Senate Bill To Help Alabama Schools Safely Reopen

WASHINGTON, DC — As schools shuffle to get the new academic year started this fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate that aims at helping school systems with the costs of safely reopening their schools for the fall.

The Reopen Schools Safely Act, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), will establish a new federal grant program at the U.S. Department of Education to help school districts and colleges reopen.

With the grant funding from this bill, school districts and colleges will have flexibility to use these funds for any expense needed to meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state, and local guidelines for mitigating the spread of COVID-19. These expenses include personal protective equipment, sanitation supplies, temperature-screening equipment, certified COVID-19 tests, and more.

Governors, who will apply for the funding, will have the flexibility to determine the distribution of funds to local school districts, colleges, and universities based on the needs of their state. The program is intended to be temporary and includes a sunset provision for 2023.

"With school systems and universities across the country and in Alabama announcing their plans to bring back in-person learning this fall, we need to make sure schools can keep students, teachers, and other education staff safe and healthy," Jones said in a statement Monday. "School budgets are already being cut due to the economic impacts of the pandemic, leaving schools with complex changes and adjustments to make without much funding to do it. It’s time for Congress to step up to fill the gap so students can safely get back to the classroom and parents can return to work with some peace of mind."

The bill has already seen support from Alabama school officials.

"Superintendents support the efforts of Senator Jones, Senator Stabenow and Senator Cassidy to pass legislation to help our schools open and operate safely in August," said Ryan Hollingsworth, Executive Director of the School Superintendents of Alabama. "Alabama recently released guidance on the reopening of schools and one of the highest priorities is to provide a safe environment for learning. To provide safe classrooms and school environments, during this pandemic, our schools will have a tremendous increase in costs and at the same time, we are experiencing a loss in local revenue. This proposal would go a long way in providing the resources for keeping students, teachers, classrooms and schools safe."