Reopen Schools Safely Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4081 To provide a grant program for elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to help offset costs associated with com- plying with guidelines, recommendations, and other public health commu- nications issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or a State, Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, or locality related to mitigating the hazards presented by COVID–19. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 25, 2020 Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. CASSIDY, and Mr. JONES) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide a grant program for elementary schools, sec- ondary schools, and institutions of higher education to help offset costs associated with complying with guide- lines, recommendations, and other public health commu- nications issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or a State, Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, or locality related to mitigating the hazards presented by COVID–19. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4081 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reopen Schools Safely 2 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) In order to safely return to school in the 6 fall, elementary schools, secondary schools, and insti- 7 tutions of higher education must follow the guide- 8 lines provided by the Centers for Disease Control 9 and Prevention (CDC), States, Indian Tribes, Tribal 10 organizations, or localities. 11 (2) In order to follow the guidelines provided by 12 the CDC and other entities, schools and institutions 13 must have the resources, training, and expertise nec- 14 essary to ensure students, faculty, and staff can re- 15 turn to a safe school environment. 16 (3) Safely reopening schools is critical to the 17 long-term health and well-being of children, espe- 18 cially children from low-income households and chil- 19 dren with disabilities. 20 (4) If schools are unable to safely reopen in the 21 fall of 2020, student achievement gaps will be exac- 22 erbated, the digital divide will widen, social and emo- 23 tional learning needs will become greater, and par- 24 ents of young children will be forced to choose be- 25 tween paying for daycare services and returning to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4081 IS work or staying home with their children and for- 1 going employment opportunities. 2 (5) For many institutions of higher education, 3 safely reopening campuses is essential to long-term 4 survivability, especially for institutions that serve a 5 high percentage of low-income, Federal Pell Grant- 6 eligible students. 7 (6) On June 10, 2020, the Committee on 8 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen- 9 ate held the hearing titled, ‘‘COVID–19: Going Back 10 to School Safely’’ where Ms. Susana Cordova, the 11 Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, testified 12 that, after conducting a community-wide survey, the 13 survey was ‘‘loud and clear: prioritize health and 14 wellness’’. 15 (7) On June 4, 2020, the Committee on Health, 16 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate held 17 the hearing titled, ‘‘COVID–19: Going Back to Col- 18 lege Safely’’, where Dr. Logan Hampton, the Presi- 19 dent of Lane College in the State of Tennessee, tes- 20 tified that Congress needs to ‘‘provide funding for 21 the safety of our students, faculty, and staff’’ and 22 that doing so will ‘‘help institutions adequately pre- 23 pare and effectively execute the return of students to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4081 IS the classroom as we protect our campuses and larger 1 communities’’. 2 (8) Safely reopening elementary schools, sec- 3 ondary schools, and institutions of higher education 4 requires robust funding support to ensure schools 5 and institutions are not left with unfunded man- 6 dates. 7 SEC. 3. STATE GRANT PROGRAM TO SAFELY REOPEN 8 SCHOOLS. 9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 11 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 12 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 13 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 14 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 15 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 16 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 17 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 18 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 19 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 20 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 21 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 22 (4) OUTLYING AREAS.—The term ‘‘outlying 23 areas’’ means American Samoa, the Commonwealth 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4081 IS of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the 1 United States Virgin Islands. 2 (5) PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.—The 3 term ‘‘personal protective equipment’’ has the mean- 4 ing given the term in section 20005 of the CARES 5 Act (Public Law 116–136). 6 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of Education. 8 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 9 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 10 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 11 (8) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Tribal 12 organization’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘trib- 13 al organization’’ in section 4 of the Indian Self-De- 14 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 15 U.S.C. 5304). 16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 17 (1) RESERVATION.—From the amount appro- 18 priated to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 19 Secretary shall reserve one-half of 1 percent for the 20 Bureau of Indian Education and one-half of 1 per- 21 cent for the outlying areas. 22 (2) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall 23 award grants to States from allotments made to the 24 States under paragraph (3) to offset costs associated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4081 IS with complying with guidelines, recommendations, 1 and other public health communications issued by 2 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or 3 a State, Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, or local- 4 ity related to mitigating the hazards presented by 5 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19). 6 (3) ALLOTMENT FORMULA.—From the amount 7 appropriated to carry out this section for a fiscal 8 year and not reserved under paragraph (1), the Sec- 9 retary shall allot to each State for such fiscal year 10 an amount that is equal to the sum of— 11 (A) the amount that bears the same rela- 12 tion to 60 percent of the amount appropriated 13 for such fiscal year and not reserved under 14 paragraph (1), as the number of individuals 15 aged 5 through 24 in the State bears to the 16 total number of such individuals in all States; 17 and 18 (B) the amount that bears the same rela- 19 tion to 40 percent of the amount appropriated 20 for such fiscal year and not reserved under 21 paragraph (1), as the number of children count- 22 ed under section 1124(c) of the Elementary and 23 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4081 IS 6333(c)) in the State bears to the total number 1 of such children counted in all States. 2 (c) APPLICATION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a State 4 that desires to receive a grant under this section 5 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 6 time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in- 7 formation as the Secretary may require. 8 (2) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall— 9 (A) not later than 15 days after the date 10 of enactment of this Act, issue a notification for 11 applications for grants under this section; and 12 (B) not later than 30 days after the date 13 of notification for applications for grants under 14 this section, begin to award grants under this 15 section. 16 (d) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 18 grant under this section shall use not less than 95 19 percent of the grant funds to award subgrants only 20 to local educational agencies or institutions of higher 21 education to enable such agencies and institutions to 22 offset costs associated with complying with guide- 23 lines, recommendations, and other public health 24 communications issued by the Centers for Disease 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4081 IS Control and Prevention, or a State, Indian Tribe, 1 Tribal organization, or locality related to mitigating 2 the hazards presented by Coronavirus Disease 2019 3 (COVID–19), including by carrying out the fol- 4 lowing: 5 (A) Designing and implementing exposure 6 control plans. 7 (B) Hiring personnel and purchasing 8 equipment necessary for health screenings, in- 9 cluding temperature screenings. 10 (C) Purchasing in vitro diagnostic products 11 (as defined in section 809.3 of title 21, Code of 12 Federal Regulations) for the detection of 13 SARS–CoV–2 or the diagnosis of the virus that 14 causes COVID–19 that are approved, cleared, 15 or authorized under section 510(k), 513, or 564 16 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 17 (21 U.S.C. 360(k); 360c; 360bbb–3), including 18 both diagnostic and serological tests, as appro- 19 priate. 20 (D) Purchasing and installing physical 21 barriers and reconfiguring physical public 22 school buildings, including classrooms and other 23 aspects of the school’s learning environment, to 24 provide for adequate social distancing. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4081 IS (E) Providing students, educators, and 1 school staff with personal protective equipment. 2 (F) Purchasing sanitation supplies, includ- 3 ing EPA-approved disinfectant and hiring ade- 4 quate personnel to conduct school cleanings. 5 (G) Developing and providing training re- 6 lated to COVID–19, including the use of per- 7 sonal protective equipment. 8 (H) Purchasing and installing new ventila- 9 tion systems, as necessary. 10 (I) Purchasing any other items, personnel, 11 or services determined necessary or rec- 12 ommended by the Secretary or a State, Indian 13 Tribe, Tribal organization, or locality related to 14 mitigating the hazards presented by COVID– 15 19. 16 (J) Hiring transportation personnel and 17 purchasing vehicles to transport students. 18 (K) Purchasing connected devices for stu- 19 dents to use at home, high-speed internet or 20 broadband access, or other technology to ensure 21 students can complete all schoolwork at home. 22 (L) Purchasing secure, third-party applica- 23 tions for symptom monitoring and associated 24 information technology services. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4081 IS (2) CONSULTATION.—A State that receives a 1 grant under this section shall engage in meaningful 2 consultation on the distribution of grant funds with 3 local educational agencies, institutions of higher edu- 4 cation, labor organizations, parents, students, school 5 support staff, public health experts, the State edu- 6 cational agency, and educators. 7 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.—A State that re- 8 ceives a grant under this section may reserve not 9 more than 5 percent of the grant funds for adminis- 10 trative costs and to develop State standards for miti- 11 gating COVID–19 in schools. 12 (4) APPLICATION FOR SUBGRANTS.—A State 13 that receives a grant under this section shall estab- 14 lish an application process for local educational 15 agencies and institutions of higher education to 16 apply for subgrants under this section. 17 (e) REIMBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 19 grant under this section may reimburse a local edu- 20 cational agency or institution of higher education for 21 costs associated with safely reopening if the local 22 educational agency or institution of higher education 23 purchased or had expenditures that qualify as an al- 24 lowable use of funds under subsection (d). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4081 IS (2) DATE OF REIMBURSEMENT ELIGIBILITY.— 1 A local educational agency or institution of higher 2 education may only be reimbursed under paragraph 3 (1) for a cost incurred after the date of the COVID– 4 19 national emergency. 5 (3) COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—In 6 this subsection, the term ‘‘COVID–19 national 7 emergency’’ means the national emergency declared 8 by the President under the National Emergencies 9 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, 10 with respect to the coronavirus. 11 (f) RECEIPTS AND RECORDS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 13 grant under this section or a local educational agen- 14 cy or institution of higher education that receives a 15 subgrant under this section shall keep all receipts 16 and records on the use of such grant or subgrant 17 funds. 18 (2) RECEIPTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF 19 FUNDS.—Prior to reimbursing a local educational 20 agency or institution of education for an allowable 21 use of funds under subsection (d) pursuant to sub- 22 section (e), the State shall certify that such funds 23 were spent on expenses that are deemed an allowable 24 use of funds as described in subsection (d). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4081.IS S4081 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4081 IS (g) REPORTS.— 1 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AND INSTI- 2 TUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION REPORTS.—Each 3 local educational agency or institution of higher edu- 4 cation that receives a subgrant under this section 5 shall submit a report to the State that awarded the 6 subgran [Text truncated for display. 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