A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ENACT THE 2019 SCHOOL SAFETY GRANTS PROGRAM and to increase funding for school resource officer grants, as recommended by the house select committee on school safety.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  Definitions. – For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)	Community partner. – A public or private entity, including, but not limited to, a nonprofit corporation or a local management entity/managed care organization (LME/MCO), that partners with a local school administrative unit to provide services or pay for the provision of services for the unit.
(2)	Public school unit. – A local school administrative unit, regional school, innovative school, laboratory school, or charter school.
(3)	School mental health support personnel. – School nurses, school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers.
SECTION 1.(b)  Program; Purpose. – The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall establish the 2019 School Safety Grants Program (program). The purpose of the program shall be to improve safety in public school units by providing grants for (i) services for students in crisis, (ii) school safety training, (iii) safety equipment in schools, and (iv) school mental health support personnel.
SECTION 1.(c)  Grant Applications. – A public school unit or community partner, as appropriate, may submit an application to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for a grant pursuant to this section. The application shall include an assessment, to be performed in conjunction with a local law enforcement agency, of the need for improving school safety within the public school unit that would receive the funding or services. The application shall identify current and ongoing needs and estimated costs associated with those needs.
SECTION 1.(d)  Criteria and Guidelines. – By August 1, 2019, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop criteria and guidelines for the administration and use of the grants pursuant to this section, including any documentation required to be submitted by applicants. In assessing grant applications, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall consider at least all of the following factors:
(1)	The level of resources available to the public school unit that would receive the funding or services.
(2)	Whether the public school unit has received other grants of funding for school safety.
(3)	The overall impact on student safety in the public school unit if the identified needs are funded.
SECTION 1.(e)  Grants for Students in Crisis. – Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction by this act for the program in the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall use up to four million five hundred eighty thousand dollars ($4,580,000) in recurring funds to award grants to community partners to provide or pay for the provision of any of the following crisis services:
(1)	Crisis respite services for parents or guardians of an individual student to prevent more intensive or costly levels of care.
(2)	Training and expanded services for therapeutic foster care families and licensed child placement agencies that provide services to students who (i) need support to manage their health, welfare, and safety and (ii) have any of the following:
a.	Cognitive or behavioral problems.
b.	Developmental delays.
c.	Aggressive behavior.
(3)	Evidence‑based therapy services aligned with targeted training for students and their parents or guardians, including any of the following:
a.	Parent‑child interaction therapy.
b.	Trauma‑focused cognitive behavioral therapy.
c.	Dialectical behavior therapy.
d.	Child‑parent psychotherapy.
(4)	Any other crisis service, including peer‑to‑peer mentoring, that is likely to increase school safety. Of the funds allocated to the Superintendent for grants pursuant to this section, the Superintendent shall not use more than ten percent (10%) for the services identified in this subdivision.
SECTION 1.(f)  Grants for Training to Increase School Safety. – Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction by this act for the program in the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall use up to four million five hundred seventy thousand dollars ($4,570,000) in recurring funds to award grants to community partners that will address school safety by providing training to help students develop healthy responses to trauma and stress. The training shall be targeted and evidence‑based and shall include any of the following services:
(1)	Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training for school mental health support personnel, local first responders, and teachers on the topics of suicide prevention and reducing access by students to lethal means.
(2)	Training for school mental health support personnel on comprehensive and evidence‑based clinical treatments for students and their parents or guardians, including any of the following:
a.	Parent‑child interaction therapy.
b.	Trauma‑focused cognitive behavioral therapy.
c.	Behavioral therapy.
d.	Dialectical behavior therapy.
e.	Child‑parent psychotherapy.
(3)	Training for students and school employees on community resilience models to improve understanding and responses to trauma and significant stress.
(4)	Training for school mental health support personnel on Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct problems (MATCH‑ADTC), including any of the following components:
a.	Trauma‑focused cognitive behavioral therapy.
b.	Parent and student coping skills.
c.	Problem solving.
d.	Safety planning.
(5)	Any other training, including the training on the facilitation of peer‑to‑peer mentoring, that is likely to increase school safety. Of the funds allocated to the Superintendent for grants pursuant to this section, the Superintendent shall not use more than ten percent (10%) for the services identified in this subdivision.
SECTION 1.(g)  Grants for Safety Equipment. – Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction by this act for the program in the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall use up to six million one hundred forty thousand dollars ($6,140,000) in nonrecurring funds to award grants to local school administrative units, regional schools, innovative schools, or laboratory schools for the purchase of safety equipment for government‑owned school buildings.
SECTION 1.(h)  Grants for School Mental Health Support Personnel. – Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction by this act for the program in the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall use up to eighteen million two hundred thousand dollars ($18,200,000) in recurring funds to award grants to public school units to provide all or a portion of the salary and benefits costs needed to employ additional school mental health support personnel on a full‑time, part‑time, or contractual basis. Grants shall be matched on the basis of two dollars ($2.00) in State funds for every one dollar ($1.00) in non‑State funds.
SECTION 1.(i)  Supplement Not Supplant. – Grants provided to public school units or community partners pursuant to the program shall be used to supplement and not to supplant State or non‑State funds already provided for these services.
SECTION 1.(j)  Administrative Costs. – Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction by this act for the program in the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may retain up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year for administrative costs associated with the program.
SECTION 1.(k)  Report. – No later than April 1, 2020, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report on the program to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, and the Fiscal Research Division. The report shall include the identity of each entity that received a grant through the program, the amount of funding provided to each entity that received a grant, the use of funds by each entity that received a grant, and recommendations for the implementation of additional effective school safety measures.
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year the following sums for the following purposes:
(1)	The sum of six million one hundred forty thousand dollars ($6,140,000) in nonrecurring funds for school safety equipment pursuant to Section 1(g) of this act.
(2)	The sum of thirty‑five million fifty thousand dollars ($35,050,000) in recurring funds for (i) grants for students in crisis pursuant to Section 1(e) of this act, (ii) grants for school safety training pursuant to Section 1(f) of this act, (iii) grants for school mental health support personnel pursuant to Section 1(h) of this act, and (iv), beginning with the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, an additional seven million seven hundred thousand dollars ($7,700,000) in recurring funds for school resource officers in accordance with the grant program established pursuant to Section 7.27(e) of S.L. 2018‑5.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2019.