text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Schools Improvement Act of 
  2017''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds the following:
              (1) Bullying and harassment foster a climate of fear and 
          disrespect that can seriously impair the physical and 
          psychological health of its victims and create conditions that 
          negatively affect learning, thereby undermining the ability of 
          students to achieve their full potential.
              (2) Bullying and harassment contribute to high dropout 
          rates, increased absenteeism, and academic underachievement.
              (3) Bullying and harassment include a range of behaviors 
          that negatively impact a student's ability to learn and 
          participate in educational opportunities and activities that 
          schools offer. Such behaviors can include hitting or punching, 
          name-calling, intimidation through gestures or social 
          exclusion, and sending insulting or offensive messages through 
          electronic communications, such as Internet sites, e-mail, 
          instant messaging, mobile phones and messaging, telephone, or 
          any other means.
              (4) Schools with enumerated anti-bullying and harassment 
          policies have an increased level of reporting and teacher 
          intervention in incidents of bullying and harassment, thereby 
          reducing the overall frequency and number of such incidents.
              (5) Students have been particularly singled out for 
          bullying and harassment on the basis of their actual or 
          perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability status, 
          sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion, among other 
          categories.
              (6) Some young people experience a form of bullying called 
          relational aggression or psychological bullying, which harms 
          individuals by damaging, threatening, or manipulating their 
          relationships with their peers, or by injuring their feelings 
          of social acceptance.
              (7) Interventions to address bullying and harassment 
          conduct to create a positive and safe school climate, combined 
          with evidence-based discipline policies and practices, such as 
          Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and 
          restorative practices, can minimize suspensions, expulsions, 
          and other exclusionary discipline policies to ensure that 
          students are not ``pushed-out'' or diverted to the juvenile 
          justice system.
              (8) According to one poll, 85 percent of Americans strongly 
          support or somewhat support a Federal law to require schools to 
          enforce specific rules to prevent bullying.
              (9) Students, parents, educators, and policymakers have 
          come together to call for leadership and action to address the 
          national crisis of bullying and harassment.
  
  SEC. 3. SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT.
  
      (a) In General.--Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
  Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
  the following:
  
                     ``PART G--SAFE SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENT
  
  ``SEC. 4701. PURPOSE.
  
      ``The purpose of this part is to address the problem of bullying 
  and harassment conduct of students in public elementary schools and 
  secondary schools.
  
  ``SEC. 4702. ANTI-BULLYING POLICIES.
  
      ``(a) Bullying.--In this part, the term `bullying' includes cyber-
  bullying through electronic communications.
      ``(b) Policies.--A State that receives a grant under this title 
  shall require all local educational agencies in the State to carry out 
  the following:
              ``(1) Establish policies that prevent and prohibit conduct, 
          including bullying and harassment, that is sufficiently severe, 
          persistent, or pervasive--
                      ``(A) to limit a student's ability to participate 
                  in, or benefit from, a program or activity of a public 
                  school or local educational agency; or
                      ``(B) to create a hostile or abusive educational 
                  environment, adversely affecting a student's education, 
                  at a program or activity of a public school or local 
                  educational agency, including acts of verbal, 
                  nonverbal, or physical aggression or intimidation.
              ``(2) The policies required under paragraph (1) shall 
          include a prohibition of bullying or harassment conduct based 
          on--
                      ``(A) a student's actual or perceived race, color, 
                  national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, 
                  gender identity, or religion;
                      ``(B) the actual or perceived race, color, national 
                  origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender 
                  identity, or religion of a person with whom a student 
                  associates or has associated; or
                      ``(C) any other distinguishing characteristics that 
                  may be defined by the State or local educational 
                  agency, including being homeless or the child or ward 
                  of a member of the Armed Forces.
              ``(3) Provide--
                      ``(A) annual notice to students, parents, and 
                  educational professionals describing the full range of 
                  prohibited conduct contained in such local educational 
                  agency's discipline policies; and
                      ``(B) grievance procedures for students or parents 
                  to register complaints regarding the prohibited conduct 
                  contained in such local educational agency's discipline 
                  policies, including--
                              ``(i) the name of the local educational 
                          agency officials who are designated as 
                          responsible for receiving such complaints; and
                              ``(ii) timelines that the local educational 
                          agency will establish in the resolution of such 
                          complaints.
              ``(4) Collect annual incidence and frequency of incidents 
          data about the conduct prohibited by the policies described in 
          paragraph (1) at the school building level that are accurate 
          and complete and publicly report such data at the school level 
          and local educational agency level. The local educational 
          agency shall ensure that victims or persons responsible for 
          such conduct are not identifiable.
              ``(5) Encourage positive and preventative approaches to 
          school discipline that minimize students' removal from 
          instruction and ensure that students, including students 
          described in paragraph (2), are not subject to disproportionate 
          punishment.
  
  ``SEC. 4703. STATE REPORTS.
  
      ``The chief executive officer of a State that receives a grant 
  under this title, in cooperation with the State educational agency, 
  shall submit a biennial report to the Secretary--
              ``(1) on the information reported by local educational 
          agencies in the State pursuant to section 4702(b)(4); and
              ``(2) describing the State's plans for supporting local 
          educational agency efforts to address the conduct prohibited by 
          the policies described in section 4702(b)(1).
  
  ``SEC. 4704. EVALUATION.
  
      ``(a) Biennial Evaluation.--The Secretary shall conduct an 
  independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat 
  bullying and harassment in elementary schools and secondary schools, 
  including implementation of the requirements described in section 4702, 
  including whether such requirements have appreciably reduced the level 
  of the prohibited conduct and have conducted effective parent 
  involvement and training programs.
      ``(b) Data Collection.--The Commissioner for Education Statistics 
  shall collect data from States, that are subject to independent review, 
  to determine the incidence and frequency of conduct prohibited by the 
  policies described in section 4702.
      ``(c) Biennial Report.--Not later than January 1, 2019, and every 2 
  years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the President and 
  Congress a report on the findings of the evaluation conducted under 
  subsection (a) together with the data collected under subsection (b) 
  and data submitted by the States under section 4703.
  
  ``SEC. 4705. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
  
      ``(a) Federal and State Nondiscrimination Laws.--Nothing in this 
  part shall be construed to invalidate or limit rights, remedies, 
  procedures, or legal standards available to victims of discrimination 
  under any other Federal law or law of a State or political subdivision 
  of a State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
  U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 
  U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
  1973 (29 U.S.C. 794, 794a), or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 
  1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this part 
  are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 
  1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education Amendments of 
  1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
  1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 
  (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).
      ``(b) Free Speech and Expression Laws.--Nothing in this part shall 
  be construed to alter legal standards regarding, or affect the rights 
  (including remedies and procedures) available to individuals under, 
  other Federal laws that establish protections for freedom of speech or 
  expression.
  
  ``SEC. 4706. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
  
      ``Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit a State or 
  local entity from enacting any law with respect to the prevention of 
  bullying or harassment of students that is not inconsistent with this 
  part.''.
      (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 2 of the 
  Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting 
  after the item relating to section 4304 the following:
  
                     ``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.''.
target: Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit conduct, including bullying and harassment, that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive to: (1) limit students' ability to participate in, or benefit from, school programs; or (2) create a hostile or abusive educational environment that adversely affects&nbsp;students' education. LEAs shall also provide: (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their disciplinary policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level. The Department&nbsp;of Education must conduct, and report on, an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics shall collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA disciplinary policies. 
feat_title: Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2017