Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S373 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. 1354 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 373
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Adam Gomez
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 enhancing learning in the early school years through a ban on school exclusion in pre-
13	13	kindergarten through 3rd grade.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Adam GomezHampden 1 of 3
17	17	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1354 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
18	18	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 373
19	19	By Mr. Gomez, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 373) of Adam Gomez for legislation
20	20	to enhance learning in the early school years through a ban on school exclusion in pre-
21	21	kindergarten through 3rd grade. Education.
22	22	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
23	23	SEE SENATE, NO. 289 OF 2023-2024.]
24	24	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
25	25	_______________
26	26	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
27	27	(2025-2026)
28	28	_______________
29	29	An Act enhancing learning in the early school years through a ban on school exclusion in pre-
30	30	kindergarten through 3rd grade.
31	31	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
32	32	of the same, as follows:
33	33	1 SECTION 1. The General Court hereby finds and declares that:
34	34	2 (1) to give students, especially the most vulnerable, the ability to be prepared for post
35	35	3third grade—an important educational milestone—students must be in school to learn during the
36	36	4prekindergarten to third grade years;
37	37	5 (2) the department of elementary and secondary education must give enhanced attention,
38	38	6tools and resources to create effective responses to the disciplinary challenges that educators face
39	39	7in teaching students in prekindergarten to third grade; 2 of 3
40	40	8 (3) fourth and fifth grade students require sufficient time in school, as their final years in
41	41	9elementary school similarly represent an important educational milestone; and
42	42	10 (4) these steps will enhance equal educational opportunity because disparities in school
43	43	11discipline lead to disparate educational outcomes for students.
44	44	12 (5) these steps are especially important as young students continue to struggle after
45	45	13experiencing learning loss and traumatic experiences due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
46	46	14 SECTION 2. Section 37H¾ of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
47	47	15Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting before paragraph (a) the following paragraph:
48	48	16 This section shall govern the suspension and expulsion of students enrolled in a public
49	49	17school in the commonwealth who are not charged with a violation of subsections (a) and (b) of
50	50	18section 37H or with a felony under section 37H½.
51	51	19 SECTION 3. Said section 37H¾ of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further
52	52	20amended by striking out paragraph (a) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
53	53	21 (a) A student enrolled in a public prekindergarten program, kindergarten, first grade,
54	54	22second grade or third grade may not be suspended or expelled from school in response to
55	55	23discipline infractions.
56	56	24 SECTION 4. Said section 37H¾ of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further
57	57	25amended by striking out paragraph (a) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:
58	58	26 (a) A student enrolled in a public prekindergarten program, kindergarten, first grade,
59	59	27second grade, third grade or fourth grade may not be suspended or expelled from school in
60	60	28response to discipline infractions. 3 of 3
61	61	29 SECTION 5. Said section 37H¾ of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further
62	62	30amended by striking out paragraph (a) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:
63	63	31 (a) A student enrolled in a public prekindergarten program, kindergarten, first grade,
64	64	32second grade, third grade, fourth grade or fifth grade may not be suspended or expelled from
65	65	33school in response to discipline infractions.
66	66	34 SECTION 6. Said section 37H¾ of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further
67	67	35amended by adding the following subsection:
68	68	36 (g) The department shall provide guidance and support to school districts to provide
69	69	37school staff with best practices to respond to concerns related to student behavior including, but
70	70	38not limited to, alternatives to suspension and expulsion such as (i) mediation; (ii) conflict
71	71	39resolution; (iii) restorative justice; and (iv) collaborative problem solving.
72	72	40 SECTION 7. Section 4 shall take effect 1 year after passage of this act.
73	73	41 SECTION 8. Section 5 shall take effect 2 years after passage of this act.