SB1941 EngrossedLRB101 09893 AXK 54995 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
52-3.176 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.176 new)
7    Sec. 2-3.176. Safe Schools and Healthy Learning
8Environments Grant Program.
9    (a) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation,
10is authorized to award competitive grants on an annual basis
11under a Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Grant
12Program. The goal of this grant program is to promote school
13safety and healthy learning environments by providing schools
14with additional resources to implement restorative
15interventions and resolution strategies as alternatives to
16exclusionary discipline, and to address the full range of
17students' intellectual, social, emotional, physical,
18psychological, and moral developmental needs.
19    (b) To receive a grant under this program, a school
20district must submit with its grant application a plan for
21implementing evidence-based and promising practices that are
22aligned with the goal of this program. The application may
23include proposals to (i) hire additional school support

 

 

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1personnel, including, but not limited to, restorative justice
2practitioners, school psychologists, school social workers,
3and other mental and behavioral health specialists; (ii) use
4existing school-based resources, community-based resources, or
5other experts and practitioners to expand alternatives to
6exclusionary discipline, mental and behavioral health
7supports, wraparound services, or drug and alcohol treatment;
8and (iii) provide training for school staff on trauma-informed
9approaches to meeting students' developmental needs,
10addressing the effects of toxic stress, restorative justice
11approaches, conflict resolution techniques, and the effective
12utilization of school support personnel and community-based
13services. For purposes of this subsection, "promising
14practices" means practices that present, based on preliminary
15information, potential for becoming evidence-based practices.
16    Grant funds may not be used to increase the use of
17school-based law enforcement or security personnel. Nothing in
18this Section shall prohibit school districts from involving law
19enforcement personnel when necessary and allowed by law.
20    (c) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation
21for the grant program, shall annually disseminate a request for
22applications to this program, and funds shall be distributed
23annually. The criteria to be considered by the State Board of
24Education in awarding the funds shall be (i) the average ratio
25of school support personnel to students in the target schools
26over the preceding 3 school years, with priority given to

 

 

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1applications with a demonstrated shortage of school support
2personnel to meet student needs; and (ii) the degree to which
3the proposal articulates a comprehensive approach for reducing
4exclusionary discipline while building safe and healthy
5learning environments. Priority shall be given to school
6districts that meet the metrics under subsection (b) of Section
72-3.162.
8    (d) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation
9for the grant program, shall produce an annual report on the
10program in cooperation with the school districts participating
11in the program. The report shall include available quantitative
12information on the progress being made in reducing exclusionary
13discipline and the effects of the program on school safety and
14school climate. This report shall be posted on the State Board
15of Education's website by October 31 of each year, beginning in
162020.
17    (e) The State Board of Education may adopt any rules
18necessary for the implementation of this program.
 
19    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
20becoming law.