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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1699 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 387
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Robyn K. Kennedy
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to safer schools.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Robyn K. KennedyFirst Worcester 1 of 7
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1699 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 387
By Ms. Kennedy, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 387) of Robyn K. Kennedy for
legislation relative to safer schools. Education.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 300 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act relative to safer schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 37P of chapter 71 of the general laws, as appearing in the 2022
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 84 through 89, the fifth paragraph of
3subsection (b) and inserting the following words:-
4 The model memorandum of understanding shall expressly state that school resource
5officers, and any special service officers appointed to the school district, shall not: (i) serve as
6school disciplinarians, enforcers of school regulations or in place of licensed school
7psychologists, psychiatrists or counselors; and (ii) use police powers to address traditional school
8discipline issues, including non-violent disruptive behavior. The guiding principle for involving
9a school resource officer in a school-related matter is whether conduct rises to the level of
10criminal and delinquent conduct that (1) poses substantial harm to the physical well-being of 2 of 7
11another person or (2) is willful and malicious and causes substantial harm to the property of the
12school or (3) constitutes the taking of property of substantial value belonging to another with
13intent to permanently deprive the property owner of the property. The school resource officer’s
14response to the school-related matter shall be guided by the techniques, including de-escalation
15and anti-bias training, required for certification as a school resource officer under section 116H
16of chapter 6.
17 SECTION 2. Said section 37P of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further
18amended by striking out, in lines 121 through 140, the first paragraph of subsection (d) and
19inserting in its place the following words:
20 (d) For the purpose of fostering a safe and healthy environment for all students through
21strategic and appropriate use of law enforcement resources and to achieve positive outcomes for
22youth and public safety, a chief of police, at the request of the superintendent and subject to
23approval from the department of elementary and secondary education and to appropriation, shall
24assign at least 1 school resource officer to serve the city, town, commonwealth charter school,
25regional school district or county agricultural school. In the case of a regional school district,
26commonwealth charter school or county agriculture school, the chief of police of the city or town
27in which the school is located shall, at the request of the superintendent and subject to approval
28from the department of elementary and secondary education, assign the school resource officer
29who may be the same officer for all schools in the city or town. Annually, not later than July 16,
30the superintendent shall report to the department of elementary and secondary education and
31publicly present to the relevant school committee: (i) the cost to the school district of the
32assigned school resource officers, any special service officers appointed to the school district,
33and any security staff; (ii) a description of the proposed budget for mental, social or emotional 3 of 7
34health support personnel for the school; and (iii) the number of school-based arrests, citations,
35and court referrals, applications for criminal or delinquency complaints, field interviews,
36searches and seizures made of students and any other interactions between students and officers
37resulting in student disciplinary action or diversion made in the previous year, disaggregated as
38required by the department of elementary and secondary education. The superintendent shall also
39report and publicly present the number of school-related reports entered into the local law
40enforcement agency’s computer system, and the number of school-related reports shared with
41other law enforcement agencies, including via the Boston Regional Information Center and other
42federal fusion centers. The superintendent will ensure that the district collaborates with the local
43law enforcement agency in compiling the data for submission in accordance with requirements
44of the department of elementary and secondary education. A district’s data submissions shall
45accurately reflect the school-related incident data maintained by the local law enforcement
46agency. A superintendent’s failure to provide and publicly present the data as described above
47shall bar the department of elementary and secondary education’s approval of the assignment of
48any school resource officer(s), or appointment of any other special service officers to the school
49district, unless and until such data is provided and publicly presented to the department of
50elementary and secondary education and relevant school committee, mayor, city council, and
51board of aldermen.
52 SECTION 3. Said section 37P of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further
53amended by striking out, in lines 219 and 220, the words “school-based arrests, citations and
54court referrals of students” and inserting in place thereof the following words:-
55 the data described in subsection (d) above and shall make such report available for public
56review. The department and the executive office of public safety and security, in consultation 4 of 7
57with the model school resource officer memorandum of understanding review commission, shall
58jointly develop and disseminate guidance to school districts and local law enforcement agencies
59on how to compile these data.
60 SECTION 4. Said Chapter 71 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 37R
61the following new section:-
62 Section 37S. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context
63clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
64 “Holistic school health and safety practices”, practices that: a) have been shown to
65strengthen positive relationships and communication between students and adults; b) contribute
66to building a school-wide culture that is affirming and embracing of the diversity of cultural,
67linguistic, and racial backgrounds of enrolled students and their families; c) support non-
68disciplinary strategies of resolving conflicts with students; and d) are effective without
69unnecessary reliance on school exclusion or referral to law enforcement.
70 “School-based security personnel”, school resource officers, special service officers
71appointed by local law enforcement agencies at the request of other departments of their cities,
72other law enforcement agents, or security guards who are assigned to the premises of a school or
73district, whether or not they are employed directly by the school or the district seeking such
74grants. For the purposes of this section, district-level staff who oversee a school district’s safety
75operations are not considered “school-based security personnel.”
76 (b) The board of elementary and secondary education shall, subject to appropriation,
77make one- or two-year grants to public school districts and/or individual public schools,
78including regional school districts and charter schools, for the cost of transitioning to, and/or 5 of 7
79implementing, holistic school health and safety practices that do not include law enforcement
80presence. Such practices shall include all practices listed under the definition of “holistic school
81health and safety practices” listed in Section 375(a), as well as, but not limited to:
82 (1) The creation of advisory groups that enable students to meet regularly with a school
83staff member and a group of their peers, and other practices or adjustments to student and staff
84schedules that create space for relationship building;
85 (2) Practices that support the creation of healthy relationships and counter sexual
86harassment, sexual assault, and harassment based on other identities, including race, gender,
87sexual orientation, and religion;
88 (3) Restorative justice, and related practices shown to resolve and reduce conflict among
89students and/or between students and staff; and
90 (4) Staffing students’ arrival, dismissal, and other transition periods with adults with ties
91to students’ communities who are skilled at engaging youth and deescalating conflicts.
92 Nothing in this section shall prohibit a school from contacting law enforcement in an
93emergency.
94 (c) The following costs shall be eligible uses of such grants:
95 (1) Identifying and implementing holistic school health and safety practices;
96 (2) Hiring and training staff to implement holistic school health and safety practices,
97including licensed clinical social workers; 6 of 7
98 (3) Supporting and/or creating school safety teams that include parents, students,
99teachers, emergency responders, and community to develop or modify the individual school
100safety plans described above;
101 (4) Providing information and training to members of the school community, including
102students and parents, on the school safety plans and holistic school health and safety practices
103described above;
104 (5) Documenting and/or evaluating the impact of the grant, and,
105 (6) Identifying ways to allocate the cost savings of not placing police or other security
106personnel in schools, including continuation of holistic school health and safety practices upon
107completion of such grants.
108 The purchase of metal detectors, weapons, or surveillance technology, or the hiring or
109employment of school-based security personnel is not an eligible use of such grant funds, nor
110shall such purchases or hiring be made with other sources of funding during the grant term.
111 (d) A school or district is eligible to apply for such a grant whether or not it had
112previously staffed any school-based security personnel, including school resource officers as
113defined in section 37P of chapter 71. However, a school or district is not eligible to receive such
114a grant if it intends to continue staffing any school-based security personnel beyond the transition
115allowed in the first year of such grant. Among grant applicants, schools and districts with higher
116percentages of low-income students will be given a competitive preference for award of such a
117grant. 7 of 7
118 The department of elementary and secondary education shall establish application
119requirements for such grants. Such applications must include the prior three years’ worth of data
120on school-based policing pursuant to section 37P of chapter 71, as well as the cost to the school
121and/or district of employing or assigning school-based security personnel and the sources of
122funding used to do so. The department shall also establish reporting requirements for grant
123recipients to evaluate the impact of the grant on school safety, including data on school-based
124policing as described above.
125 (e) The department shall serve as a repository for information on holistic school health
126and safety practices at use in the Commonwealth and elsewhere. To support grantees in
127implementing, evaluating, and/or replicating holistic school health and safety practices, the
128department shall establish a community of practice for grantees and other interested schools and
129districts to share best practices.