# 119-s-986: Safe Schools Improvement Act

119-s-986, Safe Schools Improvement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-26).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-986
- As of: 2026-09-26
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-986
- Congress: 119
- Title: Safe Schools Improvement Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-03-12
- Sponsor: Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA)
- Cosponsors: 42
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-26

## Summary

**Requires public schools to adopt comprehensive anti-bullying policies that explicitly protect students by race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics), disability, and religion.** It would also require schools to give annual notice, offer grievance procedures, collect school-level data, and submit information for federal review and evaluation. - Students and families: Schools would have to provide annual notice of prohibited conduct and grievance procedures so students and parents can report bullying and get timelines and contact names for complaints. - Local educational agencies and schools: LEAs must implement anti-bullying policies that bar conduct that limits access to programs or creates a hostile environment and that protect association-based characteristics. LEAs must publicly report annual incidence data at the school level while keeping victims and alleged perpetrators anonymous. - States: Chief state executives would submit biennial reports to the Secretary containing LEA data and plans for supporting local anti-bullying efforts. - Federal agencies: The Department of Education would carry out an independent biennial evaluation and report to the President and Congress beginning January 1, 2026. The National Center for Education Statistics would collect state data on the incidence and frequency of the prohibited conduct.

## Cosponsors (42)

- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] (D-DE), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] (D-WA), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI] (D-MI), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] (D-WA), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-03-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-10-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blunt Rochester, Lisa [D-DE] (D-DE), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA), 2026-01-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] (D-RI), 2026-01-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Slotkin, Elissa [D-MI] (D-MI), 2026-01-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-03-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI), 2026-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (D-HI), 2026-08-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2026-08-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH] (D-NH), 2026-09-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2026-09-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New anti-bullying rules for schools: benefit, medium. If enacted, states that get Title IV grants would have to make local school districts adopt anti-bullying policies. The rules must define bullying as conduct that puts a student in fear and that harms school participation. Policies would prohibit harassment based on race, color, national origin, se…
- Protecting civil rights and speech: benefit, medium. If enacted, the new Part G would not replace or limit existing federal or state civil-rights laws. It would say the Part does not change legal standards for freedom of speech or expression. Victims and people asserting speech rights would keep current remedies and procedures.
- Federal reviews of school bullying: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Secretary of Education would do an independent evaluation of anti-bullying programs every two years. The Commissioner for Education Statistics would collect state-supplied data on bullying incidence and frequency for that review. The first report to the President and Congress would…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act
- 119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025
- 119-s-2523: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025
- 119-s-1115: Paycheck Fairness Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act

## Sources
- [119-s-986 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/986)

## Related
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2150)
- [119-s-2523: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2523)
- [119-s-1115: Paycheck Fairness Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1115)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-986 (as of 2026-09-26).