HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1031 FILED ON: 1/15/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 401
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Ruth B. Balser
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act supporting healthy development among preschoolers.
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PETITION OF:
Name: | District/Address: | Date Added: |
Ruth B. Balser | 12th Middlesex | 1/14/2019 |
Sal N. DiDomenico | Middlesex and Suffolk | 2/1/2019 |
Maria Duaime Robinson | 6th Middlesex | 1/23/2019 |
Mike Connolly | 26th Middlesex | 1/25/2019 |
Tram T. Nguyen | 18th Essex | 1/27/2019 |
Elizabeth A. Malia | 11th Suffolk | 1/28/2019 |
Christina A. Minicucci | 14th Essex | 1/29/2019 |
Marjorie C. Decker | 25th Middlesex | 1/30/2019 |
Edward F. Coppinger | 10th Suffolk | 1/30/2019 |
Rebecca L. Rausch | Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex | 1/30/2019 |
Kay Khan | 11th Middlesex | 1/30/2019 |
Natalie M. Higgins | 4th Worcester | 1/30/2019 |
Liz Miranda | 5th Suffolk | 1/30/2019 |
Jack Patrick Lewis | 7th Middlesex | 1/31/2019 |
Tami L. Gouveia | 14th Middlesex | 1/31/2019 |
David M. Rogers | 24th Middlesex | 1/31/2019 |
José F. Tosado | 9th Hampden | 1/31/2019 |
Mindy Domb | 3rd Hampshire | 1/31/2019 |
Denise Provost | 27th Middlesex | 1/31/2019 |
John C. Velis | 4th Hampden | 1/31/2019 |
Sean Garballey | 23rd Middlesex | 2/1/2019 |
James B. Eldridge | Middlesex and Worcester | 2/1/2019 |
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1031 FILED ON: 1/15/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 401
By Ms. Balser of Newton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 401) of Ruth B. Balser and others for legislation to require the development of standards for prohibiting or limiting the use of suspension and expulsion in preschools. Education. |
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2010 OF 2017-2018.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)
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An Act supporting healthy development among preschoolers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 15D of the General Laws is hereby amended in Section 4A subsection (c) by inserting after the words “best practices” the following:
On or before January 1 2020, the Department shall develop performance specification standards for prohibiting or severely limiting the use of suspension and expulsion for use only as a last resort in extraordinary circumstances where there is a serious safety threat that cannot be reduced or eliminated by the provision of reasonable program modifications.
The standards shall at minimum include:1) benchmarks and goals for supporting children’s social emotional and behavioral development to include reducing the use of exclusion as a disciplinary tool and for eliminating disparities in the use of suspension and expulsion; 2) engagement steps to be taken with the child and parent or guardian prior to suspension or expulsion; 3) requirements for communicating discipline policies including suspension and expulsion policies to staff, families and community partners; 4) specifications for achieving performance standards which, reward and incentivize programs to access technical assistance to support ongoing development of staff and teacher skills for supporting children’s social emotional and behavioral development, reducing disparities and limiting the use of suspension and expulsion.