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104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2252
To provide demonstration grants to secondary schools for the purpose of
extending the length of the academic year at such schools.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 4, 1995
Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms.
RIVERS, Mr. FRAZER, and Mr. SERRANO) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Op-
portunities
A BILL
To provide demonstration grants to secondary schools for
the purpose of extending the length of the academic
year at such schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the President has set several ambitious na-
tional goals to improve education in the United
States as part of the America 2000 program;
(2) the length of the academic year at most ele-
mentary and secondary schools in the United States
ondary schools to 220 academic days and increase
the academic day from 6 to 7 hours; and
(7) elementary and secondary schools in the
United States have increased the number and types
of courses they offer students, including health edu-
cation courses and driver education courses, without
increasing the overall amount of time spent for
course instruction.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMONSTRATION GRANT PRO-
GRAM.
(a) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, from
amounts appropriated under section 3, provide grants to
secondary schools to extend the length of the academic
year at such schools to not fewer than 200 academic days.
A grant under this subsection may extend over a period
of not more than 3 fiscal years. The provision of payments
under such grant shall be subject to annual approval by
the Secretary and subject to the availability of appropria-
tions for the fiscal year involved to make the payments.
(b) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To receive a
grant under subsection (a), a secondary school shall sub-
mit to the Secretary an application which contains assur-
ances satisfactory to the Secretary that—
(1) such school will extend the length of each
of the 3 consecutive academic years falling within
the years for which such school receives payments of
a grant under subsection (a) to not fewer than 200
academic days, with each such academic day to con-
sist of not fewer than 7 hours devoted to actual in-
struction, as determined by the Secretary; and
(2) except as provided in subsection (c), such
school will provide funds from non-Federal sources,
in an amount equal to 20 percent of the Federal
funds provided in the grant, for the purpose of ex-
tending the length of its academic year.
(c) GOOD-FAITH EXCEPTION.—A secondary school
shall be considered to have satisfied the requirement of
subsection (b)(2) if such school makes a good-faith at-
tempt to satisfy such requirement, as determined by the
Secretary.
(d) SELECTION
REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary
shall select secondary schools to receive grants under sub-
section (a) which—
(1) have submitted an application in accordance
with subsection (b);
(2) currently have academic years consisting of
fewer than 200 academic days;
(3) to the extent practicable, consist of a high
percentage of students from single-parent homes or
homes where both parents work; and
(4) to the extent practicable, are located in eco-
nomically depressed communities which have a high
percentage of individuals—
(A) with alcohol abuse and other drug
abuse problems; and
(B) involved in gang-related activities.
(e) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY REQUIREMENT.—To the
extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that grants
received by secondary schools under this Act are equitably
distributed among the various regions of the United States
and among rural and urban areas within such regions.
(f) SELECTION OF REPLACEMENT SCHOOLS.—If any
secondary school which receives a grant under subsection
(a) fails to comply with any of the requirements of the
demonstration grant program, then the Secretary may se-
lect another secondary school which complies with such re-
quirements to replace such school for the remaining num-
ber of years in such grant.
(g) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary
shall notify each State and local educational agency of a
secondary school which receives a grant under subsection
(a) that such school is participating in the demonstration
grant program.
(h) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study
which shall—
(1) include a test of the students at each sec-
ondary school which receives a grant under sub-
section (a) by measuring the extent to which the ex-
tended academic year increased the learning reten-
tion of such students;
(2) examine the effects of the extended aca-
demic year on the learning process of such students
in general, including the extent to which the dem-
onstration grant program has—
(A) increased the daily attendance rate
and decreased the drop-out rate of such stu-
dents;
(B) increased the parental involvement at
each such school;
(C) increased the number of such students
attending post-secondary educational institu-
tions;
(D) positively influenced the behavioral
and social skills of such students; and
(E) reduced alcohol abuse, other drug
abuse, and gang-related activities among such
students; and
(3) examine the extent to which such students,
teachers, parents of such students, and the local
educational agency and State educational agency of
such secondary school, believe the extended academic
year to have been successful with respect to the
goals specified in paragraphs (1) and (2).
(i) REPORTS.—
(1) PRELIMINARY
REPORT.—The Secretary
shall submit a preliminary report to the President,
the Congress, and each State educational agency of
a secondary school which receives a grant under sub-
section (a) not later than August 1, 1999, contain-
ing—
(A) a compilation of the information re-
sulting from the study conducted pursuant to
subsection (h);
(B) a description of the extent to which
the Secretary believes the demonstration grant
program to have been successful; and
(C) recommendations for changes and im-
provements in such demonstration grant pro-
gram.
(2) FINAL REPORT.—To the extent significant
additional information from the study is received
after the submission of the preliminary report pursu-
ant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit a
final report containing such information to each of
the authorities described in paragraph (1) not later
than January 1, 2000.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000
for each of the fiscal years 1997, 1998, and 1999, and
such sums may remain available until expended.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The terms ‘‘local educational agency’’,
‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the
respective meanings given such terms in section
14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965.
(2) The term ‘‘secondary school’’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 14101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, except
that such term does not include any education pro-
vided below grade 7.
(3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Education.
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