II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1990

To expand the role of public schools to provide community services.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994

Mr. JEFFORDS (for himself and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and

Human Resources

A BILL

To expand the role of public schools to provide community

services.

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 ‘‘21st Century Commu5 nity Learning Centers Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) a local public school often serves as a center

9 for the delivery of education and human services for

10 all members of a community;
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1 (2) public schools, primarily in rural and inner

2 city communities, should collaborate with other pub3 lic and nonprofit agencies and organizations, local

4 businesses, educational entities (such as vocational

5 and adult education programs, school-to-work pro6 grams, community colleges, and universities), rec7 reational, cultural, and other community and human

8 service entities, for the purpose of meeting the needs

9 of, and expanding the opportunities available to, the

10 residents of the communities served by such schools;

11 (3) by using school facilities, equipment, and

12 resources, communities can promote a more efficient

13 use of public education facilities, especially in rural

14 and inner city areas where limited financial re15 sources have enhanced the necessity for local public

16 schools to become social service centers;

17 (4) the high technology, global economy of the

18 21st century will require lifelong learning to keep

19 America’s workforce competitive and successful, and

20 local public schools should provide centers for life21 long learning and educational opportunities for indi22 viduals of all ages; and

23 (5) community schools enable the entire com24 munity to develop an education strategy that ad-
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1 dresses the educational needs of all members of local

2 communities.

3 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.

4 (a) GRANTS BY THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary is

5 authorized, in accordance with the provisions of this Act,

6 to award grants to rural and inner city public schools, or

7 consortia thereof, to enable such schools or consortia to

8 plan, implement, or to expand projects that benefit the

9 educational, health, social service, cultural, and rec10 reational needs of a rural or inner city community.

11 (b) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall not award a grant

12 under this Act in any fiscal year in an amount less than

13 $20,000.

14 (c) GRANT PERIOD.—The Secretary shall award

15 grants under this Act for a period not to exceed 3 years.

16 (d) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding grants

17 under this Act, the Secretary shall assure an equitable dis18 tribution of assistance among the States, among urban

19 and rural areas of the United States, and among urban

20 and rural areas of a State.

21 SEC. 4. APPLICATION REQUIRED.

22 (a) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant

23 under this Act, a school or consortium shall submit an

24 application to the Secretary at such time and in such man-
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1 ner as the Secretary may reasonably prescribe. Each such

2 application shall include—

3 (1) a comprehensive local plan that enables

4 such school or consortium to serve as a center for

5 the delivery of education and human services for

6 members of a community;

7 (2) an evaluation of the needs, available re8 sources, and goals and objectives for the proposed

9 project in order to determine which activities will be

10 undertaken to address such needs;

11 (3) a description of the proposed project, in12 cluding—

13 (A) a description of the mechanism that

14 will be used to disseminate information in a

15 manner that is understandable and accessible to

16 the community;

17 (B) identification of Federal, State, and

18 local programs to be merged or coordinated so

19 that public resources may be maximized;

20 (C) a description of the collaborative ef21 forts to be undertaken by community-based or22 ganizations, related public agencies, businesses,

23 or other appropriate organizations;
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1 (D) a description of how the school or con2 sortium will act as a delivery center for existing

3 and new services; and

4 (E) an assurance that the school or consor5 tium will establish a facility utilization policy

6 that specifically states—

7 (i) the rules and regulations applica8 ble to building and equipment use; and

9 (ii) supervision guidelines.

10 (b) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to

11 applications describing projects that offer a broad selec12 tion of services.

13 SEC. 5. USES OF FUNDS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this Act

15 may be used to plan, implement, or expand community

16 learning centers which include not less than 4 of the fol17 lowing activities:

18 (1) Literacy education programs.

19 (2) Senior citizen programs.

20 (3) Children’s day care services.

21 (4) Integrated education, health, social service,

22 recreational, or cultural programs.

23 (5) Summer and weekend school programs that

24 are coordinated with summer recreation programs.

25 (6) Nutrition programs.
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1 (7) Expanded library service hours to serve

2 community needs.

3 (8) Telecommunications and technology edu4 cation programs for individuals of all ages.

5 (9) Parenting skills education programs.

6 (10) Support and training for child day care

7 providers.

8 (11) Employment counseling, training, and

9 placement.

10 (12) Services for individuals who leave school

11 before graduating from high school, regardless of the

12 age of such individual.

13 (13) Services for individuals who are either

14 physically or mentally challenged.

15 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

16 For the purpose of this Act—

17 (1) the term ‘‘community learning center’’

18 means an entity within a public school building

19 that—

20 (A) provides educational, recreational,

21 health, and social service programs for residents

22 of all ages within a local community; and

23 (B) is operated by a local educational

24 agency in conjunction with local governmental

25 agencies, businesses, vocational education pro-
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1 grams, community colleges, and cultural, rec2 reational, and other community and human

3 service entities;

4 (2) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

5 same meaning given to such term in section 1471 of

6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

7 1965; and

8 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

9 of Education.

10 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

11 There are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000

12 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as may be necessary

13 for each of the fiscal years 1996 through 2000, to carry

14 out this Act.

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