,i #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #egbb ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,january #cj1 #bjbj,mr4 ,cartwright 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,ms4 ,lee of ,california1 and ,mr4 ,takano7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,education and ,labor ,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 ,part ,f of title ,,viii of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #gija et seq47 is amended by adding at the end the following3 #f ,bullying #heha4 ,official ,reporting ,requirements 7a7 ,report of bullying 7#a7 ,in general ,subject to paragraph 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 subsection 7b7 by not later than #g business days after becoming aware of such bullying a description of-- 7,a7 the acts that constituted bullying2 7,b7 if the bullying included a reference to or was motivated by an actual or perceived protected characteristic of the victim1 such protected characteristic2 and 7,c7 the response to such bullying by employees of the local educational agency4 7#b7 ,exception ,notwithstanding paragraph 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 paragraph 7#a74 7b7 ,receipt of reports ,a local educational agency shall designate an individual to receive and keep a record of reports of bullying and shall inform each employee of the local educational agency of the contact information of the individual so designated4 7c7 ,reporting to the local educational agency ,not later than #fj days after the date of the receipt of a report under subsection 7a77#a71 the individual designated under subsection 7b7 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 7d7 ,publicly available quarterly reports 7#a7 ,in general ,subject to paragraph 7#a71 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-- 7,a7 lists the number of bullying reports made since the previous quarterly report2 and 7,b7 informs the public of the right to file a complaint under section #hehb7;b77#b74 7#b7 ,exception ,a local educational agency shall not publish a report under paragraph 7#a7 in a case in which such publication would reveal personally identifiable information about an individual student4 7e7 ,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 #hehb4 ,federal enforcement 7a7 ,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 section #heha7;d74 7b7 ,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 7c7 ,federal response to complaints ,after receiving a complaint pursuant to subsection 7b71 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 paragraph 7#a7 to have failed to comply with this section-- 7,a7 withhold further payment of funds under this ,act to such local educational agency2 7,b7 issue a complaint to compel compliance of such local educational agency through a cease and desist order2 or 7,c7 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 7d7 ,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 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 #hehc4 ,definitions ,in this subpart3 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 #c4 ,table of contents ,the table of contents for the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #fcja et seq47 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section #hegd1 the following3 ,subpart #f--;,bullying ,sec4 #heha4 ,official reporting requirements4 ,sec4 #hehb4 ,federal enforcement4 ,sec4 #hehc4 ,definitions4 4