EDUCATION BILL H.R. 1

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001

Student drug testing provisions from the education bill (also known by the short title, "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) as passed by the U. S. House and Senate, sent to the President 12/18/01 and signed into law by the President 1/8/02.

H.R. 1 consists of 670 pages and may be found at www.thomas.loc.gov

Below are excerpts of Title IV:

Title IV - 21^st Century Schools

Part A - Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities

Sec. 4002. Purpose.

The purpose of this part is to support programs that prevent violence in and around schools; that prevent the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs . . . to foster a safe and drug-free learning environment . . .

SEC. 4115. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

(a) PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVENESS.

(1) IN GENERAL. For a program or activity developed pursuant to this subpart to meet the principles of effectiveness, such program or activity shall

(A) be based on an assessment of objective data regarding the incidence of violence

and illegal drug use in the elementary schools and secondary schools and communities to

be served, including an objective analysis of the current conditions and consequences

regarding violence and illegal drug use, including delinquency and serious discipline

problems, among students who attend such schools (including private school students who

participate in the drug and violence prevention program) that is based on ongoing local

assessment or evaluation activities;

(B) be based on an established set of performance measures aimed at ensuring that

the elementary schools and secondary schools and communities to be served by the program

have a safe, orderly, and drug-free learning environment;

to be used will reduce violence and illegal drug use;

(D) be based on an analysis of the data reasonably available at the time, of the

prevalence of risk factors, including high or increasing rates of reported cases of child abuse

and domestic violence; protective factors, buffers, assets; or other variables in schools and

communities in the State identified through scientifically based research; and

(E) include meaningful and ongoing consultation with and input from parents in the

development of the application and administration of the program or activity.

(2) PERIODIC EVALUATION.

(A) REQUIREMENT. The program or activity shall undergo a periodic evaluation

to assess its progress toward reducing violence and illegal drug use in schools to be served

based on performance measures described in section 4114(d)(2)(B).

(B) USE OF RESULTS. The results shall be used to refine, improve, and strengthen

the program, and to refine the performance measures, and shall also be made available to

the public upon request, with public notice of such availability provided.

(3) WAIVER. A local educational agency may apply to the State for a waiver of the

requirement of subsection (a)(1)(C) to allow innovative activities or programs that demonstrate substantial likelihood of success.

(b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY ACTIVITIES.

(1) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. A local educational agency shall use funds made available under section 4114 to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive programs and activities, which are coordinated with other school and community-based services and programs, that shall:

(A) foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that supports academic

achievement;

(B) be consistent with the principles of effectiveness described in subsection (a)(1);

(i) prevent or reduce violence; the use, possession and distribution of illegal

drugs; and delinquency; and

(ii) create a well disciplined environment conducive to learning, which

includes consultation between teachers, principals, and other school personnel to

identify early warning signs of drug use and violence and to provide behavioral

interventions as part of classroom management efforts; and

(D) include activities to:

(i) promote the involvement of parents in the activity or program;

(ii) promote coordination with community groups and coalitions, and

government agencies; and

(iii) distribute information about the local educational agency's needs, goals,

and programs under this subpart.

(2) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES. Each local educational agency, or consortium of such

agencies, that receives a sub-grant under this subpart may use such funds to carry out activities that comply with the principles of effectiveness described in subsection (a), such as the following:

(A) Age appropriate and developmentally based activities that:

(i) address the consequences of violence and the illegal use of drugs, as

appropriate;

(ii) promote a sense of individual responsibility;

(iii) teach students that most people do not illegally use drugs;

(iv) teach students to recognize social and peer pressure to use drugs illegally

and the skills for resisting illegal drug use;

(v) teach students about the dangers of emerging drugs;

(vi) engage students in the learning process; and

(vii) incorporate activities in secondary schools that reinforce prevention

activities implemented in elementary schools.

(B) Activities that involve families, community sectors (which may include appropriately trained seniors), and a variety of drug and violence prevention providers in setting clear expectations against violence and illegal use of drugs and appropriate consequences for violence and illegal use of drugs.

community.

(D) Professional development and training for, and involvement of, school personnel,

pupil services personnel, parents, and interested community members in prevention,

education, early identification and intervention, mentoring, or rehabilitation referral, as

related to drug and violence prevention.

(E) Drug and violence prevention activities that may include the following:

(i) Community-wide planning and organizing activities to reduce violence and

illegal drug use, which may include gang activity prevention.

(ii) Acquiring and installing metal detectors, electronic locks, surveillance

cameras, or other related equipment and technologies.

(iii) Reporting criminal offenses committed on school property.

(iv) Developing and implementing comprehensive school security plans or

obtaining technical assistance concerning such plans, which may include obtaining

a security assessment or assistance from the School Security and Technology

Resource Center at the Sandia National Laboratory located in Albuquerque, New

Mexico.

(v) Supporting safe zones of passage activities that ensure that students travel

safely to and from school, which may include bicycle and pedestrian safety programs.

(vi) The hiring and mandatory training, based on scientific research, of school

security personnel (including school resource officers) who interact with

students in support of youth drug and violence prevention activities under this part

that are implemented in the school.

(vii) Expanded and improved school-based mental health services related to

illegal drug use and violence, including early identification of violence and illegal

drug use, assessment, and direct or group counseling services provided to students,

parents, families, and school personnel by qualified school-based mental health

service providers.

(viii) Conflict resolution programs, including peer mediation programs that

educate and train peer mediators and a designated faculty supervisor, and youth anti-

crime and anti-drug councils and activities.

(ix) Alternative education programs or services for violent or drug abusing

students that reduce the need for suspension or expulsion or that serve students who

have been suspended or expelled from the regular educational settings, including

programs or services to assist students to make continued progress toward meeting

the State academic achievement standards and to reenter the regular education

setting.

(x) Counseling, mentoring, referral services, and other student assistance

practices and programs, including assistance provided by qualified school-based

mental health services providers and the training of teachers by school-based mental

health services providers in appropriate identification and intervention techniques

for students at risk of violent behavior and illegal use of drugs.

(xi) Programs that encourage students to seek advice from, and to confide in,

a trusted adult regarding concerns about violence and illegal drug use.

(xii) Drug and violence prevention activities designed to reduce truancy.

(xiii) Age-appropriate, developmentally-based violence prevention and

education programs that address victimization associated with prejudice and intolerance, and that include activities designed to help students develop a sense of individual responsibility and respect for the rights of others, and to resolve conflicts without violence.

(xiv) Consistent with the fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United

States, the testing of a student for illegal drug use or the inspecting of a student's locker for weapons or illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia, including at the request of or with the consent of a parent or legal guardian of the student, if the local educational agency elects to so test or inspect.

(xv) Emergency intervention services following traumatic crisis events, such

as a shooting, major accident, or a drug-related incident that have disrupted the learning environment.

(xvi) Establishing or implementing a system for transferring suspension and

expulsion records, consistent with section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g), by a local educational agency to any public or private elementary school or secondary school.

(xvii) Developing and implementing character education programs, as a

component of drug and violence prevention programs, that take into account the views of parents of the students for whom the program is intended and such students, such as a program described in subpart 3 of part D of title V.

(xviii) Establishing and maintaining a school safety hotline.

(xix) Community service, including community service performed by

expelled students, and service learning projects.

(xx) Conducting a nationwide background check of each local educational

agency employee, regardless of when hired, and prospective employees for the purpose of determining whether the employee or prospective

employee has been convicted of a crime that bears upon the employee's fitness

(I) to be responsible for the safety or well being of children;

(II) to serve in the particular capacity in which the employee or

prospective employee is or will be employed; or

(III) to otherwise be employed by the local educational agency.

(xxi) Programs to train school personnel to identify warning signs of youth

suicide and to create an action plan to help youth at risk of suicide.

(xxii) Programs that respond to the needs of students who are faced with

domestic violence or child abuse.

(F) The evaluation of any of the activities authorized under this subsection and the

collection of objective data used to assess program needs, program implementation, or program success in achieving program goals and objectives.

(1) IN GENERAL. Except as provided in paragraph (2), not more than 40 percent of the funds available to a local educational agency under this subpart may be used to carry out the activities described in clauses (ii) through (vi) of subsection (b)(2)(E), of which not more than 50 percent of such amount may be used to carry out the activities described in clauses (ii) through (v) of such subsection.

(2) EXCEPTION. A local educational agency may use funds under this subpart for activities described in clauses (ii) through (v) of subsection (b)(2)(E) only if funding for these activities is not received from other Federal agencies.

(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this section shall be construed to

prohibit the use of funds under this subpart by any local educational agency or school for the establishment or implementation of a school uniform policy if such policy is part of the overall comprehensive drug and violence prevention plan of the State involved and is supported by the State's needs assessment and other scientifically based research information.