Luke and Alex School Safety Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.750 | Sponsor: Rep. Diaz-Balart, Mario (R-FL)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Luke and Alex School Safety Act of 2021
This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices for use by state and local educational and law-enforcement agencies, institutions of higher education, health professionals, and the public.
The bill requires DHS to collect clearinghouse data analytics, user feedback on the implementation of best practices and recommendations identified by the clearinghouse, and any evaluations conducted on these best practices and recommendations. In addition, DHS must coordinate with the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice to assess and identify best practices and recommendations and establish an advisory board to provide feedback and propose additional recommendations.
Further, the bill specifies the criteria for best practices and recommendations of the clearinghouse, including evidence that the best practice or recommendation has had a significant effect on improving the health, safety, and welfare of individuals in school settings.
Finally, the bill provides for grant program review.

To establish the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices, 
                        and for other purposes.

    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 ``Luke and Alex School Safety Act of 
2021''.

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 2215 the following:

``SEC. 2216. FEDERAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON SCHOOL SAFETY BEST PRACTICES.

    ``(a) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, in coordination 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 
        online through SchoolSafety.gov, or any successor website, the 
        best practices and recommendations for school safety for use by 
        State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher 
        education, 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.
                    ``(B) Detailees.--The Secretary of Education, the 
                Attorney General, and the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services may detail personnel 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 information 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 Clearinghouse, the Secretary may 
        consult with appropriate Federal, State, local, Tribal, private 
        sector, and nongovernmental organizations.
            ``(2) Criteria for best practices and recommendations.--The 
        best practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse shall, 
        at a minimum--
                    ``(A) involve comprehensive school safety measures, 
                including threat prevention, preparedness, protection, 
                mitigation, incident response, and recovery to improve 
                the safety posture of a school upon implementation;
                    ``(B) include any evidence or research rationale 
                supporting the determination of the Clearinghouse that 
                the best practice or recommendation under subparagraph 
                (A) has been shown to have a significant effect on 
                improving the health, safety, and welfare of persons in 
                school settings, including--
                            ``(i) relevant research that is evidence-
                        based, as defined in section 8101 of the 
                        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
                        (20 U.S.C. 7801), supporting the best practice 
                        or recommendation;
                            ``(ii) findings and data from previous 
                        Federal or State commissions recommending 
                        improvements to the safety posture of a school; 
                        or
                            ``(iii) other supportive evidence or 
                        findings relied upon by the Clearinghouse in 
                        determining best practices and recommendations 
                        to improve the safety posture of a school upon 
                        implementation; 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 organization 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 enforcement agencies on the implementation of the best 
practices and recommendations.
    ``(d) Continuous Improvement.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) collect for the purpose of continuous improvement of 
        the Clearinghouse--
                    ``(A) Clearinghouse data analytics;
                    ``(B) user feedback on the implementation of 
                resources, best practices, and recommendations 
                identified by the Clearinghouse; and
                    ``(C) any evaluations conducted on implementation 
                of the best practices and recommendations of the 
                Clearinghouse; and
            ``(2) in coordination with the Secretary of Education, the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Attorney 
        General--
                    ``(A) regularly assess and identify Clearinghouse 
                best practices and recommendations for which there are 
                no resources available through Federal Government 
                programs for implementation; and
                    ``(B) establish an external advisory board, which 
                shall be comprised of appropriate State, local, Tribal, 
                private sector, and nongovernmental organizations, 
                including organizations representing parents of 
                elementary and secondary school students, to--
                            ``(i) provide feedback on the 
                        implementation of best practices and 
                        recommendations of the Clearinghouse; and
                            ``(ii) propose additional recommendations 
                        for best practices for inclusion in the 
                        Clearinghouse.
    ``(e) Parental Assistance.--The Clearinghouse shall produce 
materials to assist parents and legal guardians of students with 
identifying relevant Clearinghouse resources related to supporting the 
implementation of Clearinghouse best practices and recommendations.''.
    (b) Technical Amendments.--The table of contents 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 2215 the 
following:

``Sec. 2216. Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices.''.

SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF CLEARINGHOUSE.

    (a) Notification by the Secretary of Education.--The Secretary of 
Education shall provide written notification of the publication of the 
Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices (referred to in 
this section and section 4 as the ``Clearinghouse''), as required to be 
established under section 2216 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
added by section 2 of this Act, to--
            (1) every State and local educational agency; and
            (2) other Department of Education partners in the 
        implementation of the best practices and recommendations of the 
        Clearinghouse, as determined appropriate by the Secretary of 
        Education.
    (b) Notification by the Secretary of Homeland Security.--The 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide written notification of 
the publication of the Clearinghouse, as required to be established 
under section 2216 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 security; and
            (3) other Department of Homeland Security partners in the 
        implementation of the best practices and recommendations of the 
        Clearinghouse, as determined appropriate by the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security.
    (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 
established under section 2216 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 
added by section 2 of this Act, to--
            (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 Clearinghouse, 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 established under section 2216 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 recommendations of the 
        Clearinghouse, as determined appropriate by the Attorney 
        General.

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM REVIEW.

    (a) Federal Grants and Resources.--The Secretary of Education, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, and the Attorney General shall each--
            (1) review grant programs administered by their respective 
        agency and identify any grant program that may be used to 
        implement best practices and recommendations of the 
        Clearinghouse;
            (2) identify any best practices and recommendations of the 
        Clearinghouse for which there is not a Federal grant program 
        that may be used for the purposes of implementing the best 
        practice or recommendation as applicable to the agency; and
            (3) periodically report any findings under paragraph (2) to 
        the appropriate committees of Congress.
    (b) State Grants and Resources.--The Clearinghouse 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 for the purposes of 
        implementing best practices and recommendations of the 
        Clearinghouse; and
            (3) any resources other than grant programs that may be 
        used to assist in implementation of best practices and 
        recommendations of the Clearinghouse.

SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) Waiver of Requirements.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments 
made by this Act shall be construed to create, satisfy, or waive any 
requirement 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.).
    (b) Prohibition on Federally Developed, Mandated, or Endorsed 
Curriculum.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act 
shall be construed to authorize any officer or employee of the Federal 
Government to engage in an activity otherwise prohibited under section 
103(b) of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 
3403(b)).
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