II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 902 

To amend part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

Act of 1965 to provide grants for the repair, renovation, and construction 

of elementary and secondary schools. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Mr. HARKIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965 to provide grants for the repair, 

renovation, and construction of elementary and secondary 

schools. 

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 ‘‘School Building Fair5 ness Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 902 IS

1 (1) Providing safe, healthy, and up-to-date pub2 lic elementary and secondary school facilities is a 

3 crucial component of improving student academic 

4 performance and retaining high-quality, committed 

5 educators. 

6 (2) The 2009 Infrastructure Report Card com7 piled by the American Society of Civil Engineers 

8 gives public schools a D grade. 

9 (3) The National Center for Education Statis10 tics, in 2000, reported that the Nation’s elementary 

11 and secondary schools required approximately 

12 $127,000,000,000 to repair or upgrade facilities. 

13 (4) A State-by-State analysis by the American 

14 Federation of Teachers in 2008 concluded that the 

15 Nation’s school infrastructure needs an estimated 

16 $254,600,000,000. 

17 (5) The Department of Education documented 

18 in 1998 that the average age of a public elementary 

19 or secondary school building was estimated at 42 

20 years old, past the age when schools tend to deterio21 rate rapidly. 

22 (6) School districts spent more than 

23 $304,000,000,000 for public school construction 

24 contracts from 1995 through 2004, according to 

25 data collected by McGraw-Hill Construction. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 902 IS

1 (7) According to a 2006 report by the Building 

2 Educational Success Together coalition, the per-stu3 dent investment made in the most affluent school 

4 districts to repair or construct schools was nearly 

5 double the amount of the per-student investment 

6 made in the most disadvantaged school districts. 

7 (8) Since 1998, the Iowa Demonstration Con8 struction Grant Program has provided $121,000,000 

9 in Federal assistance to over 300 school districts for 

10 school repair and construction. That Federal invest11 ment in school repair and construction has leveraged 

12 more than $600,000,000 of additional local funding 

13 through a match required by the State government. 

14 (9) Green schools use an average of 33 percent 

15 less energy than conventionally built schools, and 

16 generate financial savings of about $70 per square 

17 foot, according to the 2006 report ‘‘Greening Amer18 ica’s Schools: Costs and Benefits’’. 

19 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL REPAIR, RENOVATION, AND 

20 CONSTRUCTION. 

21 Part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary 

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.) is amend23 ed by adding at the end the following: 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘Subpart 22—School Facilities 

2 ‘‘SEC. 5621. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL REPAIR, RENOVATION, 

3 AND CONSTRUCTION. 

4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) CHARTER SCHOOL.—The term ‘charter 

6 school’ has the meaning given the term in section 

7 5210. 

8 ‘‘(2) CHPS CRITERIA.—The term ‘CHPS Cri9 teria’ means the green building rating criteria devel10 oped by the Collaborative for High Performance 

11 Schools. 

12 ‘‘(3) EARLY LEARNING FACILITY.—The term 

13 ‘early learning facility’ means a public facility that— 

14 ‘‘(A) serves children who are not yet in 

15 kindergarten; and 

16 ‘‘(B) is under the jurisdiction of a local 

17 educational agency. 

18 ‘‘(4) ENERGY STAR.—The term ‘Energy Star’ 

19 means the Energy Star program of the Department 

20 of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agen21 cy. 

22 ‘‘(5) GREEN GLOBES.—The term ‘Green 

23 Globes’ means the Green Building Initiative environ24 mental design and rating system. 

25 ‘‘(6) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN26 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 902 IS

1 has the meaning given the term in section 

2 2102(3)(A). 

3 ‘‘(7) LEED GREEN BUILDING RATING SYS4 TEM.—The term ‘LEED Green Building Rating 

5 System’ means the United States Green Building 

6 Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental 

7 Design green building rating system. 

8 ‘‘(8) PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITY.—The term 

9 ‘public school facility’ means a public elementary or 

10 secondary school facility, including a public charter 

11 school facility or an existing facility planned for 

12 adaptive reuse as a public charter school facility. 

13 ‘‘(9) RURAL LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

14 The term ‘rural local educational agency’ means a 

15 local educational agency that meets the eligibility re16 quirements under— 

17 ‘‘(A) section 6211(b) for participation in 

18 the program described in subpart 1 of part B 

19 of title VI; or 

20 ‘‘(B) section 6221(b) for participation in 

21 the program described in subpart 2 of part B 

22 of title VI. 

23 ‘‘(10) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

24 the several states of the United States, the District 

25 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) RESERVATIONS.—From the funds appro3 priated under subsection (i) for a fiscal year, the 

4 Secretary shall reserve 1 percent to provide assist5 ance to the outlying areas and for payments to the 

6 Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to 

7 schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education. 

8 Funds allocated under this paragraph shall be re9 served by the Secretary for distribution among the 

10 outlying areas and the Secretary of the Interior on 

11 the basis of their relative need for public elementary 

12 school and secondary school repair, renovation, and 

13 construction, as determined by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION TO STATE EDUCATIONAL

15 AGENCIES.—From the funds appropriated under 

16 subsection (i) for a fiscal year that are not reserved 

17 under paragraph (1) for the fiscal year, the Sec18 retary shall allocate to each State educational agen19 cy serving a State an amount that bears the same 

20 relation to the funds as the amount the State re21 ceived under part A of title I for the fiscal year pre22 ceding the fiscal year for which the determination is 

23 made bears to the amount all States received under 

24 such part for such preceding fiscal year, except that 

25 no such State educational agency shall receive less 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 902 IS

1 than 0.5 percent of the amount allocated under this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(c) WITHIN-STATE DISTRIBUTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER COSTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AD6 MINISTRATION AND OTHER COSTS.—Except as 

7 provided in subparagraph (D), each State edu8 cational agency may reserve not more than 1 

9 percent of the State educational agency’s alloca10 tion under subsection (b) for the purposes of 

11 administering the distribution of grants under 

12 this subsection and awarding grants under sub13 paragraph (C)(v). 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED USES.—The State edu15 cational agency shall use a portion of the funds 

16 reserved under subparagraph (A)— 

17 ‘‘(i) to provide technical assistance to 

18 local educational agencies; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) to establish or support a State20 level database of public school facility in21 ventory, condition, design, and utilization. 

22 ‘‘(C) PERMISSIBLE USES.—The State edu23 cational agency may use a portion of the funds 

24 reserved under subparagraph (A) for— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘(i) developing a statewide public 

2 school educational facility master plan; 

3 ‘‘(ii) developing policies, procedures, 

4 and standards for high-quality, energy effi5 cient public school facilities; 

6 ‘‘(iii) supporting interagency collabo7 ration that will lead to broad community 

8 use of public school facilities, and school9 based services for students served by high10 need local educational agencies or rural 

11 local educational agencies; 

12 ‘‘(iv) helping to defray the cost of 

13 issuing State bonds to finance public ele14 mentary school and secondary school re15 pair, renovation, and construction; and 

16 ‘‘(v) awarding grants to State-oper17 ated or State-supported schools, such as a 

18 State school for the deaf or for the blind, 

19 to enable such schools to carry out school 

20 repair, renovation, and construction activi21 ties in accordance with subsection (d). 

22 ‘‘(D) STATE ENTITY ADMINISTRATION AND

23 OTHER COSTS.—If the State educational agency 

24 transfers funds to a State entity described in 

25 paragraph (2)(A), the State educational agency 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 902 IS

1 shall transfer to such State entity not less than 

2 75 percent of the amount reserved under sub3 paragraph (A) for the purpose of carrying out 

4 the activities described in subparagraph (C). 

5 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION OF COMPETITIVE SCHOOL

6 REPAIR, RENOVATION, AND CONSTRUCTION GRANTS

7 TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds allocated 

9 to a State educational agency under subsection 

10 (b) that are not reserved under paragraph (1), 

11 the State educational agency shall distribute 

12 100 percent of such funds to local educational 

13 agencies or, if the State educational agency is 

14 not responsible for the financing of public 

15 school facilities, the State educational agency 

16 shall transfer such funds to the State entity re17 sponsible for the financing of public school fa18 cilities (referred to in this section as the ‘State 

19 entity’) for distribution by such State entity to 

20 local educational agencies in accordance with 

21 this paragraph, to be used, consistent with sub22 section (d), for public elementary school or sec23 ondary school repair, renovation, and construc24 tion. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘(B) COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO LOCAL

2 EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—The State edu3 cational agency or State entity shall carry out 

4 a program to award grants, on a competitive 

5 basis, to local educational agencies for public el6 ementary school or secondary school repair, 

7 renovation, and construction. Of the total 

8 amount available for distribution to local edu9 cational agencies under this paragraph, the 

10 State educational agency or State entity, shall, 

11 in carrying out the grant competition— 

12 ‘‘(i) award to high-need local edu13 cational agencies, in the aggregate, not less 

14 than an amount which bears the same re15 lationship to such total amount as the ag16 gregate amount such high-need local edu17 cational agencies received under part A of 

18 title I for the fiscal year preceding the fis19 cal year for which the determination is 

20 made bears to the aggregate amount re21 ceived for such preceding fiscal year under 

22 such part by all local educational agencies 

23 in the State; 

24 ‘‘(ii) award to rural local educational 

25 agencies in the State, in the aggregate, not 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 902 IS

1 less than an amount which bears the same 

2 relationship to such total amount as the 

3 aggregate amount such rural local edu4 cational agencies received under part A of 

5 title I for the fiscal year preceding the fis6 cal year for which the determination is 

7 made bears to the aggregate amount re8 ceived for such preceding fiscal year under 

9 such part by all local educational agencies 

10 in the State; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) award the remaining funds to 

12 local educational agencies in the State that 

13 did not receive a grant award under clause 

14 (i) or (ii), including to high-need local edu15 cational agencies and rural local edu16 cational agencies that did not receive a 

17 grant award under clause (i) or (ii). 

18 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS.— 

19 In awarding competitive grants under this para20 graph, a State educational agency or State enti21 ty shall take into account the following criteria: 

22 ‘‘(i) PERCENTAGE OF POOR CHIL23 DREN.—The percentage of children served 

24 by the local educational agency who are be25 tween 5 to 17 years of age, inclusive, and 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 902 IS

1 who are from families with incomes below 

2 the poverty line. 

3 ‘‘(ii) NEED FOR SCHOOL REPAIR, 

4 RENOVATION, AND CONSTRUCTION.—The 

5 need of a local educational agency for 

6 school repair, renovation, and construction, 

7 as demonstrated by the condition of the 

8 public school facilities of the local edu9 cational agency or the local educational 

10 agency’s need for such facilities. 

11 ‘‘(iii) GREEN SCHOOLS.—The extent 

12 to which a local educational agency will 

13 make use, in the repair, renovation, or con14 struction to be undertaken, of green prac15 tices that are certified, verified, or con16 sistent with any applicable provisions of— 

17 ‘‘(I) the LEED Green Building 

18 Rating System; 

19 ‘‘(II) Energy Star; 

20 ‘‘(III) the CHPS Criteria; 

21 ‘‘(IV) Green Globes; or 

22 ‘‘(V) an equivalent program 

23 adopted by the State or another juris24 diction with authority over the local 

25 educational agency. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) FISCAL CAPACITY.—The fiscal 

2 capacity of a local educational agency to 

3 meet the needs of the local educational 

4 agency for repair, renovation, and con5 struction of public school facilities without 

6 assistance under this section, including the 

7 ability of the local educational agency to 

8 raise funds through the use of local bond9 ing capacity and otherwise. 

10 ‘‘(v) LIKELIHOOD OF MAINTAINING

11 THE FACILITY.—The likelihood that a local 

12 educational agency will maintain, in good 

13 condition, any public school facility whose 

14 repair, renovation, or construction is as15 sisted under this section. 

16 ‘‘(vi) CHARTER SCHOOL EQUITABLE

17 ACCESS TO FUNDING.—In the case of a 

18 local educational agency that proposes to 

19 fund a repair, renovation, or construction 

20 project for a public charter school, the ex21 tent to which the public charter school 

22 lacks access to funding for school repair, 

23 renovation, and construction through the 

24 financing methods available to other public 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 902 IS

1 schools or local educational agencies in the 

2 State. 

3 ‘‘(D) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State edu5 cational agency or State entity shall re6 quire local educational agencies to match 

7 funds awarded under this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(ii) MATCH AMOUNT.—The amount 

9 of a match described in clause (i) may be 

10 established by using a sliding scale that 

11 takes into account the relative poverty of 

12 the population served by the local edu13 cational agency. 

14 ‘‘(d) RULES APPLICABLE TO SCHOOL REPAIR, REN15 OVATION, AND CONSTRUCTION.—With respect to funds 

16 made available under this section that are used for school 

17 repair, renovation, and construction, the following rules 

18 shall apply: 

19 ‘‘(1) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—School 

20 repair, renovation, and construction shall be limited 

21 to 1 or more of the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) Upgrades, repair, construction, or re23 placement of public elementary school or sec24 ondary school building systems or components 

25 to improve the quality of education and ensure 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 902 IS

1 the health and safety of students and staff, in2 cluding— 

3 ‘‘(i) repairing, replacing, or con4 structing early learning facilities at public 

5 elementary schools (including renovation of 

6 existing facilities to serve children under 5 

7 years of age); 

8 ‘‘(ii) repairing, replacing, or installing 

9 roofs, windows, doors, electrical wiring, 

10 plumbing systems, or sewage systems; 

11 ‘‘(iii) repairing, replacing, or installing 

12 heating, ventilation, or air conditioning 

13 systems (including insulation); and 

14 ‘‘(iv) bringing such public schools into 

15 compliance with fire and safety codes. 

16 ‘‘(B) Public school facilities modifications 

17 necessary to render public school facilities ac18 cessible in order to comply with the Americans 

19 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

20 et seq.) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

21 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 

22 ‘‘(C) Improvements to the environmental 

23 conditions of public elementary school or sec24 ondary school sites, including asbestos abate25 ment or removal, and the reduction or elimiVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:07 May 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902

rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 902 IS

1 nation of human exposure to lead-based paint, 

2 mold, or mildew. 

3 ‘‘(D) Measures designed to reduce or elimi4 nate human exposure to classroom noise and 

5 environmental noise pollution. 

6 ‘‘(E) Modifications necessary to reduce the 

7 consumption of electricity, natural gas, oil, 

8 water, coal, or land. 

9 ‘‘(F) Upgrades or installations of edu10 cational technology infrastructure to ensure 

11 that students have access to up-to-date edu12 cational technology. 

13 ‘‘(G) Measures that will broaden or im14 prove the use of public elementary school or 

15 secondary school buildings and grounds by the 

16 community in order to improve educational out17 comes. 

18 ‘‘(2) IMPERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—No 

19 funds received under this section may be used for— 

20 ‘‘(A) payment of maintenance costs in con21 nection with any projects constructed in whole 

22 or part with Federal funds provided under this 

23 section; 

24 ‘‘(B) purchase or upgrade of vehicles; 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
17 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘(C) improvement or construction of 

2 stand-alone facilities whose purpose is not the 

3 education of children, including central office 

4 administration or operations or logistical sup5 port facilities; 

6 ‘‘(D) purchase of information technology 

7 hardware, including computers, monitors, or 

8 printers; 

9 ‘‘(E) stadiums or other facilities primarily 

10 used for athletic contests or exhibitions or other 

11 events for which admission is charged to the 

12 general public; or 

13 ‘‘(F) purchase of carbon offsets. 

14 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A local 

15 educational agency or State-operated or State-sup16 ported school shall use Federal funds subject to this 

17 subsection only to supplement the amount of funds 

18 that would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be 

19 made available from non-Federal sources for school 

20 repair, renovation, and construction. 

21 ‘‘(e) QUALIFIED BIDDERS; COMPETITION.—Each 

22 local educational agency that receives funds under sub23 section (c)(2) shall ensure that, if the local educational 

24 agency carries out repair, renovation, or construction 

25 through a contract, any such contract process ensures the 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
18 

•S 902 IS

1 maximum number of qualified bidders, including small, 

2 minority, and women-owned businesses, through full and 

3 open competition. 

4 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Each local educational 

5 agency receiving funds under subsection (c)(2)— 

6 ‘‘(1) shall provide an opportunity for public 

7 comment, and ensure that parents, educators, and 

8 all other interested members of the community in 

9 which the school to be assisted is located have the 

10 opportunity to consult, on the use of the funds re11 ceived under such subsection; 

12 ‘‘(2) shall provide the public with adequate and 

13 efficient notice of the opportunity described in para14 graph (1) in a widely read and distributed medium; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(3) shall provide the opportunity described in 

17 paragraph (1) in accordance with any applicable 

18 State and local law specifying how the comments 

19 may be received and how the comments may be re20 viewed by any member of the public. 

21 ‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 

22 ‘‘(1) LOCAL REPORTING.—Each local edu23 cational agency receiving funds under subsection 

24 (c)(2) shall submit a report to the State educational 

25 agency, at such time as the State educational agency 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
19 

•S 902 IS

1 may require, describing the use of such funds for 

2 school repair, renovation, and construction. 

3 ‘‘(2) STATE REPORTING.—Each State edu4 cational agency receiving funds under subsection (b) 

5 shall submit to the Secretary, at such time as the 

6 Secretary may require, a report on the use of funds 

7 received under this section and made available to 

8 local educational agencies (and, if applicable, to 

9 State-operated or State-sponsored schools) for school 

10 repair, renovation, and construction. 

11 ‘‘(h) REALLOCATION.—If a State educational agency 

12 does not apply for an allocation of funds under subsection 

13 (b) for a fiscal year, or does not use the State educational 

14 agency’s entire allocation for such fiscal year, then the 

15 Secretary may reallocate the amount of the State edu16 cational agency’s allocation (or the remainder thereof, as 

17 the case may be) for such fiscal year to the remaining 

18 State educational agencies in accordance with subsection 

19 (b). 

20 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

22 $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, and such sums as 

23 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2013 through 

24 2016. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
20 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 5622. NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATIS2 TICS STUDY. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The National Center for Edu4 cation Statistics shall conduct a study of the condition of 

5 public school facilities in the United States. 

6 ‘‘(b) ESTIMATES AND MEASURES.—In conducting 

7 the study, the National Center for Education Statistics 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) estimate the costs needed to repair and 

10 renovate all public elementary schools and secondary 

11 schools in the United States to good overall condi12 tion; and 

13 ‘‘(2) measure recent expenditures of Federal, 

14 State, local, and private funds for public elementary 

15 school and secondary school repair, renovation, and 

16 construction costs in the United States. 

17 ‘‘(c) ANALYSIS.—In conducting the study, the Na18 tional Center for Education Statistics shall examine trends 

19 in expenditures of Federal, State, local, and private funds 

20 since fiscal year 2001 for repair, renovation, and construc21 tion activities for public elementary schools and secondary 

22 schools in the United States, including examining the dif23 ferences between the types of schools assisted, and the 

24 types of repair, renovation, and construction activities con25 ducted, with those expenditures. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
21 

•S 902 IS

1 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—The National Center for Education 

2 Statistics shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 

3 containing the results of the study. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 5623. NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR EDU5 CATIONAL FACILITIES. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the funds appropriated 

7 under subsection (c), the Secretary shall award a grant 

8 or contract to maintain a clearinghouse that will collect 

9 and disseminate information on effective, best educational 

10 practices, and the latest research, regarding the planning, 

11 design, financing, construction, improvement, operation, 

12 and maintenance of safe, healthy, high-performance school 

13 facilities for nursery and pre-kindergarten, kindergarten 

14 through grade 12, and higher education. 

15 ‘‘(b) DURATION.—The grant or contract under sub16 section (a) shall be awarded for a period of 5 years. 

17 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016.’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS