IMMEDIATE AID TO RESTART SCHOOL OPERATIONS.

SEC. 102. IMMEDIATE AID TO RESTART SCHOOL OPERATIONS. (a) Purpose.—It is the purpose of this section—(1) to provide immediate services or assistance to local educational agencies and non-public schools in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas that serve an area in which a major disaster has been declared in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), related to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita; and (2) to assist school administrators and personnel of such agencies or non-public schools with expenses related to the restart of operations in, the re-opening of, and the re-enrollment of students in, elementary schools and secondary schools in such areas. (b) Payments Authorized.—From amounts appropriated to carry out this subtitle, the Secretary of Education is authorized to make payments, on such basis as the Secretary determines appropriate, taking into consideration the number of students who were enrolled, during the 2004–2005 school year, in elementary schools and secondary schools that were closed on September 12, 2005, as a result of Hurricane Katrina or on October 7, 2005, as a result of Hurricane Rita, to State educational agencies in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas to enable such agencies to provide services or assistance to local educational agencies or non-public schools serving an area in which a major disaster has been declared in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), related to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. (c) Eligibility, Consideration, and Equity.—(1) Eligibility and consideration.—From the payment provided by the Secretary of Education under subsection (b), the State educational agency shall provide services and assistance to local educational agencies and non-public schools, consistent with the provisions of this section. In determining the amount to be provided for services or assistance under this section, the State educational agency shall consider the following: (A) The number of school-aged children served by the local educational agency or non-public school in the academic year preceding the academic year for which the services or assistance are provided. (B) The severity of the impact of Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita on the local educational agency or non-public school and the extent of the needs in each local educational agency or non-public school in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas that is in an area in which a major disaster has been declared in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), related to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. (2) Equity.—Educational services and assistance provided for eligible non-public school students under paragraph (1) shall 119 STAT. 2794 be equitable in comparison to the educational services and other benefits provided for public school students under this section, and shall be provided in a timely manner. (d) Applications.—Each local educational agency or non-public school desiring services or assistance under this section shall submit an application to the State educational agency at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the State educational agency may reasonably require to ensure expedited and timely provision of services or assistance to the local educational agency or non-public school.(e) Uses of Funds.—(1) In general.—A local educational agency or non-public school receiving services or assistance from the State educational agency under this section shall use such services or assistance for—(A) recovery of student and personnel data, and other electronic information; (B) replacement of school district information systems, including hardware and software; (C) financial operations; (D) reasonable transportation costs; (E) rental of mobile educational units and leasing of neutral sites or spaces; (F) initial replacement of instructional materials and equipment, including textbooks; (G) redeveloping instructional plans, including curriculum development; (H) initiating and maintaining education and support services; and (I) such other activities related to the purpose of this section that are approved by the Secretary. (2) Use with other available funds.—A local educational agency or non-public school receiving services or assistance under this section may use such services or assistance in coordination with other Federal, State, or local funds available for the activities described in paragraph (1). (3) Special rules.—(A) Prohibition.—Services or assistance provided under this section shall not be used for construction or major renovation of schools. (B) Secular, neutral, and nonideological services or assistance.—Services or assistance provided under this section, including equipment and materials, shall be secular, neutral, and nonideological.(f) Supplement Not Supplant.—(1) In general.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), services or assistance made available under this section shall be used to supplement, not supplant, any funds made available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency or through a State. (2) Exception.—Paragraph (1) shall not prohibit the provision of Federal assistance under this section to an eligible State educational agency, local educational agency, or non-public school that is or may be entitled to receive, from another source, benefits for the same purposes as under this section if—119 STAT. 2795(A) such State educational agency, local educational agency, or school has not received such other benefits by the time of application for Federal assistance under this section; and (B) such State educational agency, local educational agency, or school agrees to repay all duplicative Federal assistance received to carry out the purposes of this section. (g) Definition of Non-Public School.—The term “non-public school” means a non-public elementary school or secondary school that—(1) is accredited or licensed or otherwise operates in accordance with State law; and(2) was in existence prior to August 22, 2005.(h) Assistance to Non-Public Schools.—(1) Funds availability.—From the payment provided by the Secretary of Education under subsection (b) to a State educational agency, the State educational agency shall reserve an amount of funds, to be made available to non-public schools in the State, that is not less than an amount that bears the same relation to the payment as the number of non-public elementary schools and secondary schools in the State bears to the total number of non-public and public elementary schools and secondary schools in the State. The number of such schools shall be determined by the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for the 2003–2004 school year. Such funds shall be used for the provision of services or assistance at non-public schools, except as provided in paragraph (2). (2) Special rule.—If funds made available under paragraph (1) remain unobligated 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, such funds may be used to provide services or assistance under this section to local educational agencies or non-public schools.(3) Public control of funds.—The control of funds for the services and assistance provided to a non-public school under paragraph (1), and title to materials, equipment, and property purchased with such funds, shall be in a public agency, and a public agency shall administer such funds, materials, equipment, and property and shall provide such services (or may contract for the provision of such services with a public or private entity).