Hagerty Introduces Bill to Safely Reopen Our Schools

Press Release

WASHINGTON--United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) has introduced the Reopen for Kids Act, a bill that would target funds to local educational agencies to support the full-time reopening of schools for in-person learning.

"It is critical that we get our kids back to school and parents back to work, and that means taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund local educational agencies that aren't prioritizing full-time, in-person learning," Senator Hagerty said. "School closures have disproportionately hit hardest already vulnerable students, including minority and low-income families. It is shameful that three months in, the Biden Administration still has failed to put forward a sufficient plan to fix this problem and get our schools safely reopened immediately. The Reopen for Kids Act will go a long way in solving this problem."

This legislation ensures that local educational agencies follow the science to fully and safely re-open schools for American children and families. Specifically, this legislation will ensure Tennessee taxpayer dollars are used responsibly by making sure none of the new funds from the American Rescue Plan can be used while the billions of unspent money from the five previous COVID relief bills remain unspent. To access the new funds, local educational agencies must submit reopening plans for full-day, five days a week, in-person learning and implement this plan within two weeks of plan approval by the state educational agency. Should there be a rise in COVID cases, the Governor and the local school board can work with the schools to work on a new plan to reopen safely.

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