school are at 
greater risk for depression than are the youth who 
bully them, according to a survey conducted by re-
searchers at the National Institutes of Health. 
SEC. 4. SCHOOL SAFETY CHOICE OPTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9532 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7912) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 9532. SAFE SCHOOL CLIMATE. 
‘‘(a) STATE POLICIES AND REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving 
funds under part A of title I, a State shall— 
‘‘(A) establish and implement— 
‘‘(i) a statewide policy requiring 
that— 
‘‘(I) a student described in para-
graph (2) be allowed to attend a pub-
lic elementary school or secondary 
school (including a public charter 
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school) within a local educational 
agency under the jurisdiction of the 
State that has a safe climate for aca-
demic achievement; and 
‘‘(II) determinations with respect 
to which public elementary schools 
and secondary schools in the State do 
not have a safe climate for academic 
achievement are made in accordance 
with subsection (b); and 
‘‘(ii) a statewide policy with respect to 
offenders described in paragraph (3); and 
‘‘(B) report to the Secretary, on an annual 
basis— 
‘‘(i) the number of schools determined 
by the State to not have a safe climate for 
academic achievement; 
‘‘(ii) the number of students who have 
transferred from such schools; and 
‘‘(iii) the number of offenders who 
have been removed from school pursuant 
to this section. 
‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION
OF
STUDENT.—A student 
described in this paragraph is a student— 
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‘‘(A) who is attending a public elementary 
school or secondary school that does not have a 
safe climate for academic achievement, as deter-
mined by the State in accordance with sub-
section (b); or 
‘‘(B) who becomes a victim of a violent 
criminal offense, as determined by State law— 
‘‘(i) while in or on the grounds of a 
public elementary school or secondary 
school that the student attends; 
‘‘(ii) at a school event or activity 
under the control and supervision of such 
school; or 
‘‘(iii) on a school bus under the con-
trol and supervision of such school. 
‘‘(3) POLICIES
WITH
RESPECT
TO
OFFEND-
ERS.—A State policy with respect to offenders 
shall— 
‘‘(A) permit a public elementary or sec-
ondary school in which a violent criminal of-
fense described in paragraph (2)(B) occurs or, 
in a case in which such offense did not occur 
in or on school grounds, a public elementary 
school or secondary school that had control and 
supervision over the event or activity or on the 
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school bus where such offense occurred, to pro-
vide appropriate counseling and educational 
services to the offender of the offense in an al-
ternative setting if removal of the offender from 
the school is determined to be appropriate by 
the school; and 
‘‘(B) require that a school described in 
subparagraph (A) that knows that an offender 
of a violent criminal offense described in para-
graph (2)(B) is returning to the school notify, 
as soon as practicable prior to the offender’s re-
turn to the school, the parents of each victim 
of the offense committed by the offender that 
the offender is returning to the school. 
‘‘(b) DETERMINATIONS OF SAFE CLIMATE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State policy with respect 
to determining which public elementary schools and 
secondary schools in the State do not have a safe cli-
mate for academic achievement shall require that— 
‘‘(A) a State make such determinations— 
‘‘(i) by consulting with— 
‘‘(I) a representative sample of 
local educational agencies, parent 
groups, and local law enforcement 
agencies; or 
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‘‘(II) other experts in the area of 
school safety; 
‘‘(ii) based, at a minimum, on school 
crime statistics and data— 
‘‘(I) collected by the State pursu-
ant to section 4141 and under sub-
section (c) of this section; and 
‘‘(II) made available by the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation pursuant 
to subsection (d); and 
‘‘(iii) in time to permit a local edu-
cational agency to allow a student enrolled 
in a school that does not have a safe cli-
mate for academic achievement to instead 
enroll, at least 45 days before the start of 
the school year, at a school with a safe cli-
mate for academic achievement; 
‘‘(B) after making determinations in ac-
cordance with subparagraph (A), the State 
shall— 
‘‘(i) notify each local educational 
agency in the State serving schools that 
are determined to not have a safe climate 
for academic achievement of such schools; 
and 
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‘‘(ii) require that within a week of re-
ceiving notice under clause (i), a local edu-
cational agency shall provide to the parent 
of each student enrolled in each such 
school, a notice of the determination with 
respect to the school that meets the re-
quirements of paragraph (2); and 
‘‘(C) a school determined under this para-
graph to not have a safe climate for academic 
achievement develop, in consultation with par-
ents, students, school employees, local law en-
forcement, representatives of local public health 
and mental health agencies, and experts in 
school safety, an intervention plan to create a 
safer school environment that is based on an 
analysis of the data and school crime statistics 
with respect to such school— 
‘‘(i) collected by the State under sec-
tion 4141 and subsection (c) of this sec-
tion; and 
‘‘(ii) made available by the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation pursuant to sub-
section (d). 
‘‘(2) FORM OF NOTICE.—A notice to a parent 
under paragraph (1)(B)(ii) shall— 
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‘‘(A) describe the determination with re-
spect to the school in which the child of the 
parent is enrolled and explain that, by reason of 
the determination and pursuant to subsection 
(a)(1)(A)(i), the child may attend a school that 
has a safe climate for academic achievement 
within the local educational agency; and 
‘‘(B) be written in an understandable and 
uniform format and, to the extent practicable, 
in a language that the parent can understand. 
‘‘(c) COLLECTION OF RELEVANT INFORMATION AND 
SCHOOL CRIME STATISTICS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving 
funds under part A of title I, a State shall— 
‘‘(A) collect the data described in para-
graph (2) for use in determinations of whether 
a school has a safe climate for academic 
achievement 
for 
purposes 
of 
subsection 
(a)(1)(A)(i); and 
‘‘(B) not later than 1 year after the first 
time information is collected under subpara-
graph (A) and annually thereafter— 
‘‘(i) prepare, publish, and distribute, 
in a timely manner and through appro-
priate publications, mailings, or the Inter-
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net, to all students enrolled in a public ele-
mentary school or secondary school in the 
State, the families of such students, and 
school staff, an annual report containing, 
at a minimum, the school crime statistics 
collected under paragraph (2)(G); and 
‘‘(ii) submit to the Secretary such sta-
tistics. 
‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION
OF
DATA.—The data de-
scribed in this paragraph include— 
‘‘(A) truancy rates with respect to each 
public elementary school and secondary school 
in the State; 
‘‘(B) the frequency, seriousness, and inci-
dence of bullying, cyberbullying, violence, and 
drug-related offenses, at— 
‘‘(i) any event or activity under the 
control and supervision of an public ele-
mentary school or secondary school in the 
State; or 
‘‘(ii) on school buses under the control 
and supervision of any such school or the 
State; 
‘‘(C) suspension rates for 1 day or more, 
including in-school suspensions, and expulsion 
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rates, desegregated by the categories described 
in section 1111(b)(3)(C)(viii), with respect to 
each elementary school and secondary school in 
the State; 
‘‘(D) the types of violence prevention cur-
ricula, programs, and services provided by the 
chief executive officer, the State educational 
agency, and local educational agencies, in the 
State; 
‘‘(E) the incidence and prevalence, age of 
onset, perception of health risk, and perception 
of social disapproval of drug use and violence 
by youth in each public elementary school and 
secondary school in the State and community 
served by each such school; 
‘‘(F) the existence and implementation of 
emergency preparedness plans in each elemen-
tary school and secondary school in the State; 
and 
‘‘(G) the school crime statistics described 
in paragraph (3) with respect to each public el-
ementary school and secondary school in the 
State. 
‘‘(3) SCHOOL CRIME STATISTICS.—The school 
crime statistics described in this paragraph include 
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statistics concerning the occurrence of any criminal 
offenses reported to local police agencies that have 
occurred at a school, on school grounds, or at 
school-sponsored activities during the most recent 
calendar year and the 2 preceding calendar years, 
including— 
‘‘(A) murder; 
‘‘(B) sex offenses, forcible or nonforcible; 
‘‘(C) robbery; 
‘‘(D) aggravated assault; 
‘‘(E) burglary; 
‘‘(F) manslaughter; 
‘‘(G) arson; and 
‘‘(H) crimes for which a person has been 
arrested or referred for disciplinary action, in-
cluding for liquor law violations, drug-related 
violations, or weapons possession. 
‘‘(4) DATA
COLLECTION
REQUIREMENTS.— 
Data collected by a State under paragraph (1) shall 
be based on information that— 
‘‘(A) is verifiable and reported— 
‘‘(i) in a consistent and uniform man-
ner; and 
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