I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9503 
To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a pilot program to assist 
local educational agencies with the acquisition of school supplies, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 13, 2022 
Ms. BUSH (for herself, Mr. BOWMAN, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a pilot 
program to assist local educational agencies with the 
acquisition of school supplies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to School Sup-
plies Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to dem-
onstrate the feasibility of providing grants to local edu-
cational agencies to enable such agencies— 
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(1) to provide school supplies at no cost to stu-
dents and instructional staff; 
(2) to increase the number of students who 
have access to the school supplies needed to main-
tain a stable learning environment; and 
(3) to improve student academic achievement in 
schools, particularly for low-income students. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) INSTRUCTIONAL
STAFF.—The term ‘‘in-
structional staff’’ includes, at a minimum, teachers, 
paraprofessionals, librarians, and other staff deemed 
necessary to provide classroom instruction (including 
virtual and in-person instruction), as determined by 
the Secretary. 
(2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 
school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary 
school’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-
tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(3) HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high- 
poverty school’’ means a public school that is in the 
highest 2 quartiles of schools in a State, based on 
the percentage of enrolled students from low-income 
families. 
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(4) OUTLYING
AREA.—The term ‘‘outlying 
area’’ means American Samoa, the Commonwealth 
of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United 
States Virgin Islands. 
(5) QUALIFIED
LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘‘qualified local educational agency’’ 
means a local educational agency that— 
(A) serves one or more high-poverty 
schools; and 
(B) provides an assurance to the Secretary 
that the agency will use any funds received 
under this Act only to serve such schools. 
(6) SCHOOL SUPPLIES.—The term ‘‘school sup-
plies’’ refers to books, supplies, and supplementary 
materials used by students and instructional staff in 
the classroom, as determined by the Secretary. 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
(8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
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SEC. 3. RESERVATIONS FOR OUTLYING AREAS AND BIE 
SCHOOLS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—From the total amount appro-
priated under section 8 for a fiscal year, the Secretary 
of Education shall reserve— 
(1) one-half of 1 percent for allotments to the 
outlying areas, to be distributed among those out-
lying areas on the basis of their relative need; and 
(2) one-half of 1 percent for the Secretary of 
the Interior for activities funded under this Act in 
schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian 
Education. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the provisions of this Act shall apply to 
a recipient of funds under subsection (a) in the same 
manner that such provisions apply to a qualified 
local educational agency that receives funds under 
section 4(a). 
(2) EXCEPTION.—An outlying area or school 
operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Edu-
cation shall not be required to submit an application 
under section 4(b) as a precondition to receiving 
funds under subsection (a). 
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SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT THE ACQUISITION 
OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES. 
(a) PILOT PROGRAM.—Using amounts appropriated 
under section 8 and not reserved under section 3, the Sec-
retary of Education shall carry out a pilot program under 
which the Secretary makes grants, annually and on a com-
petitive basis, to not more than 10 qualified local edu-
cational agencies to assist such agencies in acquiring 
school supplies as described in subsection (c). 
(b) QUALIFIED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AP-
PLICATIONS.— 
(1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under subsection (a), a qualified local edu-
cational agency shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may rea-
sonably require. At a minimum, each such applica-
tion shall include the information described in para-
graph (2). 
(2) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each appli-
cation submitted under paragraph (1) shall include 
assurances that the qualified local educational agen-
cy will— 
(A) prioritize the distribution of funds to 
schools served by the qualified local educational 
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agency that are among the schools with the 
greatest needs, as determined by such agency; 
(B) comply with the reporting requirement 
under section 6; and 
(C) provide a description of how the agen-
cy will determine the needs of individual 
schools, in coordination with each school. 
(3) REAPPLICATION.—A qualified local edu-
cational agency that receives a grant under sub-
section (a) may reapply for a grant under such sub-
section for one or more additional award periods. 
(4) PRIORITY.—In making grants under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall prioritize the award 
of grants to qualified local educational agencies that 
demonstrate the highest level of need for such 
grants, as determined by the Secretary. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A qualified local educational 
agency that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use 
the grant to purchase school supplies— 
(1) for students to participate in classroom ac-
tivities; and 
(2) for instructional staff to provide such activi-
ties. 
(d) CONTRACTS WITH OUTSIDE ENTITIES.—A quali-
fied local educational agency may contract with outside 
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entities for purposes of carrying out the activities author-
ized under subsection (c). 
(e) LIMITATIONS.—A qualified local educational 
agency that receives a grant under subsection (a) for a 
fiscal year may reserve not more than 2 percent of the 
amount of the grant for the administrative costs of car-
rying out its responsibilities, including the preparation of 
the annual reports required under section 6. 
(f) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In awarding grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that, to the 
extent practicable, grants are distributed among qualified 
local educational agencies that will serve geographically di-
verse areas, including urban, suburban, and rural areas. 
SEC. 5. SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT. 
Funds made available to a qualified local educational 
agency under this Act shall be used to supplement, and 
not supplant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be 
used for the activities supported with the funds made 
available under this Act. 
SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
On an annual basis, each qualified local educational 
agency that receives a grant under section 4 shall submit 
to the Secretary of Education a report that includes— 
(1) a list of schools that received school sup-
plies; 
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(2) the amount of grant funds expended at each 
school to provide school supplies; 
(3) a description on a school-by-school basis of 
the school supplies provided; 
(4) the number of students in each school pro-
vided directly with school supplies; 
(5) the number of instructional staff in each 
school provided directly with school supplies; and 
(6) a list of any outside entities used by the 
agency to carry out the activities described in section 
4(c). 
SEC. 7. SUNSET. 
No grants may be awarded under this Act after Sep-
tember 30, 2027. 
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 
through 2027. 
Æ 
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