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Massachusetts Senate Bill S324

Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S324 Compare Versions

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22 SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2140 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
33 SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 324
44 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
55 _________________
66 PRESENTED BY:
77 Brendan P. Crighton
88 _________________
99 To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
1010 Court assembled:
1111 The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
1212 An Act promoting racially integrated schools.
1313 _______________
1414 PETITION OF:
1515 NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Brendan P. CrightonThird Essex 1 of 9
1616 SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2140 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
1717 SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 324
1818 By Mr. Crighton, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 324) of Brendan P. Crighton for
1919 legislation to promote racially integrated schools. Education.
2020 [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
2121 SEE SENATE, NO. 252 OF 2023-2024.]
2222 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
2323 _______________
2424 In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
2525 (2025-2026)
2626 _______________
2727 An Act promoting racially integrated schools.
2828 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
2929 of the same, as follows:
3030 1 Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 36 the
3131 2following sections:-
3232 3 SECTION 37.
3333 4 SCHOOL SEGREGATION DATA COLLECTION
3434 5 (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:-
3535 6 “Diverse school”, a school in which no single racial subgroup of students accounts for
3636 7more than 70 per cent of the total student population and at least 25 per cent of the student
3737 8population is White. 2 of 9
3838 9 “Diverse district”, a school district in which no single racial subgroup of students
3939 10accounts for more than 70 per cent of the total student population and at least 25 per cent of the
4040 11student population is White.
4141 12 “Intensely segregated district”, a school district in which (i) a single racial subgroup
4242 13accounts for 90 per cent or more of the student population; or (ii) 10 per cent or less of the
4343 14student population is White.
4444 15 “Intensely segregated school”, a school in which (i) a single racial subgroup accounts for
4545 1690 per cent or more of the student population; or (ii) 10 per cent or less of the student population
4646 17is White.
4747 18 “Racially disproportionate school”, a school in which (i) the White student population
4848 19differs by at least 15 percentage points as compared to the percentage of White students in the
4949 20district which the school is a part of; or (ii) a school in which less than 25 per cent of the school
5050 21population is White and the student population of a racial subgroup differs by at least 15
5151 22percentage points as compared to the percentage of said racial subgroup in the district of which
5252 23the school is a part.
5353 24 “Segregated district”, a school district that does not meet the criteria of either a diverse
5454 25district or an intensely segregated district.
5555 26 “Segregated school”, a school that does not meet the criteria of either a diverse school or
5656 27intensely segregated school. 3 of 9
5757 28 (b) Annually, the department of elementary and secondary education shall publicly report
5858 29and place on its website the following information for all public schools and districts within the
5959 30commonwealth:
6060 31 (1) An identification of a public school as a: (i) diverse school; (ii) segregated school; or
6161 32(iii) intensely segregated school.
6262 33 (2) A quantifiable, comparable measure of school-level segregation used to determine the
6363 34category of each school as specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
6464 35 (3) An identification of a public school districts as a: (i) diverse district; (ii) segregated
6565 36district; or (iii) intensely segregated district.
6666 37 (4) A quantifiable, comparable measure of district-level segregation used to determine the
6767 38category of each school as specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection.
6868 39 (5) An identification of whether a school is a racially disproportionate school.
6969 40 (6) A quantifiable, comparable measure of intradistrict segregation used to determine
7070 41whether a school is a racially disproportionate school as specified in paragraph (5) of this
7171 42subsection.
7272 43 (7) A quantifiable, comparable measure to compare the proportionality of the racial
7373 44composition of the total student population of a school or district as compared to the racial
7474 45composition of students in said school or district that completed the SAT or ACT.
7575 46 (8) A quantifiable, comparable measure to compare the proportionality of the racial
7676 47composition of the total population of a school or district as compared to the racial composition
7777 48of students enrolled in: (i) not less than 1 advanced placement course; (ii) a chemistry course; 4 of 9
7878 49(iii) a biology course; (iv) a geometry course; (v) a calculus course; (vi) an eighth grade algebra
7979 50course; (vii) an advanced math course; (viii) a gifted and talented program; and (ix) if applicable,
8080 51a designated early college pathway.
8181 52 (c) The department of elementary and secondary education may establish reasonable
8282 53limits on public reporting of data for the sole purposes of (i) protecting the identities of
8383 54individual students or (ii) to maintain the statistical integrity of data, provided that such limits are
8484 55consistent with the existing policies and procedures of the department.
8585 56 SECTION 38.
8686 57 SCHOOL INTEGRATION GRANT PROGRAM
8787 58 The department of elementary and secondary education shall establish a grant program,
8888 59subject to appropriation, to be known as the school diversity and integration grant program for
8989 60the development, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive strategies in school districts
9090 61to combat the effects of racial segregation by increasing racial diversity of the student
9191 62population.
9292 63 (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:-
9393 64 “Eligible entity”, a public school district or consortium of public school districts in a
9494 65region that at the time of the application has significant achievement gaps or racial segregation
9595 66within or between the school districts served by such entity.
9696 67 (b) The department of elementary and secondary education may reserve up to 10 per cent
9797 68of appropriated funds for (i) research, development, data collection, monitoring, technical
9898 69assistance, evaluation, or dissemination activities; (ii) the development and dissemination of best 5 of 9
9999 70practices to increase racial diversity in schools; and (iii) in the case in which a grantee uses race
100100 71as a factor in developing a process for achieving racially integrated schools, technical assistance
101101 72to grantees to develop narrowly tailored plans to achieve the benefits of racial diversity.
102102 73 (c) The department shall award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to
103103 74develop or implement plans to improve student diversity and reduce or eliminate racial
104104 75segregation. The department may, in any fiscal year, award: (i) planning grants; (ii)
105105 76implementation grants; or (iii) both planning and implementation grants.
106106 77 (1) A planning grant awarded under this section shall be for a period of not more than 1
107107 78year.
108108 79 (2) Each eligible entity that receives a planning grant shall use the grant to support
109109 80students in schools through the following activities: (i) completing a comprehensive assessment
110110 81of, with respect to the geographic area served, (A) the educational outcomes and racial
111111 82segregation of children attending schools; (B) an analysis of the location and capacity of program
112112 83and school facilities and the adequacy of local or regional transportation infrastructure; and (C)
113113 84an analysis of whether the local housing stock is adequately diverse and whether local land-use
114114 85and zoning practices allow for racial diversity; (ii) developing and implementing a robust family,
115115 86student, and community engagement plan, including public hearings or other open forums that
116116 87would precede and inform the development of a formal strategy to improve diversity in schools;
117117 88provided, however, that such engagement shall include meaningful engagement of students and
118118 89families of color; (iii) developing options, including timelines and cost estimates, for improving
119119 90diversity in schools, such as weighted lotteries, revised feeder patterns, school boundary
120120 91redesign, or regional coordination; (iv) developing an implementation plan based on community 6 of 9
121121 92preferences among the options developed; (v) building the capacity to collect and analyze data
122122 93that provide information for transparency, continuous improvement, and evaluation; (vi)
123123 94developing plans for creating a racially inclusive school climate with respect to racially and
124124 95culturally curriculum, school discipline policies and practices, and teacher and school leader
125125 96diversity; (vii) if applicable, developing an implementation plan to comply with a court-ordered
126126 97school desegregation plan; and (viii) if applicable, developing an implementation plan to replace
127127 98entrance exams or other competitive application procedures with alternate methods of student
128128 99assignment to promote racial diversity.
129129 100 (3) An implementation grant awarded under this section shall be for a period of not more
130130 101than 3 years, except that the department may extend an implementation grant for an additional 2-
131131 102year period if the eligible entity receiving the grant demonstrates to the department that the
132132 103eligible entity is making significant progress, as determined by the department, on the program
133133 104performance measures described in subsection (g).
134134 105 (4) Each eligible entity that receives an implementation grant shall implement a high-
135135 106quality plan to support students in schools that includes: (i) a comprehensive set of strategies
136136 107designed to improve academic outcomes for all students, particularly students of color, by
137137 108increasing student diversity; (ii) evidence of strong family and community support for such
138138 109strategies, including evidence that the eligible entity has engaged in meaningful family and
139139 110community outreach activities with students and families of color; (iii) goals to increase student
140140 111diversity; (iv) collection and analysis of data to provide transparency and support continuous
141141 112improvement; and (v) a rigorous method of evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. 7 of 9
142142 113 (5) Each eligible entity that receives an implementation grant may use the grant to carry
143143 114out one or more of the following activities: (i) recruiting, hiring, or training additional teachers,
144144 115administrators, school counselors, and other instructional and support staff in new, expanded, or
145145 116restructured schools, or other professional development activities for staff and administrators;
146146 117provided, however, that the hiring of such individuals directly relate to the implementation of a
147147 118school integration program under this section; (ii) investing in specialized academic programs or
148148 119facilities designed to encourage inter-district school attendance patterns; (iii) developing or
149149 120initiating a transportation plan for bringing students to and from schools; (iv) developing
150150 121innovative and equitable school assignment plans; (v) carrying out innovative activities designed
151151 122to increase racial diversity and engagement between children from different racial backgrounds;
152152 123(vi) creating or improving systems and partnerships to create an enrollment process for students
153153 124with multiple public school options, including making school information and data more
154154 125accessible and easy to understand, in order to ensure access to high-quality schools for students
155155 126of color and to promote racial diversity; or (vii) carrying out plans to improve access to a
156156 127rigorous curriculum for all students through the elimination of tracking or ability grouping
157157 128students in class assignment.
158158 129 (d) The department shall award grants based on: (i) the quality of the application
159159 130submitted by an eligible entity; (ii) the likelihood, as determined by the department, that the
160160 131eligible entity will use the grant to improving academic and other developmental or noncognitive
161161 132outcomes for students; and (iii) the likelihood that the grant will lead to a meaningful reduction
162162 133in racial segregation for students.
163163 134 (e) In awarding grants under this section, the department shall give priority to the
164164 135following eligible entities: (i) first, to an eligible entity that proposes to use the grant to support a 8 of 9
165165 136program that extends beyond one school district, such as an inter-district or regional program;
166166 137and (ii) second, to an eligible entity that demonstrates meaningful coordination with local or
167167 138regional housing or transportation agencies.
168168 139 (f) In order to receive a grant, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the
169169 140department at such time and in such manner as the department may require. Such application
170170 141shall include: (i) a description of the program for which the eligible entity is seeking a grant,
171171 142including: (A) how the eligible entity proposes to use the grant to improve the academic and life
172172 143outcomes of students in racially segregated schools by supporting interventions that increase
173173 144diversity for students in such schools; (B) in the case of an implementation grant, the
174174 145implementation grant plan described in paragraph (4) of subsection (c); and (C) evidence, or if
175175 146such evidence is not available, a rationale based on current research, regarding how the program
176176 147will increase diversity; (ii) how the eligible entity will identify and define racial segregation and
177177 148racial diversity; (iii) a description of the plan of the eligible entity for continuing the program
178178 149after the grant period ends; (iv) a description of how the eligible entity will assess, monitor, and
179179 150evaluate the impact of the activities funded under the grant on student achievement and student
180180 151enrollment diversity; (v) an assurance that the eligible entity has conducted, or will conduct,
181181 152robust family and community engagement, provided that engagement: (A) shall be in a language
182182 153that families and students can understand; (B) shall include engagement with students and
183183 154families of color in the targeted district or region; and (C); shall be designed to remove barriers
184184 155to ensure participation of students and families in the planning and development of any formal
185185 156strategy to increase diversity; (vi) an estimate of the number of students that the eligible entity
186186 157plans to serve under the program and the number of students to be served through additional
187187 158expansion of the program after the grant period ends; (vii) an assurance that the eligible entity 9 of 9
188188 159will: (A) cooperate with the department in evaluating the program; and (B) engage in a
189189 160community of practice as described in subsection (i); (ix) in the case of an eligible entity
190190 161applying for an implementation grant, a description of how the eligible entity will implement,
191191 162replicate, or expand a strategy based on an appropriate level of evidence, as determined by the
192192 163department, or test a promising strategy to increase diversity in schools; (x) in the case of an
193193 164application by a consortium of local educational agencies, how the grant funds will be divided
194194 165among the school districts served by such consortium.
195195 166 (g) The department shall establish performance measures for the programs and activities
196196 167carried out through grants. These measures shall track the progress of each eligible entity in (i)
197197 168increasing diversity and decreasing racial segregation in schools; and (ii) improving academic
198198 169and other developmental or noncognitive outcomes for each racial subgroup of students that the
199199 170department or eligible entity may identify.
200200 171 (h) The department may establish annual reporting requirements of grantees as it deems
201201 172appropriate for the implementation of this section.
202202 173 (i) The department shall establish a professional learning community, which shall consist
203203 174of grantees and staff that the department may reasonably furnish for technical assistance in
204204 175developing strategies related to the purposes of this grant program.
205205 176 (1) The professional learning community shall meet regularly to promote the
206206 177development of shared best practices for the planning and implementation of grants under this
207207 178section.