Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

ENROLLED ORIGINAL

                                            AN ACT

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                   IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

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To require, on an emergency basis, that the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and

       public charter school local education agencies provide a distance learning program that

       complies with the Individual with Disabilities Education Act and section 504 of the

       Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to a certain number of students who are ineligible for the

       COVID-19 vaccine and for whom a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant

       recommends that the student not attend in-person school either because the student has a

       medical condition that places the student at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19

       infection or an individual in the students household has a medical condition that places

       the individual at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 infection, to make clear that

       students who attend distance learning are to be considered enrolled in the local education

       agency (LEA)for the purposes of the enrollment audit, school payment process, and

       other reasons as determined by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, even

       if the student is not physically attending the LEA, to mandate progressive COVID-19

       asymptomatic testing in public and public charter schools, to require that each DCPS

       school and public charter school provide certain notifications to parents, guardians, and

       school staff when there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the school or classroom, to

       require certain reporting requirements related to COVID-19 cases by the Department of

       Health and certain reporting by the Department of General Services and DCPS on school

       facility issues, to direct the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs to waive

       fines if it fails to approve an LEAs applications for permits for outdoor eating and

       learning structures within 3 weeks of receiving the application; and to amend an Act To

       provide for compulsory school attendance, for the taking of a school census in the

       District of Columbia, and for other purposes to define excused absences for DCPS

       schools and public charter schools as including certain absences related to COVID-19

       infections during School Year 2021-2022.

       BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

act may be cited as the Protecting Our Children Emergency Amendment Act of 2021.

       TITLE I. COVID-19 PUBLIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

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        Sec. 101. Definitions.

        For the purposes of this title, the term:

                (1) Classroom means a group of students and school personnel assigned to or

opting to partake in school-authorized educational or enrichment activities in-person together,

including combinations of students and school personnel participating together in core subjects,

specials, extracurricular activities, or aftercare.

                (2) DCPS means District of Columbia Public Schools.

                (3) Distance learning means virtual instruction provided through simulcasting,

streaming a classroom, or another mechanism that provides a student with instruction while the

student is not physically present in school.

                (4) Elementary school student means a student enrolled in pre-kindergarten 3

through grade 5 during School Year 2021-2022.

                (5) Enrollment audit means the process by which the Office of the State

Superintendent of Education determines the number of students enrolled in DCPS or a public

charter school LEA pursuant to section 107(d) of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for

Public Schools and Public Charter Schools Act of 1998, approved March 12, 1999, (D.C. Law

12-207; D.C. Official Code  38-2906(d)).

                (6) "LEA" means local education agency, which is the District of Columbia

Public School system or any individual or group of public charter schools operating under a

single charter in the District.

                (7) Secondary school student means a student enrolled in grade 6 through grade

12 during School Year 2021-2022.

                (8) School means a school in the DCPS system or an individual public charter

school.

                (9) School payment process means the process by which the annual payment for

each LEA is determined pursuant to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public

Schools and Public Charter Schools Act of 1998, approved March 12, 1999, (D.C. Law 12-207;

D.C. Official Code  38-2901 et seq.).

                (10) Special education school shall have the same meaning as provided in

section 102(11D) of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public

Charter Schools Act of 1998, approved March 12, 1999, (D.C. Law 12-207; D.C. Official Code 

38-2901(11D)).

       Sec. 102. Expansion of virtual education.

       (a)(1) During School Year 20212022, an LEA shall provide distance learning to a

student who is enrolled in the LEA and who is ineligible for a vaccine that is approved and

authorized in the United States to prevent COVID19 if a licensed physician, nurse practitioner,

or physician assistant has recommended that the student participate in distance learning and not

inperson school because:

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                        (A) The student has a documented medical condition that puts the student

at high risk of severe illness from COVID19, consistent with the guidance of the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention; or

                        (B) The students inperson attendance would endanger an individual in

the students household because the individual has a documented medical condition, as defined

by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that places the individual at high risk of

severe illness from COVID19.

                (2) DCPS may limit the total number of students who receive distance learning

pursuant to paragraph (1) of and this subsection to 200 elementary school students and 150

secondary school students in addition to those students already enrolled in its virtual learning

academy as of October 5, 2021.

                (3) A public charter school LEA may limit the total number of students who

receive distance learning instruction pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection; provided, that

the limit shall be no less than 3% of the total number of students enrolled in the public charter

school LEA.

        (b) Distance learning provided pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall comply

with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, approved April 13, 1970 (118 Stat. 2647;

20 U.S.C.  1400 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (87 Stat. 394, 29 U.S.C.

 701 et seq), and their implementing regulations.

        (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of District law, during School Year 2021-2022, a

student who receives distance learning instruction pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall

be considered to be enrolled in the LEA for the purposes of the enrollment audit, school payment

process, and other reasons determined by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education,

even if the student has not physically attended or is not physically attending the LEA during any

portion of the school year; provided, that the student otherwise complies with the attendance

policies of the LEA.

       Sec. 103. Asymptomatic testing for COVID-19.

       (a)(1) Each school shall conduct weekly asymptomatic testing for the COVID-19 virus

of:

                       (A) Before November 1, 2021, at least 10% of its students attending in-

person learning;

                       (B) Beginning November 1, 2021, at last 15% of its students attending in-

person learning; and

                        (C) From November 15, 2021, through January 15, 2022, at least 20% of

its students attending in-person learning.

                 (2) The testing methodology a school uses to comply with the requirements of

paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be of equal or greater accuracy than the methodology the

school employed as of October 1, 2021.

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        (b) A special education school may seek a waiver from the Office of the State

Superintendent of Education for the testing requirements required in subsection (a) of this

section.

        Sec. 104. Notification requirement.

        (a)(1) Each school shall notify all parents or guardians of students attending the school

whenever it receives notice that a student who attends in-person learning at the school or a staff

member who physically works at the school tests positive for the COVID-19 virus.

                (2) After a confirmed COVID-19 case of a student attending in-person learning or

a school employee assigned to a classroom, a school shall send notice to all parents or guardians

of students in the affected classroom and to all school personnel known to have spent at least one

15-minute period in the prior 3 days in the same classroom as the student or school employee.

The notice shall disclose the fact of a positive test in the classroom and provide information on

COVID-19 testing locations.

                (3) A school shall be deemed to have complied with paragraphs (1) and (2) of this

subsection if the schools LEA provides the notification on the schools behalf.

                (4) The identity of the individual who has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus

shall not be disclosed in a notification provided pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) of this

subsection.

        (b) The notifications required in subsection (a) of this section may be electronic.

        Sec. 105. COVID-19 infection and mitigation reporting requirements.

        (a)(1) On or before November 1, 2021, the Department of Health shall make available

and update the following information on a weekly basis for the previous week on the Districts

coronavirus website (coronavirus.dc.gov), broken out by week:

                         (A) The number of students who tested positive for COVID-19, broken

out by LEA, school, and grade level;

                         (B) The number of school personnel who tested positive for COVID-19,

broken out by LEA and school;

                         (C) The total number of students tested, broken out by LEA, school, and

grade level;

                         (D) The total number of school personnel tested, broken out by LEA and

school;

                         (E) The number of students currently in quarantine, broken out by LEA,

school, and grade level; and

                         (F) The number of school personnel in quarantine, broken out by LEA and

school.

                (2) If, when broken out by LEA, school, or grade, the number of individuals

required to be reported pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), or (F) of this subsection

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is less than 10, the actual number shall be suppressed, and the Department of Health shall report

the number as n<10.

         (b) On or before November 1, 2021, and every 2 weeks thereafter, the Department of

General Services (DGS) shall transmit to the Council and post on the DGS website:

                (1) A list of open work orders for HVAC units serving school facilities, including

the status of any repairs and the anticipated repair date; and

                (2) The date of the most recent inspection of HVAC units, by school.

         (c) On or before November 1, 2021, and every 2 weeks thereafter, DCPS shall provide to

the Council and post on the DCPS website a report that includes the following information:

                (1) A list of unfulfilled requests for outdoor learning equipment, which shall

include requests for tents or awnings, outdoor furniture, and electric or wi-fi hookups,

disaggregated by school; and

                (2) For each request, whether it will be fulfilled, in whole or in part, and the

anticipated date of the equipments delivery and installation, when appropriate.

       Sec. 106. Waiving of building fines for outdoor eating and learning.

       Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the Department of Consumer and

Regulatory Affairs does not issue a permit to a LEA for the building of outdoor eating and

learning structures or equipment within 3 weeks of receiving the application for the permit from

the LEA, all fines associated with building the outdoor eating and learning structures or

equipment shall be waived.

        TITLE II. COVID-19 PUBLIC SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

        Sec. 201. An Act To provide for compulsory school attendance, for the taking of a school

census in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, approved February 4, 1925 (43 Stat.

806; D.C. Official Code  38-201 et seq.), is amended as follows:

        (a) Section 2(c) of Article II (D.C. Official Code  38-203(c)) is amended by adding new

paragraphs (3) and (4) to read as follows:

                (3) The absence of a minor from a District of Columbia Public Schools school or

a public charter school shall be deemed excused if:

                        (A) The cause of the minors absence falls into a category identified in

5A DCMR  2102.2; or

                        (B) For School Year 2021-2022:

                               (i) The minor is absent from school following a determination that

the minor or a member of the minors household is a close contact, pursuant to current

Department of Health guidelines, of a person who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, and

the period of the minors absence from the school is not longer than the period of quarantine for

COVID-19 recommended by the Department of Health;

                               (ii) The minor did not have access to distance learning, as defined

in section 101(3) of the Protecting Our Children Emergency Amendment Act of 2021, passed on

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emergency basis on October 5, 2021 (Bill 24-403) (the act) but would have been eligible to

receive distance learning pursuant to section 102(a)(1)(B) of the act, had the act been in effect

during the period of the minors absence from the school;

                                (iii) The minor is participating in distancing learning pursuant to

section 102 of the act and has a valid excuse for an absence listed in 5A DCMR  2102.2; or

                                (iv) The minors school determines the absence to be excused.

                 (4) Paragraph (3)(B)(iv) of this subsection shall not apply after January 15,

2022..

         (b) Section 7(c)(1) of Article II (D.C. Official Code  38-208(c)(1)) is amended by

adding a new subparagraph (D) to read follows:

                                (D) During school year 2021-2022, a referral made pursuant to

subparagraphs (A) or (B) of this paragraph shall include any information the educational

institution has that would indicate whether the absences listed in the referral were because the

student or a member of the students household was determined to be a close contact of a person

who has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus..

       TITLE III. GENERAL PROVISIONS

       Sec. 301. Fiscal impact statement.

       The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Budget Director as the fiscal impact

statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved

October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code  1-307.47a).

       Sec. 302. Effective date.

       This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the

Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and shall remain in effect for no longer than

90 days, as provided for emergency acts of the Council of the District of Columbia in section

412(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 788;

D.C. Official Code  1-204.12(a)).

               ______________________________

               Chairman

               Council of the District of Columbia

_________________________________

Mayor

District of Columbia

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