Text of US HB 1810 (2025)

I 119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1810 To address and take action to prevent bullying and harassment of students. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2025 Ms. SA´NCHEZ (for herself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. BEYER, Mr. MRVAN, Mrs. WAT- SON COLEMAN, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. LEE of Pennsyl- vania, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. COSTA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. MAT- SUI, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CASAR, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. GARCIA of California, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. CHU, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. KEATING, Mr. EVANS of Pennsylvania, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mrs. FLETCHER, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. AMO, Mr. FROST, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. MFUME, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. FRIEDMAN, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. CHERFILUS- MCCORMICK, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GOMEZ, and Mr. SORENSEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce A BILL To address and take action to prevent bullying and harassment of students. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1810 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Schools Improve- 2 ment Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Bullying and harassment foster a climate of 6 fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the 7 physical and psychological health of its victims and 8 create conditions that negatively affect learning, 9 thereby undermining the ability of students to 10 achieve their full potential. 11 (2) Bullying and harassment contribute to high 12 dropout rates, increased absenteeism, and academic 13 underachievement. 14 (3) Bullying and harassment include a range of 15 behaviors that negatively impact a student’s ability 16 to learn and participate in educational opportunities 17 and activities that schools offer. Such behaviors can 18 include hitting or punching, name-calling, intimida- 19 tion through gestures or social exclusion, and send- 20 ing insulting or offensive messages through elec- 21 tronic communications, such as internet sites, e- 22 mail, instant messaging, mobile phones and mes- 23 saging, telephone, or any other means. 24 (4) Schools with enumerated anti-bullying and 25 harassment policies have an increased level of re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1810 IH porting and teacher intervention in incidents of bul- 1 lying and harassment, thereby reducing the overall 2 frequency and number of such incidents. 3 (5) Students have been particularly singled out 4 for bullying and harassment on the basis of their ac- 5 tual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, 6 disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, 7 sex characteristics (including intersex traits), or reli- 8 gion, among other categories. 9 (6) Some young people experience a form of 10 bullying called relational aggression or psychological 11 bullying, which harms individuals by damaging, 12 threatening, or manipulating their relationships with 13 their peers, or by injuring their feelings of social ac- 14 ceptance. 15 (7) Interventions to address bullying and har- 16 assment should incorporate evidence-based discipline 17 policies and practices, such as Positive Behavior 18 Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and other re- 19 storative practices that can minimize suspensions, 20 expulsions, and other exclusionary and harmful dis- 21 cipline policies to ensure that students are not 22 ‘‘pushed-out’’ or diverted to the juvenile justice sys- 23 tem. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1810 IH (8) Perpetrators of bullying and harassment 1 often have a history of trauma or psychological dis- 2 tress, or have been bullied themselves. These stu- 3 dents, often discussed as ‘‘bully-victims’’, require ad- 4 ditional trauma-informed interventions and consider- 5 ation. 6 SEC. 3. SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Elementary and 8 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 9 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘PART G—SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT 11 ‘‘SEC. 4701. PURPOSE. 12 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to address the problem 13 of bullying and harassment conduct of students in public 14 elementary schools and secondary schools. 15 ‘‘SEC. 4702. ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES. 16 ‘‘(a) BULLYING.—In this part, the term ‘bullying’ 17 means conduct that adversely affects the ability of one or 18 more students to participate in or benefit from the school’s 19 educational programs or activities by placing a student in 20 fear of harm. 21 ‘‘(b) POLICIES.—A State that receives a grant under 22 this title shall require all local educational agencies in the 23 State to carry out the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 1810 IH ‘‘(1) Establish policies that prevent and prohibit 1 conduct, including bullying and harassment, that— 2 ‘‘(A) limits a student’s ability to partici- 3 pate in, or benefit from, a program or activity 4 of a public school or local educational agency; 5 or 6 ‘‘(B) creates a hostile or abusive edu- 7 cational environment, adversely affecting a stu- 8 dent’s education, at a program or activity of a 9 public school or local educational agency, in- 10 cluding acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical 11 aggression or intimidation. 12 ‘‘(2) The policies required under paragraph (1) 13 shall include a prohibition of bullying or harassment 14 conduct based on— 15 ‘‘(A) a student’s actual or perceived race, 16 color, national origin, sex (including sexual ori- 17 entation, gender identity, and sex characteris- 18 tics (including intersex traits)), disability, or re- 19 ligion; 20 ‘‘(B) the actual or perceived race, color, 21 national origin, sex (including sexual orienta- 22 tion, gender identity, and sex characteristics 23 (including intersex traits)), disability, or reli- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 1810 IH gion of a person with whom a student associ- 1 ates or has associated; or 2 ‘‘(C) any other distinguishing characteris- 3 tics that may be defined by the State or local 4 educational agency. 5 ‘‘(3) Provide— 6 ‘‘(A) annual notice to students, parents, 7 and educational professionals describing the full 8 range of prohibited conduct contained in such 9 local educational agency’s discipline policies; 10 and 11 ‘‘(B) grievance procedures for students or 12 parents to register complaints regarding the 13 prohibited conduct contained in such local edu- 14 cational agency’s discipline policies, including— 15 ‘‘(i) the name of the local educational 16 agency officials who are designated as re- 17 sponsible for receiving such complaints; 18 and 19 ‘‘(ii) timelines that the local edu- 20 cational agency will establish in the resolu- 21 tion of such complaints. 22 ‘‘(4) Collect annual incidence and frequency of 23 incidents data about the conduct prohibited by the 24 policies described in paragraph (1) at the school 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 1810 IH level that are accurate and complete and publicly re- 1 port such data at the school level and local edu- 2 cational agency level. The local educational agency 3 shall ensure that victims or persons responsible for 4 such conduct are not identifiable. 5 ‘‘SEC. 4703. STATE REPORTS. 6 ‘‘The chief executive officer of a State that receives 7 a grant under this title, in cooperation with the State edu- 8 cational agency, shall submit a biennial report to the Sec- 9 retary— 10 ‘‘(1) on the information reported by local edu- 11 cational agencies in the State pursuant to section 12 4702(b)(4); and 13 ‘‘(2) describing the State’s plans for supporting 14 local educational agency efforts to address the con- 15 duct prohibited by the policies described in section 16 4702(b)(1). 17 ‘‘SEC. 4704. EVALUATION. 18 ‘‘(a) BIENNIAL EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 19 conduct an independent biennial evaluation of programs 20 and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elemen- 21 tary schools and secondary schools, including implementa- 22 tion of the requirements described in section 4702, includ- 23 ing whether such requirements have appreciably reduced 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 1810 IH the level of the prohibited conduct and have conducted ef- 1 fective parent involvement and training programs. 2 ‘‘(b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Commissioner for 3 Education Statistics shall collect data from States, that 4 are subject to independent review, to determine the inci- 5 dence and frequency of conduct prohibited by the policies 6 described in section 4702. 7 ‘‘(c) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 8 2026, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 9 submit to the President and Congress a report on the find- 10 ings of the evaluation conducted under subsection (a) to- 11 gether with the data collected under subsection (b) and 12 data submitted by the States under section 4703. 13 ‘‘SEC. 4705. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 14 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL AND STATE NONDISCRIMINATION 15 LAWS.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to invali- 16 date or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal stand- 17 ards available to victims of discrimination under any other 18 Federal law or law of a State or political subdivision of 19 a State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 20 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 21 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 22 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 23 794, 794a), or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 24 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 1810 IH part are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the 1 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title 2 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 3 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 4 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabil- 5 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 6 ‘‘(b) FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION LAWS.—Noth- 7 ing in this part shall be construed to alter legal standards 8 regarding, or affect the rights (including remedies and 9 procedures) available to individuals under, other Federal 10 laws that establish protections for freedom of speech or 11 expression. 12 ‘‘SEC. 4706. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 13 ‘‘Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit 14 a State or local entity from enacting any law with respect 15 to the prevention of bullying or harassment of students 16 that is not inconsistent with this part.’’. 17 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 18 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 19 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 20 to section 4644 the following: 21 ‘‘PART G—SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT ‘‘Sec. 4701. Purpose. ‘‘Sec. 4702. Anti-bullying policies. ‘‘Sec. 4703. State reports. ‘‘Sec. 4704. Evaluation. ‘‘Sec. 4705. Effect on other laws. ‘‘Sec. 4706. Rule of construction.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1810.IH H1810 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB