to LEAS for the reconstruction of school facilities destroyed or seriously damaged in school districts located in declared major disaster areas and in certain districts affected by a pinpoint disaster (Section 16). Since Fiscal Year 1967, appropriations for Public Law 81-815 have been substantially below the amounts required for funding of all qualified applicants under the law. The basic law requires that disaster assistance under Section 16 be funded from available funds (these payments may then be covered by supplemental appropriation requests) and that Section 9 (temporary Federal impact), 10 (school construction on Federal property), and 14(a) and (b) (children residing on Indian lands) will receive priority over other provisions. The law requires that eligible applications be ranked within each section on the basis of relative urgency of need and that available funds be assigned on this basis. The ranking by relative urgency of need is based on the percentage of federally connected children eligible for payment in a school district and the percentage of "unhoused" pupils in the district. "Unhoused" pupils are those in membership in the schools of a district over and above normal capacity of available and usable minimum school facilities. Program Operations All grants are made to qualified school districts on the basis of applications. The amount of payment to a LEA under Section 5 varies from 95 percent of the average State pupil cost for construction for increases in the number of children residing on Federal property to 50 percent for increases in the number of children residing with a parent employed on Federal property or on active duty in the uniformed services, to 45 percent for increases resulting from Federal activities carried on either directly or through a contractor. Grants are further limited to actual cost of providing minimum school facilities for children who would otherwise be without such facilities. Full costs of construction are authorized for temporary facilities required as a result of Federal activities and for facilities which local education agencies are unable to provide for children residing on Federal property. For children residing on Indian lands, grants are based on needs of the school district for providing minimum school facilities. In recent years, appropriation language has directed available funds toward the most urgent needs for school facilities. Funds have been directed toward high priority projects under Section 5 (heavily impacted local school districts), Section 9 (facilities needed for temporary Federal impact), Section 10 (schools on Federal property), Section 14 (schools for children residing on Indian lands). The legislative allocation for Fiscal Year 1978 was as follows: A review of needs of facilities on Federal property to meet handicapped access and health and safety requirements was completed and funds were reserved to bring existing facilities into compliance with these requirements. Program Scope Since 1951, Public Law 815 has provided more than $1.5 billion for school construction to house more than 2 million pupils. history for the past 10 years is as follows: 1/ Funding 1/ Funds reserved in one year pay for costs of projects initiated in prior years as well as costs of new projects. Classrooms and pupils housed reflect project completions during the year, for which most of the costs would have been reserved in prior years. 2/ In Fiscal Year 1978, funding incorporated requirement for handicapped access and life safety requirements in existing facilities. In addition, more than $31 million has been obligated to reconstruct school facilities destroyed or seriously damaged by a major disaster since such assistance was first authorized in Fiscal Year 1966. Program Effectiveness and Progress A backlog of eligible applications has accumulated since 1967, when appropriations were no longer adequate fully to fund all of them. At the close of Fiscal Year 1977, this backlog was estimated at $875 million, as follows: In recent years, available funds have been directed toward high priority needs of Section 5 and Section 14 (a) and (b), with some funding for emergency repair of Federal installations constructed under Section 10 and for facilities required to meet a temporary Federal impact (Section 9). An in-house study of current construction needs under Section 10 was recently completed. Some of the entitlements making up this backlog may not represent current needs, which must be demonstrated before actual funding can occur, and some represent low priority applications with relatively small numbers of unhoused pupils. However, the backlog of eligible applications is growing with estimated entitlements for the current year of $70 million. An evaluation of Public Law 81-815 was contained in a study by the Battelle Memorial Institute. The study concluded that with its system of project by project approval, the administration of Public Law 815 is unnecessarily complicated. Furthermore, "because capital projects are easily deferrable in the Federal budget, Public Law 815 provides for uncertain levels of support based upon a priority system that tends to penalize a district that proceeds on its own to provide classrooms for Federally connected students." The Battelle Study recommended that the capital cost program (Public Law 815) applicable to the usual situations be merged with the operating cost program (Public Law 874) in order to simplify its administration and provide assistance on a current basis. Ongoing and Planned Evaluation Studies An in-house review for all Section 5 applications on file to establish current eligibility status is underway. Sources of Evaluation Data 1. Battelle Memorial Institute, School Assistance in Federally 2. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Administration of Public Laws 81-874 and 81-815. Washington: For further information about program operations, Contact: William Stormer 245-8427 For further information about studies of program effectiveness, Contact: Pen Jackson 245-8857 In June of 1972 the Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) was enacted into law to provide financial assistance: "(1) to meet the special needs incident to the elimination of minority group segregation and discrimination among students and faculty in elementary and secondary schools; (2) to encourage the voluntary elimination, reduction or prevention of minority group isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial proportions of minority group students; and (3) to aid school children in overcoming the educational disadvantages of minority group isolation." ESAA has eight active subprograms; three are State apportionment programs (Basic Grants, Pilot Projects, and Nonprofit organization grants) and five are nationally competitive programs (Special Projects, Bilingual Projects, Educational Television, Magnet Schools, and Evaluation). Special Projects includes about a dozen programs, the largest of which are Emergency Special Projects and Voluntary Plan Districts. 1/ P.L. 94-482 authorizes $1,000,000,000 for ESAA activities for fiscal years 1977-79. Additionally $75,000,000 and $150,000,000 are authorized for special award categories in FY 1977 and FY 1978 respectively. |