I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2577
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish Regional School
Safety Development Centers to provide consultation for schools to develop
or improve a school safety plan based on evidence-based best practices,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL1, 2025
Mr. R
UTHERFORD(for himself, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. TONYGONZALESof Texas,
Mr. C
ORREA, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Work-
force
A BILL
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish
Regional School Safety Development Centers to provide
consultation for schools to develop or improve a school
safety plan based on evidence-based best practices, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preparing Leaders to 4
Assess Needs for School Safety Act of 2025’’ or the 5
‘‘PLAN for School Safety Act of 2025’’. 6
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
•HR 2577 IH
SEC. 2. SCHOOL SAFETY DEVELOPMENT CENTER PRO-1
GRAM. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XXII of the 3
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 4
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 5
‘‘SEC. 2220F. SCHOOL SAFETY DEVELOPMENT CENTER PRO-6
GRAM. 7
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Director shall make awards, 8
including grants or cooperative agreements, to eligible en-9
tities to establish, improve, or maintain statewide or intra-10
state Regional School Safety Development Centers 11
(‘School Safety Development Centers’) for the purposes of 12
providing customized consulting services to schools to de-13
velop, improve, or implement the school’s individualized 14
school safety plan. 15
‘‘(b) A
WARDS.— 16
‘‘(1) A
PPLICATION.—To seek an award under 17
this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli-18
cation to the Director at such time, in such manner, 19
and containing such information as the Director 20
may require. At minimum, any such application 21
shall include evidence of the applicant’s expertise in 22
comprehensive school safety and school climate, in-23
cluding evidence-based violence prevention for stu-24
dents and educators, suicide prevention, student 25
mental health, and school security. 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
•HR 2577 IH
‘‘(2) PREFERENCE.—In making awards under 1
this section, the Director shall, as appropriate, give 2
preference to eligible entities that have existing rela-3
tionships with local schools, particularly those in 4
rural, Tribal, or low-resourced communities, as ap-5
plicable by the proposed geographical area, or minor-6
ity-serving institutions described in sections 371(a) 7
and 326(e)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 8
(20 U.S.C. 1067q(a) and 1063b(e)(1)). 9
‘‘(3) U
SE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity shall 10
use an award received under this section to estab-11
lish, improve, or maintain a School Safety Develop-12
ment Center, which shall include each of the fol-13
lowing: 14
‘‘(A) Developing communications materials 15
for and disseminating to schools, educators, 16
parents, legal guardians, and youth, and in-17
creasing State-wide or intrastate regional public 18
awareness of evidence-based research and best 19
practices for school safety and student mental 20
health. 21
‘‘(B) Conducting individualized consulta-22
tions with schools to research and analyze a 23
school’s existing school safety and student men-24
tal health policies, or developing or improving, 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
•HR 2577 IH
in coordination with a school, a customized 1
school safety and student mental health plan to 2
fit the individualized, age- and developmentally- 3
appropriate needs of such school community 4
based on evidence-based best practices. 5
‘‘(C) Assisting schools in the implementa-6
tion of their customized school safety and men-7
tal health plan, including the following: 8
‘‘(i) Identification of Federal or State 9
government funding for implementation of 10
the plan, in whole or in part. 11
‘‘(ii) Provide training, resources, or 12
technical assistance to assist schools in ap-13
plying for such Federal or State govern-14
ment funding. 15
‘‘(iii) Providing training, resources, 16
and technical assistance to educate school 17
staff and families regarding the policies 18
and procedures of the plan. 19
‘‘(4) M
ATCHING REQUIREMENT .—The Federal 20
share of the cost of activities for which a grant or 21
cooperative agreement is made to an eligible entity 22
under this section may not exceed 95 percent of the 23
total cost of such activities. 24
‘‘(c) A
WARDADMINISTRATION.— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
•HR 2577 IH
‘‘(1) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE .— 1
The Director, in consultation with the Secretary of 2
Education and the Youth Advisory Council (estab-3
lished pursuant to paragraph (2)(C)), shall provide 4
eligible entities receiving awards under this section, 5
training and technical assistance on the following: 6
‘‘(A) Best practices for individualized con-7
sulting with schools based on their unique needs 8
for implementation in accordance with sub-9
section (b)(3). 10
‘‘(B) Evidence-based practices and rec-11
ommendations established under section 2220D 12
that are presented in a clear and concise man-13
ner for schools and the public. 14
‘‘(2) S
UBJECT MATTER EXPERTS .— 15
‘‘(A) P
ERSONNEL.—The Director shall 16
hire additional personnel and contractors with 17
expertise in school mental health and school ad-18
ministration to provide additional subject mat-19
ter expertise in implementing evidence-based 20
programming within schools to carry out para-21
graph (1). 22
‘‘(B) D
ETAILEE.— 23
‘‘(i) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary of 24
Education shall detail, on a reimbursable 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6
•HR 2577 IH
basis, to the Agency an employee of the 1
Department of Education to assist in the 2
provision of the training and technical as-3
sistance described in paragraph (1). 4
‘‘(ii) R
EIMBURSEMENT.—The Director 5
shall reimburse the Secretary of Education 6
for any costs associated with the detailee 7
under clause (i). 8
‘‘(C) Y
OUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL .— 9
‘‘(i) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later 10
than one year after the date of the enact-11
ment of this section, the Director shall es-12
tablish and convene a Youth Advisory 13
Council for the purpose of providing joint 14
advice on the implementation of this sec-15
tion. 16
‘‘(ii) P
ARTICIPATION.—The Youth Ad-17
visory Council shall include participation 18
from the following: 19
‘‘(I) Parents, academic experts, 20
mental health professionals, and mem-21
bers of civil society with respect to the 22
prevention of violence in schools. 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7
•HR 2577 IH
‘‘(II) Youth representation, in-1
cluding youth who have experienced 2
school violence. 3
‘‘(d) R
EPORT TOCONGRESS.—Not later than two 4
years after the date of the enactment of this section and 5
annually thereafter, the Director shall submit to the Com-6
mittee on Homeland Security, the Committee on the Judi-7
ciary, the Committee on Education and Workforce, and 8
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-9
resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 10
and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on Health, 11
Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on 12
Appropriations of the Senate a report on actions taken 13
by the Director to implement this section, including infor-14
mation relating to the following: 15
‘‘(1) The name, location, and number of eligible 16
entities in each State receiving awards under this 17
section. 18
‘‘(2) A comparative analysis of actions rec-19
ommended in school safety plans by such eligible en-20
tities through the School Safety Development Cen-21
ters assisted through such awards. 22
‘‘(3) An assessment of the effectiveness of such 23
School Safety Development Centers in assisting 24
schools to develop and implement school safety 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8
•HR 2577 IH
plans, as a means to avert violence, including self- 1
harm, if applicable, and policy recommendations for 2
improved effectiveness. 3
‘‘(e) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.— 4
‘‘(1) W
AIVER OF REQUIREMENTS .—Nothing in 5
this section may be construed to establish, satisfy, or 6
waive any requirement under any of the following: 7
‘‘(A) Title II of the Americans With Dis-8
abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.). 9
‘‘(B) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 10
U.S.C. 701 et seq.). 11
‘‘(C) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 12
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 13
‘‘(D) Title IX of the Education Amend-14
ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.). 15
‘‘(E) The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 16
(42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.). 17
‘‘(F) The Family Educational Rights and 18
Privacy Act of 1973 (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 19
‘‘(2) N
O EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS .—Nothing in 20
this section may be construed to preclude or con-21
tradict any other provision of law authorizing train-22
ing in the use of firearms. 23
‘‘(f) A
UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.— 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9
•HR 2577 IH
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 1
there are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 2
annually from fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 3
‘‘(2) R
ESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS .— 4
Amounts made available to carry out this section 5
may not be used to— 6
‘‘(A) consult or train any school or person 7
in the use of firearms; or 8
‘‘(B) hire school personnel or school-based 9
contractors for the schools the School Safety 10
Development Centers are advising under sub-11
section (b)(3). 12
‘‘(g) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 13
‘‘(1) E
LIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The term ‘eligible 14
entities’ means any of the following: 15
‘‘(A) A State. 16
‘‘(B) A State educational agency (as such 17
term is defined in section 8101 of the Elemen-18
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 19
U.S.C. 7801). 20
‘‘(C) A Tribal educational agency (as such 21
term is defined in section 6132 of the Elemen-22
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 23
U.S.C. 7452)). 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10
•HR 2577 IH
‘‘(D) An institution of higher education eli-1
gible for assistance under title III of the Higher 2
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1051 et 3
seq.). 4
‘‘(E) A Tribal College or University (as 5
such term is defined in section 313 of the High-6
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c)). 7
‘‘(2) E
VIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘evidence- 8
based’ has the meaning given such term in section 9
8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 10
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 11
‘‘(3) S
CHOOL.—The term ‘school’ has the 12
meaning given such term in section 2704 of the Om-13
nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 14
(34 U.S.C. 10554). 15
‘‘(4) S
CHOOL SAFETY PLAN .—The term ‘school 16
safety plan’ means a set of common actions schools 17
can take to address the foundational elements of 18
school safety, including designated staff, school cli-19
mate and mental health, reporting systems, threat 20
assessment, emergency planning, educator training, 21
student prevention training, exercises and drills, site 22
assessments, and recovery plans.’’. 23
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 24
in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11
•HR 2577 IH
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1
2220E the following new item: 2
‘‘Sec. 2220F. School Safety Development Center program.’’.
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Apr 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS