,i #aacth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #dgef ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,may #bi1 #bjad ,mr4 ,cartwright 7for himself and ,mr4 ,michaud7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,education and the ,workforce ,a ,,bill ,to require reporting of bullying to appropriate authorities and assist with equal protection claims against entities who fail to respond appropriately to bullying1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,bullying ,redress and ,verified ,enforcement ,act or the ,,brave ,act4 #b4 ,reporting requirements ,title ,,ix of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ghja et seq47 is amended by inserting after section #iecd the following3 #iecd;,a4 ,bullying 7a7 ,official ,reporting ,requirements 7#a7 ,report of bullying 7,a7 ,in general ,subject to subparagraph 7,b71 a local educational agency shall require an employee of the local educational agency who becomes aware of bullying to report to the individual designated under paragraph 7#b7 by not later than #g business days after becoming aware of such bullying a description of-- 7i7 the acts that constituted bullying2 7ii7 if the bullying included a reference to or was motivated by an actual or perceived protected characteristic of the victim1 such protected characteristic2 and 7iii7 the response to such bullying by employees of the local educational agency4 7,b7 ,exception ,notwithstanding subparagraph 7,a71 in the case of an employee of a local educational agency who is informed of bullying by a student attending a school served by the local educational agency1 but the student requests that such bullying not be reported by the employee1 the employee shall not be required to report such bullying under subparagraph 7,a74 7#b7 ,receipt of reports ,a local educational agency shall designate an individual to receive reports of bullying and shall inform each employee of the local educational agency of the contact information of the individual so designated4 7#c7 ,reporting to the local educational agency ,not later than #fj days after the date of the receipt of a report under paragraph 7#a71 the individual designated under paragraph 7#b7 shall inform all employees of the local educational agency of the acts described and the response by employees of the local educational agency and shall exclude any personally identifiable information of any student involved4 7#d7 ,publicly available quarterly reports 7,a7 ,in general ,subject to subparagraph 7,b71 a local educational agency shall publish and make available to all students served by the local educational agency and parents of such students a report on a quarterly basis that-- 7i7 summarizes the bullying reported since the previous quarterly report2 7ii7 summarizes the responses by employees of the local educational agency to such bullying2 7iii7 excludes any personally identifiable information of any student involved2 and 7iv7 informs the public of the right to file a complaint under subsection 7b77#b74 7,b7 ,exception ,a local educational agency shall not publish a report under subparagraph 7,a7 in a case in which such publication would reveal personally identifiable information about an individual student4 7#e7 ,annual policy review ,each local educational agency shall review1 on an annual basis1 the policies on bullying for schools served by the local educational agency4 7b7 ,federal enforcement 7#a7 ,condition of federal funding ,as a condition of receiving funds under this ,act1 a local educational agency shall-- 7,a7 annually certify to the ,secretary in writing that such local educational agency has complied with this section2 and 7,b7 together with such certification1 submit the #d most recent quarterly reports published preceding such certification pursuant to subsection 7a77#d74 7#b7 ,federal receipt of complaints ,the ,assistant ,secretary who serves as the head of the ,office of ,civil ,rights for the ,department of ,education shall-- 7,a7 establish a procedure for a student of a local educational agency1 a parent of such student1 or another appropriate individual to submit to the ,assistant ,secretary a complaint relating to a failure to comply with this section2 and 7,b7 publish such procedure on the ,internet website of the ,department of ,education4 7#c7 ,federal response to complaints ,after receiving a complaint pursuant to paragraph 7#b71 the ,assistant ,secretary shall-- 7,a7 investigate such complaint to determine if a local educational agency failed to comply with this section2 and 7,b7 if such local educational agency is determined under subparagraph 7,a7 to have failed to comply with this section-- 7i7 withhold further payment of funds under this ,act to such local educational agency2 7ii7 issue a complaint to compel compliance of such local educational agency through a cease and desist order2 or 7iii7 enter into a compliance agreement with such local educational agency to bring it into compliance with this section1 in the same manner as the ,secretary is authorized to take such actions under sections #dee1 #def1 and #deg1 respectively1 of the ,general ,education ,provisions ,act4 7#d7 ,public availability of information about complaints ,not later than #fj days after receiving a complaint pursuant to subsection 7b77#b71 the ,assistant ,secretary shall make available on the ,internet website of the ,department of ,education information about such complaint1 which shall-- 7,a7 if the bullying included a reference to or was motivated by an actual or perceived protected characteristic of the victim1 include a description of such protected characteristic2 and 7,b7 exclude any personally identifiable information of any student involved4 7c7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,bullying ,the term bullying means any severe1 pervasive1 or persistent electronic1 written1 verbal1 or physical act by one student or a group of students toward another student during school hours and on school premises1 or at a school-sponsored activity outside of school hours1 that causes-- 7,a7 harm to or reasonable concern for the person1 property1 or mental health of such other student2 or 7,b7 such other student to withdraw from or avoid benefitting from the services1 activities1 or opportunities offered by the school4 7#b7 ,protected characteristic ,the term protected characteristic includes race1 color1 sex1 religion1 national origin1 disability1 gender1 gender identity1 and sexual orientation4 4