# Plain Language Summary: Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2021

This bill is designed to get schools reopened and operating safely after COVID-19 closures, while also funding improvements to school buildings and facilities. The main goal is to provide money to help schools bring students back to in-person learning and fix up aging school infrastructure that may have been neglected during the pandemic.

The bill provides federal funding that schools can use for several purposes: making buildings safer and healthier (like improving ventilation systems, upgrading bathrooms, and installing hand-washing stations), purchasing equipment and supplies needed for reopening, hiring additional staff to help students catch up academically after remote learning, and supporting mental health services for students who struggled during school closures. Schools can also use the money to address deferred maintenance—those repairs and upgrades that have been put off for years because of budget constraints.

This affects students, teachers, school staff, and families directly. Students benefit from safer, cleaner school buildings and additional academic support to help them recover from learning loss during the pandemic. Teachers and staff get resources to do their jobs more effectively. Families in communities with older school buildings see improvements that might have otherwise taken years to complete. The bill essentially recognizes that schools need both immediate support to reopen safely and longer-term investments to modernize facilities that serve as the backbone of their communities.

Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2021

Reed, Jack

Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2021 This bill provides support for long-term improvements to public elementary and secondary school facilities. First, the bill sets forth allocations to states and establishes a need-based grant program for local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve school facilities. Further, the bill specifies allowable uses of grant funds, including carrying out major repairs, improving indoor air quality, and making facilities accessible to disabled individuals. Additionally, the bill requires LEAs that receive funds for new construction, modernization, or renovation projects to comply with hazard-resistance building codes and performance criteria under the WaterSense program of the Environmental Protection Agency. Further, the bill requires LEAs to adopt certain green practices (environmental standards) and requires the use of iron, steel, and manufactured products that are made in the United States (Buy America). The bill restores school infrastructure tax credit bonds. The bill also sets forth reporting requirements, including annual reports on grant program projects and a report by the Government Accountability Office that requires a study of the geographic distribution of projects, the impact of projects on student and staff health and safety, and the accessibility of projects to high-poverty schools. Next, the bill extends through FY2026 the Impact Aid Construction program. Finally, the bill establishes a grant program to assist LEAs with repairing or replacing concrete foundations affected by pyrrhotite (an iron sulfide material linked to crumbling foundations).