administering entity for purposes of the program 
under this Act. 
(e) PARTICIPATING PROVIDER REQUIREMENTS AND 
RIGHTS.— 
(1) REFUND AND REBATE LIMITATIONS.— 
(A) GENERAL
PROHIBITION.—A partici-
pating provider that receives scholarship funds 
provided under this Act for an eligible child 
shall not— 
(i) refund or provide a rebate, of all 
or any portion of such funds, to the eligible 
child or a parent of the eligible child; and 
(ii) share such funds with such eligi-
ble child or parent in any manner. 
(B) REFUND
PROCEDURES.—Any refund 
that is needed for an item that is being re-
turned or an item or service that has not been 
provided shall be provided to the administering 
entity and deposited into the education savings 
account from which the money refunded was 
originally paid. 
(2) ADMISSIONS.—A participating provider may 
enforce the admission requirements of the school or 
program offered by the provider and may accept the 
students best qualified to attend the school, except 
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that a participating school may not discriminate on 
the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex, in ac-
cordance with subsection (f). 
(3) TRANSFER OF DOCUMENTS.—Each partici-
pating provider that is a school shall agree, as a con-
dition of participation in the program under this 
Act, to provide the complete academic records of an 
eligible child attending the school who receives an 
education savings account under this Act to any 
other nonpublic school or public school to which the 
child transfers. 
(f) NONDISCRIMINATION AND OTHER PROVISIONS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—A participating provider 
shall not discriminate against program participants 
or applicants on the basis of race, color, national ori-
gin, or sex. 
(2) APPLICABILITY AND SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS, 
CLASSES, OR ACTIVITIES.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the prohibition of sex 
discrimination in paragraph (1) shall not apply 
to a participating provider that is operated by, 
supervised by, controlled by, or connected to a 
religious organization to the extent that the ap-
plication of such paragraph is inconsistent with 
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the religious tenets or beliefs of the partici-
pating provider. 
(B) SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS, CLASSES, OR 
ACTIVITIES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or 
any other provision of law, a parent may choose 
and a participating provider may offer a single 
sex school, class, or activity. 
(3) RELIGIOUSLY
AFFILIATED
PARTICIPATING 
PROVIDERS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, a participating provider 
that is operated by, supervised by, controlled 
by, or connected to a religious organization may 
exercise its right in matters of employment con-
sistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), including the 
exemptions in such title. 
(B) MAINTENANCE
OF
PURPOSE.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of law, funds 
made available through education savings ac-
counts established under this section to eligible 
children, which are used for a participating pro-
vider as a result of the choice of the parents of 
such children, shall not, consistent with the 
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first amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States— 
(i) necessitate any change in the par-
ticipating provider’s teaching mission; 
(ii) require any participating provider 
to remove religious art, icons, scriptures, 
or other symbols; or 
(iii) preclude any participating pro-
vider from retaining religious terms in its 
name, selecting its board members on a re-
ligious basis, or including religious ref-
erences in its mission statements and other 
chartering or governing documents. 
(4) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 
(A) TREATMENT
OF
ASSISTANCE.—For 
purposes of any Federal law, assistance pro-
vided under this section shall be considered as-
sistance to the child and shall not be considered 
assistance to the participating provider that en-
rolls the child in a school or program. The 
amount of any scholarship under this section 
shall not be treated as income of the child or 
the parents of the child for purposes of Federal 
tax laws or for determining eligibility for any 
other Federal program. 
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(B) NO ABILITY TO CONTROL THE CUR-
RICULUM.—Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to authorize any officer or employee of 
the Federal Government, through grants, con-
tracts, or other cooperative agreements, to man-
date, direct, or control the curriculum, program 
of instruction, instructional content, specific 
academic standards, assessments, or allocation 
of resources, of the District of Columbia or of 
any school in the District of Columbia. 
(g) TRANSITION.—The Chief Financial Officer and 
the administering entity shall take steps to ensure a 
smooth transition to the program under this Act, in order 
to ensure that academic scholarships and education sav-
ings accounts under this section are available to eligible 
children attending nonpublic schools through participating 
providers beginning for the 2018–2019 school year. The 
Chief Financial Officer shall allow nonpublic schools to be-
come participating providers beginning on September 1, 
2018. 
(h) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3007(a)(2) 
of the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (D.C. 
Code, sec. 38–1853.07(a)(2)) is amended by adding before 
the period at the end the following: ‘‘, or deposited in an 
education savings account established under section 4 of 
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the Educational Freedom Accounts Act to be used for edu-
cation expenses described in subsection (c) of such sec-
tion’’. 
Æ 
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