II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 211 

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from providing Federal elementary 

and secondary education funds for fiscal year 2021 or COVID–19 relief 

funds to an elementary school or secondary school that does not offer 

in-person instruction. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2021 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Ms. ERNST, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

HAGERTY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. DAINES, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from providing Federal elementary and secondary education funds for fiscal 

year 2021 or COVID–19 relief funds to an elementary 

school or secondary school that does not offer in-person 

instruction. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Put Students First 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


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•S 211 IS

1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF FEDERAL EDUCATION FUNDS FOR 

2 K–12 SCHOOLS THAT DO NOT REOPEN. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, beginning on the date of enactment of this 

5 Act, the Secretary of Education may not provide any Fed6 eral funds appropriated for fiscal year 2021 under the Ele7 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 6301 et seq.) or appropriated for COVID–19 relief, to an 

9 elementary school or secondary school that does not offer 

10 in-person instruction (either on a full-time basis or a hy11 brid basis with home learning) for all students enrolled 

12 in the school by not later than April 30, 2021. 

13 (b) FORFEIT AND RETURN OF FUNDS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—An elementary school or sec15 ondary school that receives Federal funds appro16 priated for fiscal year 2021 under the Elementary 

17 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 6301 et seq.) or appropriated for COVID–19 relief 

19 on or after the date of enactment of this Act that 

20 does not offer in-person instruction (either on a full21 time basis or a hybrid basis with home learning) for 

22 all students enrolled in the school by not later than 

23 April 30, 2021, shall forfeit any Federal funds ap24 propriated for fiscal year 2021 that have not been 

25 distributed and return any funds appropriated for 


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1 COVID–19 relief on or after the date of enactment 

2 of this Act to the Secretary of Education. 

3 (2) USE OF FORFEITED AND RETURNED

4 FUNDS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Edu6 cation shall use funds forfeited or returned 

7 under paragraph (1) to provide States, in which 

8 schools described in paragraph (1) operate, the 

9 option to receive funds to provide a school 

10 choice option for students enrolled in schools 

11 that do not offer in-person instruction. To be 

12 eligible to receive such funds, a State shall sub13 mit to the Secretary of Education, by not later 

14 than May 15, 2021, an implementation plan to 

15 provide school choice options for students who 

16 are enrolled in schools that do not offer in-per17 son instruction (either on a full-time basis or a 

18 hybrid basis with home learning) for all stu19 dents enrolled in the schools. 

20 (B) GRANTS TO STATES WITH HIGHEST

21 PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS OFFERING IN-PER22 SON INSTRUCTION.—If a State described in 

23 subparagraph (A) does not submit an imple24 mentation plan to the Secretary of Education 

25 by not later than May 15, 2021, as described 


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1 in subparagraph (A), the funds available to 

2 such State shall be provided as grants to States 

3 with the highest percentage of local educational 

4 agencies in the State serving schools that offer 

5 in-person instruction (either on a full-time basis 

6 or a hybrid basis with home learning). 

7 (c) FEDERALLY FUNDED SCHOOL LUNCH PRO8 GRAM.—Nothing in this Act shall alter or preclude any 

9 eligibility, funding, or requirements under the school lunch 

10 program established under the Richard B. Russell Na11 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 

12 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘elemen13 tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary 

14 school’’ have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 

15 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

16 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

Æ 


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