Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S300 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2056 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 300
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Robyn K. Kennedy
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to safer schools.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Robyn K. KennedyFirst Worcester 1 of 7
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2056 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 300
18	18	By Ms. Kennedy, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 300) of Robyn K. Kennedy for
19	19	legislation relative to safer schools. Education.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE SENATE, NO. 286 OF 2021-2022.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
25	25	(2023-2024)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to safer schools.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Section 37P of Chapter 71, as appearing in section 79 of Chapter 253 of the
31	31	2Acts of 2020, is hereby amended by striking out the fifth paragraph of subsection (b) and
32	32	3inserting the following words:-
33	33	4 The model memorandum of understanding shall expressly state that school resource
34	34	5officers, and any special service officers appointed to the school district, shall not: (i) serve as
35	35	6school disciplinarians, enforcers of school regulations or in place of licensed school
36	36	7psychologists, psychiatrists or counselors; and (ii) use police powers to address traditional school
37	37	8discipline issues, including non-violent disruptive behavior.  The guiding principle for involving
38	38	9a school resource officer in a school-related matter is whether conduct rises to the level of
39	39	10criminal and delinquent conduct that (1) poses substantial harm to the physical well-being of 2 of 7
40	40	11another person or (2) is willful and malicious and causes substantial harm to the property of the
41	41	12school or (3) constitutes the taking of property of substantial value belonging to another with
42	42	13intent to permanently deprive the property owner of the property. The school resource officer’s
43	43	14response to the school-related matter shall be guided by the techniques, including de-escalation
44	44	15and anti-bias training, required for certification as a school resource officer under section 116H
45	45	16of chapter 6.
46	46	17 SECTION 2. Section 37P of Chapter 71, as appearing in section 79 of Chapter 253 of the
47	47	18Acts of 2020, is further amended by striking out the first paragraph of subsection (d) and
48	48	19inserting in its place the following words:-
49	49	20 (d) For the purpose of fostering a safe and healthy environment for all students through
50	50	21strategic and appropriate use of law enforcement resources and to achieve positive outcomes for
51	51	22youth and public safety, a chief of police, at the request of the superintendent and subject to
52	52	23approval from the department of elementary and secondary education and to appropriation, shall
53	53	24assign at least 1 school resource officer to serve the city, town, commonwealth charter school,
54	54	25regional school district or county agricultural school. In the case of a regional school district,
55	55	26commonwealth charter school or county agriculture school, the chief of police of the city or town
56	56	27in which the school is located shall, at the request of the superintendent and subject to approval
57	57	28from the department of elementary and secondary education, assign the school resource officer
58	58	29who may be the same officer for all schools in the city or town.  Annually, not later than July 16,
59	59	30the superintendent shall report to the department of elementary and secondary education and
60	60	31publicly present to the relevant school committee: (i) the cost to the school district of the
61	61	32assigned school resource officers, any special service officers appointed to the school district,
62	62	33and any security staff; (ii) a description of the proposed budget for mental, social or emotional 3 of 7
63	63	34health support personnel for the school; and (iii) the number of school-based arrests, citations,
64	64	35and court referrals, applications for criminal or delinquency complaints, field interviews,
65	65	36searches and seizures made of students and any other interactions between students and officers
66	66	37resulting in student disciplinary action or diversion made in the previous year, disaggregated as
67	67	38required by the department of elementary and secondary education. The superintendent shall also
68	68	39report and publicly present the number of school-related reports entered into the local law
69	69	40enforcement agency’s computer system, and the number of school-related reports shared with
70	70	41other law enforcement agencies, including via the Boston Regional Information Center and other
71	71	42federal fusion centers. The superintendent will ensure that the district collaborates with the local
72	72	43law enforcement agency in compiling the data for submission in accordance with requirements
73	73	44of the department of elementary and secondary education. A district’s data submissions shall
74	74	45accurately reflect the school-related incident data maintained by the local law enforcement
75	75	46agency. A superintendent’s failure to provide and publicly present the data as described above
76	76	47shall bar the department of elementary and secondary education’s approval of the assignment of
77	77	48any school resource officer(s), or appointment of any other special service officers to the school
78	78	49district, unless and until such data is provided and publicly presented to the department of
79	79	50elementary and secondary education and relevant school committee, mayor, city council, and
80	80	51board of aldermen.
81	81	52 SECTION 3. Section 37P of chapter 71, as appearing in section 79 of Chapter 253 of the
82	82	53Acts of 2020 is hereby further amended by striking out in the second paragraph of subsection (g),
83	83	54the words “school-based arrests, citations and court referrals of students” and inserting in place
84	84	55thereof the following words:- 4 of 7
85	85	56 the data described in subsection (d) above and shall make such report available for public
86	86	57review. The department and the executive office of public safety and security, in consultation
87	87	58with the model school resource officer memorandum of understanding review commission,  shall
88	88	59jointly develop and disseminate guidance to school districts and local law enforcement agencies
89	89	60on how to compile these data.
90	90	61 SECTION 4. Chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition,
91	91	62is hereby amended by inserting after section 37R the following section:-
92	92	63 Section 37S. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context
93	93	64clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
94	94	65 “Holistic school health and safety practices”, practices that: a) have been shown to
95	95	66strengthen positive relationships and communication between students and adults; b) contribute
96	96	67to building a school-wide culture that is affirming and embracing of the diversity of cultural,
97	97	68linguistic, and racial backgrounds of enrolled students and their families; c) support non-
98	98	69disciplinary strategies of resolving conflicts with students; and d) are effective without
99	99	70unnecessary reliance on school exclusion or referral to law enforcement.
100	100	71 “School-based security personnel”, school resource officers, special service officers
101	101	72appointed by local law enforcement agencies at the request of other departments of their cities,
102	102	73other law enforcement agents, or security guards who are assigned to the premises of a school or
103	103	74district, whether or not they are employed directly by the school or the district seeking such
104	104	75grants.  For the purposes of this section, district-level staff who oversee a school district’s safety
105	105	76operations are not considered “school-based security personnel.” 5 of 7
106	106	77 (b) The board of elementary and secondary education shall, subject to appropriation,
107	107	78make one- or two-year grants to public school districts and/or individual public schools,
108	108	79including regional school districts and charter schools, for the cost of transitioning to, and/or
109	109	80implementing, holistic school health and safety practices that do not include law enforcement
110	110	81presence. Such practices shall include all practices listed under the definition of “holistic school
111	111	82health and safety practices” listed in Section 375(a), as well as, but not limited to:
112	112	83 (1) The creation of advisory groups that enable students to meet regularly with a school
113	113	84staff member and a group of their peers, and other practices or adjustments to student and staff
114	114	85schedules that create space for relationship building;
115	115	86 (2) Practices that support the creation of healthy relationships and counter sexual
116	116	87harassment, sexual assault, and harassment based on other identities, including race, gender,
117	117	88sexual orientation, and religion;
118	118	89 (3) Restorative justice, and related practices shown to resolve and reduce conflict among
119	119	90students and/or between students and staff; and
120	120	91 (4) Staffing students’ arrival, dismissal, and other transition periods with adults with ties
121	121	92to students’ communities who are skilled at engaging youth and deescalating conflicts.
122	122	93 Nothing in this section shall prohibit a school from contacting law enforcement in an
123	123	94emergency.
124	124	95 (c) The following costs shall be eligible uses of such grants:
125	125	96 (1) Identifying and implementing holistic school health and safety practices; 6 of 7
126	126	97 (2) Hiring and training staff to implement holistic school health and safety practices,
127	127	98including licensed clinical social workers;
128	128	99 (3) Supporting and/or creating school safety teams that include parents, students,
129	129	100teachers, emergency responders, and community to develop or modify the individual school
130	130	101safety plans described above;
131	131	102 (4) Providing information and training to members of the school community, including
132	132	103students and parents, on the school safety plans and holistic school health and safety practices
133	133	104described above;
134	134	105 (5) Documenting and/or evaluating the impact of the grant, and,
135	135	106 (6) Identifying ways to allocate the cost savings of not placing police or other security
136	136	107personnel in schools, including continuation of holistic school health and safety practices upon
137	137	108completion of such grants.
138	138	109 The purchase of metal detectors, weapons, or surveillance technology, or the hiring or
139	139	110employment of school-based security personnel is not an eligible use of such grant funds, nor
140	140	111shall such purchases or hiring be made with other sources of funding during the grant term.
141	141	112 (d) A school or district is eligible to apply for such a grant whether or not it had
142	142	113previously staffed any school-based security personnel, including school resource officers as
143	143	114defined in section 37P of chapter 71. However, a school or district is not eligible to receive such
144	144	115a grant if it intends to continue staffing any school-based security personnel beyond the transition
145	145	116allowed in the first year of such grant. Among grant applicants, schools and districts with higher 7 of 7
146	146	117percentages of low-income students will be given a competitive preference for award of such a
147	147	118grant.
148	148	119 The department of elementary and secondary education shall establish application
149	149	120requirements for such grants. Such applications must include the prior three years’ worth of data
150	150	121on school-based policing pursuant to section 37P of chapter 71, as well as the cost to the school
151	151	122and/or district of employing or assigning school-based security personnel and the sources of
152	152	123funding used to do so. The department shall also establish reporting requirements for grant
153	153	124recipients to evaluate the impact of the grant on school safety, including data on school-based
154	154	125policing as described above.
155	155	126 (e) The department shall serve as a repository for information on holistic school health
156	156	127and safety practices at use in the Commonwealth and elsewhere. To support grantees in
157	157	128implementing, evaluating, and/or replicating holistic school health and safety practices, the
158	158	129department shall establish a community of practice for grantees and other interested schools and
159	159	130districts to share best practices.