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S 2215School Safety

Education - School Committees and Superintendents

Restricts elementary school suspensions and mandates detailed reporting on school discipline disparities and police use of force in schools.

Held for study
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee Senate Education

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends Rhode Island education laws regarding school discipline. It significantly restricts the use of out-of-school suspensions for students in preschool through fifth grade, permitting them only when a student poses a physical safety threat that cannot be mitigated by other interventions. For older students, it clarifies suspension protocols regarding drugs, alcohol, and weapons. The bill mandates that all school districts annually review and report discipline data to identify racial, ethnic, or disability-based disparities. It also requires the Department of Education to publish data on School Resource Officers, including use of force and arrests.

For younger readers

This new law changes the rules for when students can be sent home from school for bad behavior. For younger kids in elementary school (preschool through 5th grade), schools are not allowed to suspend them unless they are being dangerous and might hurt someone, and only after the teachers have tried other ways to help first. The law also says that schools must write reports every year to make sure they are treating every student fairly. Also, the state will keep track of how police officers who work in schools interact with the students.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Students (Pre-K through 12)School AdministratorsTeachersParentsSchool Resource Officers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Reduces the "school-to-prison pipeline" by severely limiting out-of-school suspensions for young children (Pre-K through 5th grade), ensuring vulnerable students remain in a supportive educational environment.
  • Mandates transparency and accountability by requiring detailed data collection on School Resource Officers, including use of force and arrests, broken down by race and disability status.
  • Forces school districts to actively analyze and report on disciplinary disparities regarding race, ethnicity, and disability, promoting systemic reform and equity in school discipline.
  • Still permits out-of-school suspensions for young children under a "safety threat" exception, which could be subjectively applied and continue to disproportionately affect marginalized students.
  • Does not remove police (School Resource Officers) from schools entirely, but rather focuses on data collection, which some progressives may view as insufficient to protect students from over-policing.
  • Leaves the suspension framework for students in grades 6 and above largely intact, potentially failing to address disciplinary inequities for middle and high school students.
For Conservatives
  • Preserves the authority of school administrators and committees to suspend students in grades 6 and above who are disruptive or violate school regulations.
  • Maintains a safety exception that allows schools to remove younger students (Pre-K through 5) from the classroom if they pose a threat to the physical safety of others.
  • Ensures that serious infractions involving alcohol, illegal drugs, or weapons can still result in out-of-school suspensions on a case-by-case basis.
  • Imposes significant bureaucratic burdens on school districts by mandating extensive annual reporting on discipline statistics and corrective actions, even for districts with no issues.
  • Limits local control by restricting how school administrators can discipline younger students, potentially forcing schools to keep disruptive children in the classroom.
  • Focuses heavily on racial and identity politics by requiring data analysis on disparities, which may pressure schools to avoid disciplining students to meet statistical quotas rather than maintaining order.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 26 additions · 9 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 16-2-17 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-2 entitled "School Committees and Superintendents [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-2-17. Right to a safe school.

(a) Each student, staff member, teacher, and administrator has a right to attend and/or work at a school which is safe and secure, and which is conducive to learning, and which is free from the threat, actual or implied, of physical harm by a disruptive student. A disruptive student is a person who is subject to compulsory school attendance, who exhibits persistent conduct which substantially impedes the ability of other students to learn, or otherwise substantially interferes with the rights stated above, and who has failed to respond to corrective and rehabilitative measures, including restorative justice practices, presented by staff, teachers, or administrators.

(b) The school committee, or a school principal as designated by the school committee, may suspend all pupils in grades six (6) and above found guilty of this conduct, or of violation of those school regulations which relate to the rights set forth in subsection (a), or where a student represents a threat to those rights of students, teachers, or administrators, as described in subsection (a). Nothing in this section shall relieve the school committee or school principals from following all procedures required by state and federal law regarding discipline of students with disabilities.

(c) The school committee, or a school principal as designated by the school committee, may issue an out-of-school suspension on a student enrolled in grades preschool through fifth grade only if the school administration, in consultation with a school psychologist or other mental health professional, determines that such student’s behavior presents a threat to the physical safety or health of others which cannot be reduced or eliminated through interventions and supports. In all such instances, a school shall use appropriate behavioral supports, including, but not limited to, restorative justice practices, to address a student’s conduct.

(d) An out-of-school suspension for violating school regulations involving alcohol, illegal drugs or controlled substances, or weapons, shall only be imposed on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with § 16-21-21.1.

(e) A student suspended under this section may appeal the action of the school committee, or a school principal as designee, to the commissioner of elementary and secondary education who, after notice to the parties interested of the time and place of hearing, shall examine and decide the appeal without cost to the parties involved. Any decision of the commissioner in these matters shall be subject to appeal by the student to the council on elementary and secondary education and any decision of the council may be appealed by the student to the family court for the county in which the school is located as provided in § 42-35-15. (d)(f) All school superintendents, or their designees, shall review annually, the discipline data for their school district, collected in accordance with the specifications set forth in § 16-60- 4(a)(21), to determine whether the discipline imposed has a disproportionate impact on students based on race, ethnicity, or disability status and to appropriately respond to any such disparity. In addition to the data submitted, if a disparity exists, the every school district shall, after consultation with representatives of the faculty, submit a an annual report to the council on elementary and secondary education describing the conduct of the student, the frequency of the conduct, prior disciplinary actions for the conduct, any other relevant information and corrective actions what action, if any, has been or is being taken to address the any such disparity, after consultation with representatives of the faculty has been taken to address the disparity. If a review of the data determines that there are no such disparities, the district shall submit an annual report to that effect. The reports shall be deemed to be public records for purposes of title 38. (e)(g) On or before September 1, 2023, and annually by September 1 thereafter, the Rhode Island department of education, in coordination with the Rhode Island office of the attorney general, shall, for each school district, annually collect, report, and publish on its website, data on: the number of school resource officers; the use of force against students, including, but not limited to, the number of instances force was used and the type of the force used; arrests of students and reasons for arrest; student referrals to law enforcement and reasons for referral; student referrals to court or court service units; and the number and type of any other disciplinary actions taken or recommended by school resource officers involving students. All data shall be published in a manner that protects the identities of students and shall be collected and designated by student age, grade, race, ethnicity, gender, language status, and disability, to the extent that the demographic data is available.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.