Safer Schools Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2717 | Sponsor: Rep. Williams, Roger (R-TX)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Safer Schools Act of 2021
This bill establishes a pilot program through which the Department of Justice must award grants to public elementary and secondary schools to conduct independent facility security risk assessments and make hard security improvements (e.g., video monitoring and alert notification equipment).

To establish a grant program to encourage schools to conduct 
 independent facility security risk assessments and make hard security 
                 improvements, 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 ``Safer Schools Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR GRANTS FOR INDEPENDENT FACILITY SECURITY RISK 
              ASSESSMENTS AND HARD SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act the Attorney General shall establish a pilot 
program (hereinafter referred to as the ``pilot program'') to issue 
grants pursuant to subsections (b) and (c), including releasing 
guidelines and applications with respect to such grant programs.
    (b) Independent Facility Security Risk Assessment Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Beginning not later than 180 days after 
        the date of enactment of this section, the Attorney General 
        shall award grants to public schools to have independent 
        facility security risk assessments performed.
            (2) Application.--
                    (A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
                under this section, a public school shall submit to the 
                Attorney General an application at such time, in such 
                manner, and containing such information as the Attorney 
                General may require, including--
                            (i) the size of the school;
                            (ii) a comprehensive report on the 
                        financial state of the school, including any 
                        Federal, State, or local funds used in the 
                        school's budget; and
                            (iii) a certification to the Attorney 
                        General that the school is unable to cover the 
                        cost of an independent facility security risk 
                        assessment without the grant awarded under this 
                        section.
                    (B) Priority.--The Attorney General, in awarding a 
                grant under this section, shall give priority to 
                applications of public schools that have experienced an 
                event in which an individual inflicts deadly harm or 
                attempts to inflict deadly harm against multiple 
                individuals.
            (3) Ineligibility.--
                    (A) In general.--A public school shall be 
                ineligible to receive a grant under this section if 
                it--
                            (i) received a grant under this section in 
                        the previous 5 fiscal years; or
                            (ii) receives a grant under this section in 
                        the same fiscal year.
                    (B) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in 
                the case that a grant recipient experiences an event in 
                which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to 
                inflict deadly harm against multiple individuals, such 
                grant recipient shall be eligible to receive an 
                additional grant under this section in the fiscal year 
                after the date of the event.
    (c) Hard Security Improvement Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Beginning not later than 180 days after 
        the date of enactment of this section, the Attorney General 
        shall award grants to public schools for the purpose of making 
        hard security improvements to schools.
            (2) Application.--
                    (A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
                under this section, a public school shall submit to the 
                Attorney General an application at such time, in such 
                manner, and containing such information as the Attorney 
                General may require, which application shall include--
                            (i) the size of the school;
                            (ii) a comprehensive report on the 
                        financial state of the school, including any 
                        Federal, State, or local funds used in the 
                        school's budget;
                            (iii) a comprehensive description of 
                        previous improvements made to the school meant 
                        to address school security related 
                        vulnerabilities;
                            (iv) the specific products and services 
                        that will be purchased with the grant funds and 
                        an estimate of such costs and services; and
                            (v) the results of the school's most recent 
                        independent facility security risk assessment.
                    (B) Priority.--The Attorney General, in awarding a 
                grant under this section, shall give priority to 
                applications of schools that have experienced an event 
                in which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts 
                to inflict deadly harm against multiple individuals.
            (3) Ineligibility.--
                    (A) In general.--A public school shall be 
                ineligible to receive a grant under this section if--
                            (i) a public school received a grant under 
                        this section in the previous 5 fiscal years; or
                            (ii) a public school receives a grant under 
                        this section in the same fiscal year.
                    (B) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in 
                the case that a grant recipient experiences an event in 
                which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to 
                inflict deadly harm against multiple individuals, such 
                grant recipient shall be eligible to receive an 
                additional grant under this section in any fiscal year 
                after the date on which the event occurred.
            (4) Matching funds.--
                    (A) In general.--The Federal share of a grant 
                received under this subsection may not exceed 50 
                percent of the hard security improvement costs.
                    (B) Waiver.--The Attorney General may waive in 
                whole or in part, the matching requirement under 
                paragraph (1) in the case that the recipient has a 
                financial need for such waiver.
            (5) Grant conditions.--A recipient of a grant under this 
        section shall--
                    (A) use the grant to make hard security 
                improvements identified as necessary by the most recent 
                independent facility security risk assessment;
                    (B) in the case that a panic alarm is not installed 
                or operable according to the independent facility risk 
                assessment, use the grant for the installation of at 
                least 1 panic alarm for use in a school security 
                emergency, including a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, 
                or active shooter situation, which alarm--
                            (i) shall be directly linked to the local 
                        law enforcement agency that is closest in 
                        proximity to the grant recipient;
                            (ii) shall immediately transmit a signal or 
                        message to such law enforcement agency upon 
                        activation; and
                            (iii) shall not be audible within the 
                        public school building;
                    (C) before entering into a contract with a vendor, 
                obtain written confirmation from the law enforcement 
                agency or entity that conducted the independent 
                facility security risk assessment that the improvement 
                will mitigate a vulnerability identified in the 
                independent facility security risk assessment; and
                    (D) ensure that hard security improvements comply 
                with local building code requirements and standards.
    (d) Information Dissemination.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General shall disseminate to 
        each local educational agency in the United States information 
        about the availability of grants under this section.
            (2) Event notice.--Not later than 30 days after an event in 
        which an individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict 
        deadly harm against multiple individuals occurs in a public 
        school, the Director shall contact verbally the head of such 
        public school to provide notice of priority eligibility for 
        grants under this section and to offer technical assistance in 
        navigating the application process.
    (e) Reports.--
            (1) Grant recipient report.--Not later than one year after 
        receiving a grant under subsection (b) or (c), a recipient 
        shall submit to the Attorney General--
                    (A) a copy of the results of each security 
                assessment with how many vulnerabilities were found;
                    (B) a list of each hard improvement made and the 
                percentage of vulnerabilities fixed, including the 
                percentage of vulnerabilities outstanding;
                    (C) a list of the number of events in which an 
                individual inflicts deadly harm or attempts to inflict 
                deadly harm against multiple individuals, if any, that 
                happened five years before hard security 
                vulnerabilities were fixed or one year after the hard 
                security vulnerabilities were made; and
                    (D) a survey assessing how safe students and 
                facility members feel on the school's campus before 
                hard security improvements were made and one year after 
                they were made.
            (2) Attorney general report.--Not later than two years 
        after the date of enactment, and annually thereafter, the 
        Attorney General shall submit to appropriate Congressional 
        committees a report on the national state of physical security 
        in schools, including--
                    (A) the contents of grant recipient reports under 
                paragraph (1);
                    (B) a percentage breakdown of the type of hard 
                security fixes;
                    (C) the percentage of outstanding vulnerabilities 
                remaining;
                    (D) a percentage breakdown of each type of hard 
                security improvements made; and
                    (E) the average percentage of vulnerabilities fixed 
                and average percentage of vulnerabilities outstanding 
                after the hard security improvements were made.
    (f) Sunset.--The pilot program shall terminate on the date that is 
five years after the date on which the pilot program is established.
    (g) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        the Judiciary and the Committee on Education and Labor of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary and 
        the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
        Senate.
            (2) Hard security improvements.--The term ``hard security 
        improvements'' means improvements to the infrastructure of 
        school property perimeter, parking lot perimeter, building 
        perimeter, entrance and exit points of the school building, 
        video monitoring equipment, alert notification equipment, the 
        interior and perimeter of the classroom, and any other physical 
        improvements related to camera systems and related hardware, 
        alarm and notification technology, and visitor management 
        technologies deemed eligible for improvement by the Attorney 
        General.
            (3) Independent facility security risk assessment.--The 
        term ``independent facility security risk assessment'' means an 
        assessment that--
                    (A) identifies active shooter and related security 
                vulnerabilities of public schools, considering security 
                factors, including the strength and maintenance levels 
                of the property perimeter, parking lot perimeter, 
                building perimeter, and classroom and interior 
                perimeter, and the presence of a silent security system 
                signal generated by the manual activation of a device 
                intended to signal a life-threatening or emergency 
                situation requiring a response from law enforcement; 
                and
                    (B) is conducted by a Federal, State, or local 
                entity determined to be qualified by the Department of 
                Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance.
            (4) Public school.--The term ``public school'' means a 
        public elementary school or a public secondary school, 
        including an elementary school or a secondary school that is 
        predominately funded by an Indian tribal government.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        carry about the pilot program--
                    (A) $100,000,000 for fiscal year one of the pilot 
                program;
                    (B) $200,000,000 for fiscal year two of the pilot 
                program; and
                    (C) $300,000,000 for fiscal years three through 
                five of the pilot program.
            (2) Allocation of funds.--Any funds authorized under 
        paragraph (1) shall be allocated--
                    (A) with 30 percent of any such funds to the grant 
                program under section 2(b); and
                    (B) with 70 percent of any such funds to the grant 
                program under section 2(c).
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