Keeping Schools Safe Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4782 To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to improve indoor air quality in elementary schools and secondary schools in response to the COVID–19 public health emergency using proven technologies. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to improve indoor air quality in elementary schools and secondary schools in response to the COVID–19 public health emergency using proven technologies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping Schools Safe 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4782 IS SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE INDOOR AIR QUAL- 1 ITY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND SEC- 2 ONDARY SCHOOLS. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘edu- 5 cational service agency’’ and ‘‘local educational agen- 6 cy’’ have the meanings given the terms in section 7 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 9 (2) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 10 The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 11 means the public health emergency declared by the 12 Secretary of Health and Human Services under sec- 13 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 14 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to 15 COVID–19, including any renewal of such declara- 16 tion. 17 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 18 ty’’ means— 19 (A) a local educational agency; 20 (B) an educational service agency; or 21 (C) the Bureau of Indian Education. 22 (4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 23 school’’ means a school that, based on the most re- 24 cent data available, meets one or both of the fol- 25 lowing: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4782 IS (A) The school is in the highest quartile of 1 schools in a ranking of all schools served by a 2 local educational agency, ranked in descending 3 order by percentage of students from low-in- 4 come families enrolled in such schools, as deter- 5 mined by the local educational agency based on 6 one of the following measures of poverty: 7 (i) The percentage of students aged 5 8 through 17 in poverty counted in the most 9 recent census data approved by the Sec- 10 retary. 11 (ii) The percentage of students eligible 12 for a free or reduced price school lunch 13 under the Richard B. Russell National 14 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 15 seq.). 16 (iii) The percentage of students in 17 families receiving assistance under the 18 State program funded under part A of title 19 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 20 601 et seq.). 21 (iv) The percentage of students eligi- 22 ble to receive medical assistance under the 23 Medicaid program (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 24 seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4782 IS (v) A composite of 2 or more of the 1 measures described in subclauses (I) 2 through (IV). 3 (B) In the case of— 4 (i) an elementary school, the school 5 serves students not less than 60 percent of 6 whom are eligible for a free or reduced 7 price school lunch under the Richard B. 8 Russell National School Lunch Act; or 9 (ii) any other school that is not an el- 10 ementary school, the other school serves 11 students not less than 45 percent of whom 12 are eligible for a free or reduced price 13 school lunch under the Richard B. Russell 14 National School Lunch Act. 15 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Education. 17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 19 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to 20 enable the entities to improve the indoor air quality 21 in the schools served by such entities in response to 22 the COVID–19 public health emergency. 23 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grants awarded under 24 this section shall be not less than $5,000 and not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4782 IS more than $20,000,000, except as provided in para- 1 graph (3). 2 (3) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve 3 5 percent of amounts appropriated to carry out this 4 section to award a grant to the Bureau of Indian 5 Education to improve the indoor air quality in the 6 schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian 7 Education. 8 (4) NOTICE FOR PROPOSALS AND AWARD OF 9 GRANTS.—Not later than— 10 (A) 30 days after the date of enactment of 11 this Act, the Secretary shall issue a notice for 12 proposals for grants under this section; and 13 (B) 90 days after the date of enactment of 14 this Act, the Secretary shall award all grants 15 under this section. 16 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity that desires to 17 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica- 18 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 19 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 20 require. Such application shall include information about 21 the age of the school buildings, and the air ventilation and 22 filtration systems of such buildings, to be assisted with 23 funds provided under this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4782 IS (d) CONSIDERATIONS AND PRIORITY IN AWARDING 1 GRANTS.—In awarding grants under this section, the Sec- 2 retary shall— 3 (1) ensure geographic diversity by proportion- 4 ally distributing such grants across rural, suburban, 5 and urban areas; 6 (2) consider the age of school buildings pro- 7 posed to be assisted with funds provided under this 8 section; and 9 (3) give priority to— 10 (A) eligible entities that serve high-need 11 schools; 12 (B) eligible entities that serve a health pro- 13 fessional shortage area (as defined in section 14 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 15 U.S.C. 254e)); and 16 (C) eligible entities that serve an area that 17 has a poverty rate that is greater than 20 per- 18 cent. 19 (e) TECHNICAL GUIDANCE.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.— 21 (A) AVAILABILITY.—By not later than 21 22 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 23 the Secretary shall make available technical 24 guidance for eligible entities regarding school 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4782 IS facilities improvements directly related to 1 COVID–19 to address the safety and health of 2 students and staff, including guidance on— 3 (i) indoor, outdoor, or combined air or 4 air pressure ventilation, filtration systems, 5 or air cleaners; 6 (ii) equipment, supplies, and technical 7 services necessary to provide indoor envi- 8 ronmental air quality in a manner that— 9 (I) optimizes safety and health 10 for children and staff; and 11 (II) reduces viral transmission 12 risks to the greatest extent prac- 13 ticable; 14 (iii) making facility changes, repairs, 15 or monitoring to address air filtration and 16 ventilation; and 17 (iv) technologies that effectively mon- 18 itor and evaluate air quality of a system. 19 (B) EVIDENCE.—A technology or repair 20 for which guidance is provided under this sub- 21 section shall be supported by evidence that the 22 technology or repair can effectively improve or 23 monitor indoor air quality. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4782 IS (2) DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDANCE.—The Sec- 1 retary shall develop the technical guidance described 2 in paragraph (1) in consultation with— 3 (A) the Director of the Centers for Disease 4 Control and Prevention; 5 (B) national organizations with expertise 6 in public health and infectious disease, includ- 7 ing with specific expertise in preventing and 8 treating infectious disease in children; 9 (C) nationally recognized not-for-profit or- 10 ganizations or institutions of higher education 11 with expertise in heating, ventilation, and air 12 conditioning building systems and standards de- 13 velopment; 14 (D) national organizations with expertise 15 in the education or school leadership of children 16 and that represent the interests of educators 17 and school leaders; and 18 (E) other Federal agencies as appropriate. 19 (f) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 20 a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to 21 improve or monitor the indoor air quality, ventilation, or 22 circulation in the schools, including the hiring and training 23 of appropriate staff, served by the eligible entity, in ac- 24 cordance with the guidance issued under subsection (e). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4782 IS (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $1,000,000,000. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Oct 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4782.IS S4782 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS