,i #aagth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #iejc ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,december #ac1 #bjbb,ms4 ,bush 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,bowman1 and ,mrs4 ,hayes7 introduced the following bill2 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 supplies1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,access to ,school ,supplies ,act of #bjbb4 #b4 ,purpose and definitions 7a7 ,purpose ,the purpose of this ,act is to demonstrate the feasibility of providing grants to local educational agencies to enable such agencies-- 7#a7 to provide school supplies at no cost to students and instructional staff2 7#b7 to increase the number of students who have access to the school supplies needed to maintain a stable learning environment2 and 7#c7 to improve student academic achievement in schools1 particularly for low-income students4 7b7 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,instructional staff ,the term instructional staff includes1 at a minimum1 teachers1 paraprofessionals1 librarians1 and other staff deemed necessary to provide classroom instruction 7including virtual and in-person instruction71 as determined by the ,secretary4 7#b7 ,,esea ,terms ,the terms elementary school1 local educational agency1 and secondary school have the meanings given those terms in section #haja of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ghja74 7#c7 ,high-poverty school ,the term high-poverty school means a public school that is in the highest #b quartiles of schools in a ,state1 based on the percentage of enrolled students from low-income families4 7#d7 ,outlying area ,the term outlying area means ,american ,samoa1 the ,commonwealth of ,northern ,mariana ,islands1 ,guam1 and the ,united ,states ,virgin ,islands4 7#e7 ,qualified local educational agency ,the term qualified local educational agency means a local educational agency that-- 7,a7 serves one or more high-poverty schools2 and 7,b7 provides an assurance to the ,secretary that the agency will use any funds received under this ,act only to serve such schools4 7#f7 ,school supplies ,the term school supplies refers to books1 supplies1 and supplementary materials used by students and instructional staff in the classroom1 as determined by the ,secretary4 7#g7 ,secretary ,the term ,secretary means the ,secretary of ,education4 7#h7 ,state ,the term ,state means each of the #ej ,states1 the ,district of ,columbia1 and the ,commonwealth of ,puerto ,rico4 #c4 ,reservations for outlying areas and ,,bie ,schools 7a7 ,in general ,from the total amount appropriated under section #h for a fiscal year1 the ,secretary of ,education shall reserve-- 7#a7 one-half of #a percent for allotments to the outlying areas1 to be distributed among those outlying areas on the basis of their relative need2 and 7#b7 one-half of #a percent for the ,secretary of the ,interior for activities funded under this ,act in schools operated or funded by the ,bureau of ,indian ,education4 7b7 ,applicability 7#a7 ,in general ,except as provided in paragraph 7#b71 the provisions of this ,act shall apply to a recipient of funds under subsection 7a7 in the same manner that such provisions apply to a qualified local educational agency that receives funds under section #d7;a74 7#b7 ,exception ,an outlying area or school operated or funded by the ,bureau of ,indian ,education shall not be required to submit an application under section #d7;b7 as a precondition to receiving funds under subsection 7a74 #d4 ,pilot program to support the acquisition of school supplies 7a7 ,pilot program ,using amounts appropriated under section #h and not reserved under section #c1 the ,secretary of ,education shall carry out a pilot program under which the ,secretary makes grants1 annually and on a competitive basis1 to not more than #aj qualified local educational agencies to assist such agencies in acquiring school supplies as described in subsection 7c74 7b7 ,qualified local educational agency applications 7#a7 ,eligibility ,to be eligible to receive a grant under subsection 7a71 a qualified local educational agency shall submit an application to the ,secretary at such time1 in such manner1 and containing such information as the ,secretary may reasonably require4 ,at a minimum1 each such application shall include the information described in paragraph 7#b74 7#b7 ,contents of application ,each application submitted under paragraph 7#a7 shall include assurances that the qualified local educational agency will-- 7,a7 prioritize the distribution of funds to schools served by the qualified local educational agency that are among the schools with the greatest needs1 as determined by such agency2 7,b7 comply with the reporting requirement under section #f2 and 7,c7 provide a description of how the agency will determine the needs of individual schools1 in coordination with each school4 7#c7 ,reapplication ,a qualified local educational agency that receives a grant under subsection 7a7 may reapply for a grant under such subsection for one or more additional award periods4 7#d7 ,priority ,in making grants under subsection 7a71 the ,secretary shall prioritize the award of grants to qualified local educational agencies that demonstrate the highest level of need for such grants1 as determined by the ,secretary4 7c7 ,use of funds ,a qualified local educational agency that receives a grant under subsection 7a7 shall use the grant to purchase school supplies-- 7#a7 for students to participate in classroom activities2 and 7#b7 for instructional staff to provide such activities4 7d7 ,contracts with outside entities ,a qualified local educational agency may contract with outside entities for purposes of carrying out the activities authorized under subsection 7c74 7e7 ,limitations ,a qualified local educational agency that receives a grant under subsection 7a7 for a fiscal year may reserve not more than #b percent of the amount of the grant for the administrative costs of carrying out its responsibilities1 including the preparation of the annual reports required under section #f4 7f7 ,geographic diversity ,in awarding grants under this section1 the ,secretary shall ensure that1 to the extent practicable1 grants are distributed among qualified local educational agencies that will serve geographically diverse areas1 including urban1 suburban1 and rural areas4 #e4 ,supplement1 not supplant ,funds made available to a qualified local educational agency under this ,act shall be used to supplement1 and not supplant1 non-,federal funds that would otherwise be used for the activities supported with the funds made available under this ,act4 #f4 ,reporting requirements ,on an annual basis1 each qualified local educational agency that receives a grant under section #d shall submit to the ,secretary of ,education a report that includes-- 7#a7 a list of schools that received school supplies2 7#b7 the amount of grant funds expended at each school to provide school supplies2 7#c7 a description on a school-by-school basis of the school supplies provided2 7#d7 the number of students in each school provided directly with school supplies2 7#e7 the number of instructional staff in each school provided directly with school supplies2 and 7#f7 a list of any outside entities used by the agency to carry out the activities described in section #d7;c74 #g4 ,sunset ,no grants may be awarded under this ,act after ,september #cj1 #bjbg4 #h4 ,authorization of appropriations ,there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this ,act #ajj1jjj1jjj for each of fiscal years #bjbc through #bjbg4