§ 7115. 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;

(C) be based on scientifically based research that provides evidence that the program 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 7114 (d)(2)(B) of this title.

(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) of this section 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 7114 of this title 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) of this section;

(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 subgrant under this subpart may use such funds to carry out activities that comply with the principles of effectiveness described in subsection (a) of this section, 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.

(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 1232g of this title, 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 subchapter V of this chapter.

(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 this section, 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) of this section 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.

U.S. Code

§ 7115. Authorized activities