[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1285 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1285
To direct the National Center for Education Statistics to produce an
annual report on indicators of school crime and safety, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 25, 2023
Mr. Bennet introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the National Center for Education Statistics to produce an
annual report on indicators of school crime and safety, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``School Shooting Safety and
Preparedness Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Title 18 definitions.--The terms ``firearm'' and
``ammunition'' have the meanings given such terms in section
921 of title 18, United States Code. The term ``large capacity
ammunition feeding device'' has the meaning given such term in
section 921 of title 18, Unites States Code, as in effect on
September 1, 2004.
(2) Mass shooting.--The term ``mass shooting'' means a
shooting during which 3 or more individuals, not including the
shooter, were injured or killed in one location or in multiple
locations in close proximity.
(3) School.--The term ``school'' means--
(A) an early childhood education program (as
defined in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003));
(B) an elementary school (as defined in section
8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801));
(C) a secondary school (as defined in section 8101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 7801)); and
(D) an institution of higher education (as defined
in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1002)).
(4) School shooting.--The term ``school shooting'' means an
event or occurrence--
(A) during which one or more individuals were
injured or killed by a firearm; and
(B) that occurred--
(i) in, or on the grounds of, a school,
even if before or after school hours;
(ii) while the victim was traveling to or
from a regular session at school; or
(iii) while the victim was attending or
traveling to or from an official school-
sponsored event.
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT ON INDICATORS OF SCHOOL CRIME AND SAFETY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Education, in consultation with
the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
shall publish not less frequently than on an annual basis a report on
indicators of school crime and safety. Such report shall be produced by
the National Center for Education Statistics of the Department of
Education in consultation with the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the
Department of Justice. Such report shall include, at a minimum, an
updated version of the information provided in the National Center for
Education Statistics report NCES 2022-092 issued in July 2022, and the
data described in subsections (b) and (d).
(b) Statistics on School Shootings.--In collecting data on school
shootings to be compiled in the annual report described in subsection
(a), the National Center for Education Statistics shall collect at a
minimum the following data annually:
(1) The number of school shootings that have taken place
nationwide.
(2) Of the school shootings described in paragraph (1), the
number that were mass shootings.
(3) Of the school shootings described in paragraph (1), the
number that were suicides.
(4) Of the school shootings described in paragraph (1), the
number that were accidents.
(5) The number of people killed in each school shooting,
including--
(A) the number of people whose cause of death was
attributable to wound by firearm; and
(B) the number of people having some other cause of
death.
(6) The number of people injured in each school shooting,
including--
(A) the number of people wounded by firearm; and
(B) the number of people injured in some other
manner.
(7) The time of the shooting and whether it occurred during
school hours.
(8) The demographics of each school, including--
(A) the locale code of the school, as determined by
the Secretary of Education; and
(B) student demographic data disaggregated by--
(i) economically disadvantaged students as
compared to students who are not economically
disadvantaged;
(ii) each major racial and ethnic group;
(iii) children with disabilities as
compared to children without disabilities; and
(iv) English proficiency status.
(9) The personal characteristics of each victim in the
shooting, including, at a minimum, the victim's--
(A) age;
(B) gender;
(C) race;
(D) ethnicity; and
(E) nationality.
(10) The personal characteristics of the shooter,
including, at a minimum, the shooter's--
(A) age;
(B) gender;
(C) race;
(D) ethnicity;
(E) nationality; and
(F) relationship to the school.
(11) Whether the shooting was determined to be an accident,
and if not, the motivation of the shooter, including any real
or perceived bias based on race, religion, ethnicity,
nationality, or sex (including sexual orientation or gender
identity).
(12) How the shooting was stopped, including--
(A) whether the shooter was injured or killed, and
if so, by whom; and
(B) if not, what was the other outcome of the
incident (such as escape, arrest, or suicide).
(13) The number and type of firearms and ammunition that
were used in each shooting, including--
(A) the make and model of the firearm;
(B) the manufacturer of the firearm;
(C) the make and model of the ammunition;
(D) the manufacturer of the ammunition;
(E) whether a large capacity ammunition feeding
device was present at the scene or used during the
shooting; and
(F) the number of rounds of ammunition fired by the
shooter over the course of the shooting.
(14) Where each of the firearms used in each shooting was
obtained and how, including--
(A) whether the firearm was registered if required;
(B) whether the firearm was purchased from a
licensed gun dealer or an unlicensed sale; and
(C) the geographic location from where the shooter
obtained the firearm.
(15) If the original purchaser was not the shooter, the
original purchaser's relationship, if any, to the shooter.
(16) If the original purchaser was not the shooter and the
firearm was obtained from the shooter's home, the gun storage
practices being used in the home, and whether the gun owner was
charged with failing to properly secure his or her firearm.
(17) Whether the school had one or more teachers, as that
term is defined in section 8553 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7943), who were armed, and if
so, whether such armed teacher or teachers stopped the incident
by shooting the shooter.
(18) The length of time that the shooting lasted (the
approximate elapsed time between the first and last shots
fired).
(19) The response time of law enforcement.
(c) Historic Statistics on School Shootings.--The Secretary of
Education shall direct the National Center for Education Statistics--
(1) to collect, to the extent practicable, the data
required in subsection (b) for shootings that occurred before
the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(2) to publish such data as revisions to the most
applicable annual reports on indicators of school crime and
safety issued by the National Center for Education Statistics
before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Safety and Prevention.--In collecting data on school shootings
to be compiled in the annual report described in subsection (a), the
National Center for Education Statistics shall collect, at a minimum,
information on the existence or absence of the following measures at
the time of the shooting at schools where a school shooting occurred in
the previous year:
(1) Physical security measures, including--
(A) building envelopes and interiors designed to
protect occupants from human threats; and
(B) other physical security measures designed to
avert and restrict violence.
(2) Other types of security measures, including measures
designed to preserve open learning environments that positively
influence student behavior.
(3) A communication plan with local law enforcement.
(4) A response plan that includes coordination with local
agencies (such as law enforcement, fire department, and
hospitals).
(5) An active shooter response plan (including the use of
an alert system to notify students, faculty, and parents or
guardians).
(6) A trauma response plan to address trauma resulting from
the shooting, including coordination with school-based
counselors, other school mental health professionals, and
appropriate community partners and organizations, such as
community action programs or agencies.
(7) Any other similar type of safety or prevention measure
in place at the time of the school shooting.
(e) Rule of Construction.--In collecting data on school shootings
to be compiled in the annual report described in subsection (a), any
data disaggregation required by subsection (b) shall not be required in
the case where such disaggregation would reveal personally identifiable
information about any individual.
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