maintenance of effort

maintenance of effort Sec. 323. (a) (1) Section 143(c) (2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting “per student or the aggregate expenditures” immediately after “combined fiscal effort” each time that term occurs. (2) Section 307 (e) of such Act is amended by inserting “per student or the aggregate expenditures” after “fiscal effort” each time that term occurs. (3) Section 403(a) (11) of such Act is amended to read as follows: “(11) gives satisfactory assurance that the aggregate amount to be expended per student or the aggregate expenditure by the State, its local educational agencies, and private schools in such State from funds derived from non-Federal sources for programs described in section 421(a) and section 431(a) for the pre-90 STAT. 2218ceding fiscal year were not less than the amount per student expended or the aggregate expenditure for the second preceding year.”. (4) Section 307(b) of the Adult Education Act is amended to read as follows: “(b) No payment shall be made to any State from its allotment for any fiscal year unless the Commissioner finds that the fiscal effort per student or the amount available for expenditure by such State for adult education from non-Federal sources for the preceding fiscal year was not less than such fiscal effort per student or such amount available for expenditure for such purposes from such sources during the second preceding fiscal year, but no State shall be required to use its funds to supplant any portion of the Federal share.”. (5) Section 710(a) (13) of the Emergency School Aid Act is amended to read as follows: “(13) provides that the applicant has not reduced its fiscal effort per student or the aggregate expenditure for the provision of free public education for children in attendance at the school of such agency for the fiscal year for which assistance is sought under this title to less than that of the second preceding fiscal year;”. (b) The General Education Provisions Act is amended by inserting after section 431 the following new section: “maintenance of effort determination “Sec. 431A. (a) (1) In prescribing regulations for carrying out the requirements of section 403(a) (11) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and section 307 (b) of the Adult Education Act, the Commissioner shall— “(A) determine the amount so expended on the basis of per pupil or aggregate expenditures; “(B) prescribe that the requirement for each such section is met for any fiscal year for which notification is given under subparagraph (C) if, for such year, the fiscal effort per student or the amount expended is not less than the allowable percentage reduction for that agency from its fiscal effort per student or the amount expended by that agency in its base year; and “(C) requires that each agency intending to use the provisions of this section shall notify the Commissioner. “(2) For purposes of paragraph (1) (B) of this subsection— “(A) an agency’s base year for the period in which such paragraph is effective shall be the fiscal year determined by that agency to be such base year in the first fiscal year for which such notification is given by that agency, except that such base year so determined shall be— “(i) the fiscal year preceding such fiscal year for which notification is given; or “(ii) the second fiscal year preceding such year of notification; and “(B) an agency’s allowable percentage reduction for any fiscal year shall be a percentage reduction from the fiscal effort per student or the amount expended in its base year determined by that agency which, when added to the sum of any such percentage reductions previously determined by that agency for purposes of paragraph (1) (B), does not exceed 5 percent. 90 STAT. 2219 “(b) (1) (A) In any case in which exceptional circumstances exist, the Commissioner may, in accordance with the provisions of this subparagraph, waive, for any fiscal year, the requirement of section 403 (a) (11) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, of section 307 (b) of the Adult Education Act, and of this section, if he determines such waiver to be equitable in order to reflect such circumstances, including those resulting from decreasing enrollments or fiscal resources of the relevant local educational agency, or the State, or both. In any ease in which a waiver under this subparagraph is granted, the Commissioner shall reduce the amount of the Federal payment for the current fiscal year in the exact proportion to which the fiscal effort per student or the amount expended was less than 100 percent for the second preceding fiscal year as required by section 403(a) (11) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and by section 307 (b) of the Adult Education Act. “(B) In any case in which very exceptional circumstances exist, the Commissioner may waive, for any fiscal year, the requirement of section 403(a) (11) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, of section 307 (b) of the Adult Education Act, and of this section, if he determines such waiver to be equitable in order to reflect such circumstances, including those resulting from decreasing enrollments or fiscal resources of the relevant local educational agency, or the State, or both. “(2) (A) In any case in which exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a local educational agency, the Commissioner may, in accordance with the provisions of this subparagraph, waive, for one fiscal year only with respect to such local educational agency, the requirement of section 143(c) (2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 if lie determines such waiver to be equitable in order to reflect such circumstances, including those resulting from decreasing enrollments or fiscal resources of the relevant local educational agency or the State, or both. In any case in which a waiver under this subparagraph is granted, the Commissioner shall, for one fiscal year only, reduce the amount of the Federal payment for the current fiscal year in the exact proportion to which the fiscal effort per student of that agency or the amount expended by that agency was less than 100 percent for the second preceding fiscal year as required by section 143(c)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. “(B) In any case in which very exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a local educational agency, the Commissioner may waive for one fiscal year only, with respect to such local educational agency the requirement of section 143(c) (2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 if he détermines such waiver to be equitable in order to reflect such circumstances, including those from decreasing enrollments or fiscal resources of such local educational agency. “(3) The Commissioner shall establish objective criteria of general applicability to carry out the waiver authority contained in this subsection. “(c) This section shall be effective with respect to each requirement to which it applies, during the period which begins on the date of the enactment of the Education Amendments of 1976, and ends on the date of termination of the program to which the requirement applies. For purposes of the preceding sentence, a program shall be considered to terminate on September 30 of the fiscal year, if any, during which such program is automatically extended pursuant to section 414 of the General Education Provisions Act.”.