Public Act 101-0438
 
SB1941 EnrolledLRB101 09893 AXK 54995 b


  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  











 
 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section 
2-3.176 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.176 new)
    Sec. 2-3.176. Safe Schools and Healthy Learning 
Environments Grant Program.
    (a) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation, 
is authorized to award competitive grants on an annual basis 
under a Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Grant 
Program. The goal of this grant program is to promote school 
safety and healthy learning environments by providing schools 
with additional resources to implement restorative 
interventions and resolution strategies as alternatives to 
exclusionary discipline, and to address the full range of 
students' intellectual, social, emotional, physical, 
psychological, and moral developmental needs.
    (b) To receive a grant under this program, a school 
district must submit with its grant application a plan for 
implementing evidence-based and promising practices that are 
aligned with the goal of this program. The application may 
include proposals to (i) hire additional school support 
personnel, including, but not limited to, restorative justice 
practitioners, school psychologists, school social workers, 
and other mental and behavioral health specialists;  (ii) use 
existing school-based resources, community-based resources, or 
other experts and practitioners to expand alternatives to 
exclusionary discipline, mental and behavioral health 
supports, wraparound services, or drug and alcohol treatment; 
and (iii) provide training for school staff on trauma-informed 
approaches to meeting students' developmental needs, 
addressing the effects of toxic stress, restorative justice 
approaches, conflict resolution techniques, and the effective 
utilization of school support personnel and community-based 
services. For purposes of this subsection, "promising 
practices" means practices that present, based on preliminary 
information, potential for becoming evidence-based practices.
    Grant funds may not be used to increase the use of 
school-based law enforcement or security personnel. Nothing in 
this Section shall prohibit school districts from involving law 
enforcement personnel when necessary and allowed by law.
    (c) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation 
for the grant program, shall annually disseminate a request for 
applications to this program, and funds shall be distributed 
annually. The criteria to be considered by the State Board of 
Education in awarding the funds shall be (i) the average ratio 
of school support personnel to students in the target schools 
over the preceding 3 school years, with priority given to 
applications with a demonstrated shortage of school support 
personnel to meet student needs; and (ii) the degree to which 
the proposal articulates a comprehensive approach for reducing 
exclusionary discipline while building safe and healthy 
learning environments. Priority shall be given to school 
districts that meet the metrics under subsection (b) of Section 
2-3.162.
    (d) The State Board of Education, subject to appropriation 
for the grant program, shall produce an
annual report on the 
program in
cooperation with the school districts participating 
in the program. The report shall include available
quantitative 
information on the progress being made in reducing exclusionary 
discipline and the effects of the program on school safety and 
school climate. This report shall be posted on the State Board 
of Education's website by
October 31 of each year, beginning in 
2020.
    (e) The State Board of Education may adopt any rules 
necessary for the implementation of this program.


 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.