I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 947

To authorize local educational agencies to prohibit the transfer of students 

under section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to schools that are at or above capacity, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2003

Mr. WEINER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To authorize local educational agencies to prohibit the transfer of students under section 1116 of the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to schools that 

are at or above capacity, and for other purposes.

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 Capacity Relief 

5 Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF STUDENTS TO SCHOOLS AT OR 

2 ABOVE CAPACITY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 1116(b) 

4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

5 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(1)) is amended—

6 (1) in subparagraph (E)(i), by striking ‘‘In the 

7 case of a school’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to clauses 

8 (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (F), in the case of a 

9 school’’; and 

10 (2) in subparagraph (F)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(F) TRANSFER.—Stu12 dents who use’’ and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(F) TRANSFER.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Students who 

15 use’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(ii) TRANSFER TO SCHOOL ABOVE

18 CAPACITY.—Subject to the right of a child 

19 who has been transferred to another school 

20 under this subsection to remain in that 

21 school under paragraph (13), a local edu22 cational agency may prohibit the transfer 

23 under subparagraph (E), paragraph 

24 (5)(A), (7)(C)(i), or (8)(A)(i), or sub25 section (c)(10)(C)(vii), of any student to a 

26 school served by the agency, if the agency 
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1 determines (for purposes of the school year 

2 at issue) that the school is at or above ca3 pacity or that the transfer of an additional 

4 student would increase the average class 

5 size of the school above the average class 

6 size prescribed by the State. 

7 ‘‘(iii) NO MANDATORY INCREASE OF

8 CAPACITY.—A local educational agency 

9 may not be required to increase the capac10 ity of any school served by the agency for 

11 the purpose of transferring any student to 

12 that school under subparagraph (E), para13 graph (5)(A), (7)(C)(i), or (8)(A)(i), or 

14 subsection (c)(10)(C)(vii).’’. 

15 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—Paragraph (11) of 

16 section 1116(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(11)) is amended 

18 to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(11) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—In any case 

20 described in paragraph (1)(E), (5)(A), (7)(C)(i), or 

21 (8)(A)(i), or subsection (c)(10)(C)(vii), if all public 

22 schools served by the local educational agency to 

23 which a child may transfer are identified for school 

24 improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, or 

25 are determined by the agency to be at or above ca-
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1 pacity or otherwise ineligible for a transfer under 

2 paragraph (1)(F)(ii), the agency shall, to the extent 

3 practicable, establish a cooperative agreement with 

4 other local educational agencies in the area for a 

5 transfer.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INCREASING SCHOOL CAPACITY. 

7 (a) GRANTS.—Title IV of the Elementary and Sec8 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘PART D—INCREASING SCHOOL CAPACITY 

11 ‘‘SEC. 4401. GRANTS. 

12 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may award grants 

13 to eligible local educational agencies for the purpose of in14 creasing capacity at high-performance schools. 

15 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 

16 a grant under this section unless the eligible local edu17 cational agency involved agrees that the agency will use 

18 the funds received under the grant only for measures to 

19 increase the capacity of high-performance schools served 

20 by that agency. Such measures may include renovating or 

21 constructing facilities at the high-performance school in22 volved, hiring teachers to teach at such school, or pur23 chasing instructional materials for use at such school. 

24 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec25 tion, an eligible local educational agency shall submit an 
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1 application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

2 and containing such information as the Secretary may re3 quire. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 4402. DEFINITIONS. 

5 ‘‘For purposes of this part: 

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible local educational agency’ 

7 means a local educational agency with a high per8 centage or number of students at schools identified 

9 for school improvement, corrective action, or restruc10 turing under section 1116(b). 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘high-performance school’ means 

12 a school that is not identified for school improve13 ment, corrective action, or restructuring under sec14 tion 1116(b). 

15 ‘‘SEC. 4403. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

17 this part such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

18 years 2004 through 2007.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents at section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu21 cation Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item 

22 relating to section 4304 the following:

‘‘PART D—INCREASING SCHOOL CAPACITY

‘‘Sec. 4401. Grants. 

‘‘Sec. 4402. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 4403. Authorization of appropriations.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF LIMITS ON DURATION OR DIS2 TANCE OF TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED TO 

3 TRANSFERRING STUDENTS. 

4 Paragraph (9) of section 1116(b) of the Elementary 

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

6 6316(b)(9)) is amended by inserting before the period the 

7 following: ‘‘, unless the agency establishes a limit on the 

8 duration or distance of transportation to be provided or 

9 paid for under this paragraph and determines that trans10 porting the student would exceed such limit.’’.

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