SRO Funding Protection Act of 2024

This Act may be cited as the School Resource Officer Funding Protection Act of 2024 or the SRO Funding Protection Act of 2024.

Subpart 2 of part F of title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

Beginning with the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of this section, a State educational agency may receive the total amount of funds that the agency is eligible to receive under a program under this Act for any fiscal year only if the agency maintains funding for school resource officer programs in elementary schools and secondary schools served by the agency at an amount that is not less than the amount expended by the agency for such school resource officer programs in the most recent fiscal year preceding such fiscal year in which the agency, as applicable—

(1) did not receive a waiver under subsection (c); or

(2) complied with the requirements of this section.

A State educational agency shall, on an annual basis, submit to the Secretary a certification of compliance with the requirement under subsection (a) in such form, at such time, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including a public report detailing, for the fiscal year in which the report is submitted and each of the 5 preceding fiscal years—

(1) the amount of State funding for school resource officer programs in elementary schools and secondary schools served by the agency; and

(2) the number of school resource officers working in such elementary schools and secondary schools pursuant to such programs.

The Secretary may waive the requirement under subsection (a) for a State educational agency that submits to the Secretary a waiver request demonstrating that extraordinary financial circumstances of the State resulted in a reduction in the amount of State funding for school resource officer programs in elementary schools and secondary schools served by the agency.

In the case of a State educational agency that fails to meet the requirement under subsection (a) for a fiscal year and does not receive a waiver under subsection (c), the Secretary shall, for the following fiscal year, reduce the total amount of funds that the agency is eligible to receive under programs under this Act in such following fiscal year by an amount in proportion to—

(1) the amount of State funding for school resource officer programs in elementary schools and secondary schools served by the agency for the fiscal year in which the agency fails to meet such requirement; compared to

(2) the amount of such funding expended by the agency in the most recent fiscal year preceding such fiscal year in which the agency, as applicable—

(A) did not receive a waiver under subsection (c); or

(B) complied with the requirements of this section.

For purposes of this section, the term school resource officer has the meaning given such term in section 1709 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10389).

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