Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act

This bill would stop federal money from paying for police officers in K–12 schools. Instead, it would shift support to mental health and other services that help students and improve learning, especially for students who are often pushed out of school. It bans using federal funds to hire, train, or keep police in schools across federal programs and aims to build welcoming, evidence-based, trauma‑informed supports in schools.

It creates a grant program for school districts that choose to remove police from campuses, awarded on a rolling basis. To get funding, a district must end any law‑enforcement contract and keep officers off campus during the grant, with at least 30 days’ lead time before receiving money. Funds can hire counselors, psychologists, nurses, social workers, “credible messengers,” and staff trained in de‑escalation and anti‑bias, and expand restorative justice, positive behavior supports, and social‑emotional learning. Grant dollars cannot be used for harsh discipline or police partnerships, surveillance tech like metal detectors, cameras, or facial recognition, software that monitors students’ social media, or arming teachers. Districts must publish yearly reports on how funds are used, school arrests and referrals, and any use of surveillance tools, with privacy protections; grant amounts are based on student enrollment, and the bill authorizes $5 billion for this program .

Key points

• Who is affected: Students and families in public elementary and secondary schools; school districts that currently use police on campus; teachers and support staff.
• What changes: No federal funds for police in schools; grants to hire counselors and other caring adults and to run restorative and social‑emotional programs; no spending on surveillance gear or arming staff .
• How it works: Rolling grants; districts must remove police at least 30 days before funds arrive; grant size depends on student count .
• Priority: Districts that already removed police, those with more economically disadvantaged students, and those with strong community engagement and oversight get preference.
• Accountability: Annual public reports on arrests, referrals, and any surveillance use, with limits to protect student privacy .