Restorative Practices in Schools Act of 2022
Bill: S.3973 | Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. (D-CO)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Restorative Practices in Schools Act of 2022
This bill requires the Department of Education to award grants for local educational agencies to replace existing zero-tolerance disciplinary polices and punitive discipline in elementary and secondary schools with restorative practices.
Additionally, the bill directs the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the use of discipline practices that funnel students out of school and toward the juvenile legal and criminal legal systems (i.e., the school-to-prison pipeline).

To help local educational agencies replace zero-tolerance disciplinary 
 policies and punitive discipline in elementary and secondary schools 
                      with restorative practices.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restorative Practices in Schools Act 
of 2022''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to help local educational agencies 
replace zero-tolerance disciplinary policies and punitive discipline in 
elementary and secondary schools with restorative practices that--
            (1) provide an intentional approach to school safety and 
        student well-being that addresses the needs of the whole child;
            (2) recognize student behavior as a result of underlying 
        need, and childhood emotional and behavioral development;
            (3) build community and repair relationships while 
        developing students' proactive skills for conflict resolution, 
        communication, problem-solving, and empathy;
            (4) reduce undesirable behavior; and
            (5) promote relationship-centered schools and safe, 
        inclusive learning environments with positive school climates.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'', 
        ``evidence-based'', ``local educational agency'', ``parent'', 
        ``professional development'', ``school leader'', ``secondary 
        school'', ``Secretary'', ``specialized instructional support 
        personnel'', and ``other staff'' have the meaning given those 
        terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (2) Program personnel.--The term ``program personnel'' 
        means--
                    (A) any agent of a local educational agency, 
                including an individual who is employed by a local 
                educational agency, or who performs services for a 
                local educational agency on a contractual basis, 
                including--
                            (i) school leaders;
                            (ii) educators;
                            (iii) specialized instructional support 
                        personnel;
                            (iv) paraprofessionals; or
                            (v) other staff; and
                    (B) a school-based law enforcement officer.
            (3) Restorative practices.--The term ``restorative 
        practices'' means evidence-based practices that--
                    (A) acknowledge and honor the dignity of students;
                    (B) are proactive approaches that teach and build 
                community, empathy, and accountability school-wide to 
                reduce and discourage undesirable student behavior;
                    (C) improve school climate, elevate students' 
                voices, and strengthen all relationships in a school 
                community;
                    (D) may include--
                            (i) strategies such as restorative 
                        dialogue, informal conferencing, proactive 
                        circles, and responsive circles;
                            (ii) reactive strategies that address 
                        conflicts, individual incidents, and classroom-
                        wide issues; and
                            (iii) formal conferences, reintegration 
                        circles, and circles of support and 
                        accountability to cultivate empathy and repair 
                        harm; and
                    (E) do not include mediation or school-based 
                mediation to address bullying, harassment, or other 
                forms of discrimination.
            (4) School-based law enforcement officer.--The term 
        ``school-based law enforcement officer'' means any person, 
        sworn or unsworn, who--
                    (A) is assigned by the employing law enforcement 
                agency to a local educational agency or school, who is 
                contracting with a local educational agency or school, 
                or who is employed by a local educational agency or 
                school;
                    (B)(i) has the power to detain, arrest, issue a 
                citation, perform a custodial investigation, or refer a 
                person to criminal or juvenile court; or
                    (ii) is considered under State law to meet the 
                definition of law enforcement; and
                    (C) includes an individual referred to as a 
                ``school resource officer'', ``school safety agent'', 
                or a ``school police officer'', if that individual 
                meets the definition in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
            (5) School to prison pipeline.--The term ``school to prison 
        pipeline'' means the use of discipline practices such as zero-
        tolerance policies that funnel students out of school and 
        toward the juvenile legal and criminal legal systems.
            (6) Subgroup of students.--The term subgroup of students 
        has the meaning given that term in section 1111(c)(2) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        6311(c)(2)).

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Education shall award grants, on 
a competitive basis, to local educational agencies to enable those 
local educational agencies to implement and sustain restorative 
practices for elementary and secondary schools and to replace existing 
punitive models, in accordance with subsection (d).
    (b) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--Local educational agencies desiring a 
        grant under this section shall submit an application at such 
        time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
        Secretary may reasonably require, including--
                    (A) information about--
                            (i) the number of students served by that 
                        local educational agency who are in contact 
                        with the juvenile legal system at the time the 
                        application is submitted;
                            (ii) the percentage of residents living in 
                        the area served by the local educational agency 
                        who are in contact with the legal justice 
                        system at the time the application is 
                        submitted;
                            (iii) the percentage and number of 
                        residents living in the area served by the 
                        local educational agency who are admitted to 
                        correctional facilities each year;
                            (iv) the percentage and number of residents 
                        living in the area served by the local 
                        educational agency who are on probation, 
                        parole, or any other form of community-based 
                        supervision at the time of the application; and
                            (v) the percentage or number of students 
                        served by the local educational agency who--
                                    (I) received one or more in-school 
                                suspensions;
                                    (II) received one or more out-of-
                                school suspensions;
                                    (III) were expelled because of 
                                zero-tolerance policies;
                                    (IV) were referred to a law 
                                enforcement agency or official;
                                    (V) were arrested for school-
                                related activity; or
                                    (VI) received corporal punishment;
                    (B) demographic information that shows evidence 
                that the community served by the local educational 
                agency is disproportionally impacted by the legal 
                justice system or that marginalized subgroups in that 
                community are disproportionally impacted by the legal 
                justice system;
                    (C) documentation of meaningful community 
                engagement and stakeholder interest in establishing or 
                expanding restorative practices at the local 
                educational agency or schools served by the local 
                educational agency, including engagement and interest 
                of teachers' unions and organizations, school 
                leadership parent-teacher associations, student 
                councils, and not less than 1 advocacy organization for 
                each subgroup of students, and which may include other 
                relevant groups;
                    (D) a plan to implement evidence-based, 
                restorative, equitable, and non-discriminatory school 
                discipline practices that improve the climate of the 
                local educational agency and that meet the requirements 
                of subsection (c);
                    (E) the number and percentage of exclusionary 
                discipline practices implemented by the local 
                educational agency, including suspensions and 
                expulsions, as a whole and disaggregated by student 
                subgroup, students experiencing homelessness, and 
                students who are children and youth in foster care;
                    (F) an assurance that the local educational agency 
                will meet the requirements described in subsection (c); 
                and
                    (G) a description of whether the local educational 
                agency meets the criteria described in subparagraph (A) 
                or (B) of paragraph (3).
            (2) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Secretary shall give priority to local educational agencies 
        that--
                    (A) serve communities that have been 
                disproportionately impacted by the juvenile and 
                criminal legal systems;
                    (B) have disproportionally high rates of grade 
                retention, suspensions, and expulsions for certain 
                subgroups of students;
                    (C) serve students in an area that has a high 
                concentration of residents in poverty, including local 
                educational agencies that are in the highest quartile 
                of local educational agencies in a ranking of all 
                qualified local educational agencies in the State 
                ranked in descending order by the number or percentage 
                of children in each agency counted under section 
                1124(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
                of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)); or
                    (D) serve students in a rural community and need 
                additional staff to support the implementation of 
                restorative practices.
            (3) Grant applicant pools.--In awarding grants under this 
        section, the Secretary shall evaluate applicants according to 
        the following two distinct applicant pools:
                    (A) Applicants seeking to implement restorative 
                practices in one or more schools served by the local 
                educational agency for the first time.
                    (B) Applicants seeking to expand and sustain 
                existing restorative practice programs in one or more 
                schools served by the local educational agency or 
                improve data collection systems under subsection 
                (d)(4), as the case may be.
    (c) Requirements for Grant Recipients.--In order to receive a grant 
under this section a local educational agency shall submit an assurance 
to the Secretary as part of the application described in subsection (b) 
that the local educational agency will agree to--
            (1) hire a full-time employee (who shall not have academic 
        teaching or administrative duties distinct from the 
        responsibilities described in this paragraph and shall not be a 
        law enforcement officer or a retired law enforcement officer) 
        whose primary responsibility is to provide training, 
        professional development, coaching, and oversight for 
        restorative practices implementation in the local educational 
        agency or schools served by the local educational agency;
            (2) fund ongoing restorative practices training, 
        professional development, and on-site coaching for all program 
        personnel, students, and interested parents;
            (3) eliminate--
                    (A) zero-tolerance disciplinary policies at the 
                local educational agency or at all elementary and 
                secondary schools served by the local educational 
                agency; or
                    (B) the application of these policies to 
                undesirable behavior to the greatest extent possible 
                under State law;
            (4) adopt safety and discipline policies or codes of 
        conduct that--
                    (A) emphasize ways of maintaining safety that 
                minimize the involvement of law enforcement (including 
                school-based law enforcement officers and including 
                U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), to the 
                greatest extent that is practicable and permitted under 
                applicable Federal, State, and local laws; and
                    (B) eliminate the use of exclusionary discipline 
                policies, including suspensions and expulsions for 
                undesirable student behavior to the greatest extent 
                permitted by Federal, State, and local laws;
            (5) implement implicit bias, cultural competence, and anti-
        racist training for program personnel;
            (6) establish policies that limit when law enforcement can 
        be called into schools, including by--
                    (A) recognizing the local educational agency as the 
                primary authority responsible for school climate and 
                safety;
                    (B) requiring that school discipline issues be 
                handled by program personnel who are not school-based 
                law enforcement officers, police, security officers, or 
                other law enforcement, unless there is a real, 
                immediate, specific, and credible threat of serious 
                physical injury to a student, teacher, or other member 
                of the school community; and
                    (C) establishing that school administrators shall 
                have final responsibility and jurisdiction over the 
                building, the grounds, and all members of the school 
                community, to the greatest extent permitted by law;
            (7) prohibit the issuance of tickets, summonses, and 
        referrals of students to the juvenile or criminal legal systems 
        for all school disciplinary matters and school status offenses;
            (8) provide proper notice and a right of action or appeals 
        procedures for students, parents, and guardians involved in 
        school discipline;
            (9) prohibit the use of metal detectors, facial recognition 
        software, and other surveillance technology and approaches; and
            (10) prohibit the sharing of student data (personal and 
        academic) with Federal, State, or local law enforcement, U.S. 
        Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or other law enforcement, 
        except as required by law.
    (d) Uses of Grant Funds.--A local educational agency shall use 
grant funds received under this section to support the implementation 
of restorative practices in elementary and secondary schools served by 
the local educational agency. Funds may be used to carry out one or 
more of the following activities:
            (1) Hiring additional full-time and part-time employees 
        (including students and parents) to lead evidence-based, 
        restorative practices at the district or school level.
            (2) Providing anti-racist, culturally competent, and 
        linguistically responsive curriculum and material development 
        and training to program personnel.
            (3) Providing trauma-informed or healing-centered 
        engagement practice training.
            (4) If not already in place, developing data collection 
        systems to accurately document behavior incidents as well as 
        school responses to those incidents, such as restorative 
        circles to support implementation of restorative practices.
            (5) Offering robust integrated student supports, such as 
        wraparound services and social services necessary to address 
        the underlying causes of undesirable student behavior, 
        including hiring specialized instructional support personnel 
        and related service providers such as psychologists, 
        counselors, nurses, social workers, paraprofessionals, conflict 
        resolution staff, and advisors, in a manner that is in 
        accordance with--
                    (A) evidence-based student-educator ratios; and
                    (B) individual education plan requirements of the 
                Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
                1400 et seq.).
            (6) Promoting partnerships and local liaisons in order to 
        coordinate with existing social and community-based services 
        and providers to connect youth with trusted and established 
        resources.
            (7) Developing and implementing diversion programs for 
        young people in their communities, such as--
                    (A) truancy diversion;
                    (B) truancy boards;
                    (C) peer mediation;
                    (D) alternative dispute resolution to reduce 
                referrals to a court-designated worker; and
                    (E) relationship-centered schools that support 
                strong family and community engagement.
            (8) Providing training and professional development for 
        program personnel to identify, de-escalate, and otherwise 
        appropriately respond to student trauma and harm.
    (e) Reporting.--
            (1) Local educational agency requirements.--Not later than 
        1 year after receiving a grant under this section, and each 
        year thereafter, each local educational agency that receives a 
        grant under this section shall provide to the Secretary--
                    (A) a written assurance that--
                            (i) the local educational agency or schools 
                        served by the local educational agency have 
                        been notified of and are in compliance with the 
                        requirements described under subsection (c);
                            (ii) all program personnel of the local 
                        educational agency have received training with 
                        respect to such requirements;
                            (iii) parents of students enrolled in the 
                        local educational agency or served by such 
                        local educational agency have been notified of 
                        those requirements with respect to the local 
                        educational agency based on receipt of the 
                        grant; and
                            (iv) the notification required under clause 
                        (iii) is publicly available on the website of 
                        the local educational agency; and
                    (B) a school climate report, which shall be 
                publicly available in an easily accessible format on a 
                school or district website, that includes a description 
                of--
                            (i) the policies and procedures of the 
                        local educational agency with respect 
                        exclusionary and aversive discipline practices 
                        or interventions in the local educational 
                        agency or schools served by the local 
                        educational agency;
                            (ii) how the local educational agency plans 
                        to implement, is implementing, or has 
                        implemented restorative practices and other 
                        models to address student behavior and reduce 
                        the use of exclusionary and aversive discipline 
                        practices or interventions in the local 
                        educational agency or schools served by the 
                        local educational agency;
                            (iii) efforts of the local educational 
                        agency to ensure all program personnel receive 
                        the supports and training necessary to 
                        implement restorative practices;
                            (iv) efforts of the local educational 
                        agency to ensure program personnel are 
                        implementing practices of anti-racism, cultural 
                        competence, and anti-bias to ensure the school 
                        environment is free from racial and other forms 
                        of harassment;
                            (v) how the local educational agency has 
                        taken steps to ensure its restorative practices 
                        have centered on the needs of those who have 
                        been harmed by zero-tolerance disciplinary 
                        policies and punitive disciplinary practices;
                            (vi) the number of students that are served 
                        by the local educational agency who engaged in 
                        some form of restorative practice during the 
                        reporting period and the kinds of restorative 
                        practices that were used, disaggregated and 
                        cross-tabulated based on race, gender, and 
                        disability status, and by category described 
                        under subsection (b)(1)(A)(v);
                            (vii) the number of students that are 
                        served by the local educational agency that 
                        were subject to exclusionary discipline during 
                        the reporting period, which shall be 
                        disaggregated and cross-tabulated based on 
                        race, gender, and disability status;
                            (viii) a demonstration of continued 
                        engagement among students, parents, and other 
                        stakeholders; and
                            (ix) a plan that articulates how the local 
                        educational agency will sustain the use of 
                        restorative practices after the grant period is 
                        concluded.
            (2) Report.--The Secretary shall study data collected from 
        the grant program under this section and other relevant 
        programs and use such data to submit, not later than 3 years 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less than 
        once every 1 year thereafter, to the Committee on Education and 
        Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and make 
        publicly available, a report--
                    (A) summarizing the information from grantees as 
                described under paragraph (1);
                    (B) highlighting strong examples of restorative 
                practices in schools;
                    (C) informing guidance on school discipline that 
                can dramatically reduce the number of children who are 
                funneled into the school to prison pipeline; and
                    (D) containing recommendations about how schools 
                can strengthen compliance with Federal civil rights 
                laws.
    (f) Accountability.--If the Secretary determines that an entity has 
misused funds or failed to comply with program requirements, the 
Secretary may withhold funds until an entity comes into compliance, in 
accordance with part D of the General Education Provisions Act (20 
U.S.C. 1234 et seq.).

SEC. 5. STUDY OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICES.

    (a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study on the school to prison pipeline for the purposes of--
            (1) identifying evidence-based interventions to improve 
        student well-being and improve school climate, including 
        restorative practices; and
            (2) examining the role of State and local legal, and 
        education systems in exacerbating disparities among students 
        (based on race, sex (including sexual orientation and gender 
        identity), socioeconomic status, and disability status), 
        including the disproportionate involvement of certain students 
        in the legal system.
    (b) Duties.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General shall initiate the study under 
subsection (a), which may include--
            (1) examining school discipline policies that are 
        alternatives to exclusionary discipline practices, that 
        include--
                    (A) the models for professional development and 
                family engagement in local educational agencies or 
                States that have adopted and effectively implemented 
                such policies;
                    (B) a review of the research on the impact that 
                such policies may have on student achievement, 
                disproportionate discipline rates, and student well-
                being; and
                    (C) the measurement tools used to collect, analyze, 
                and respond to data related to student discipline, 
                school climate, and student well-being after such 
                policies have been implemented;
            (2) examining the consequences that disparities in school 
        discipline policies may have on affected students, including 
        impacts on learning loss and school completion rates, families, 
        and local communities, including increasing trauma and other 
        risk factors associated with the school to prison pipeline;
            (3) identifying harmful education and public safety 
        policies that direct more students into the justice system and 
        examples of efforts to disrupt such policies; and
            (4) elevating public health oriented approaches to 
        improving student well-being and school climate.
    (c) Report.--Upon the conclusion of the study under subsection (a), 
the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
Senate, the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 
Representatives, and the Department of Education a report regarding the 
study and the conclusions and recommendations generated from the study.
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