20 U.S.C. § 7703d — Assistance to local educational agencies that benefit dependents of members of the Armed Forces with enrollment changes due to base closures, force structure changes, or force relocations

(a) Assistance authorized: To help communities adjust to changes in the size or location of the Armed Forces^*, the Secretary of Defense must provide financial assistance to an eligible local educational agency described in subsection (b). The agency must have had an overall increase or reduction during the period between the end of the school year before the fiscal year for which the assistance is authorized and the beginning of the school year immediately before that school year. The Secretary of Defense determines this in consultation with the Secretary of Education. The increase or reduction must be either:

(1) at least 5 percent in the average daily attendance^* of military dependent students in the agency's schools; or

(2) at least 500 military dependent students in average daily attendance in the agency's schools.

(b) Eligible local educational agencies: A local educational agency is eligible for assistance under subsection (a) for a fiscal year if:

(1) at least 20 percent of the students enrolled in the agency's schools are military dependent students; and

(2) for assistance described in subsection (a)(1)—that is, assistance based on the at-least-5-percent average-daily-attendance test—the overall increase or reduction in military dependent students in the agency's schools resulted from one or more of the following:

(A) The Department of Defense's global rebasing plan.

(B) The official creation or activation of one or more new military units.

(C) The realignment of forces resulting from the base closure process.

(D) A change in the number of housing units on a military installation.

(E) A signed record of decision.

(c) Calculation of amount of assistance:

(1) Pro rata distribution: For a fiscal year, an eligible local educational agency's assistance equals two amounts multiplied together:

(A) the per-student rate determined under paragraph (2) for that fiscal year; and

(B) the net of the overall increases and reductions in the number of military dependent students in that agency's schools, as determined under subsection (a).

(2) Per-student rate: For a fiscal year, the per-student rate equals the total amount of funds made available for assistance under subsection (a) for that fiscal year divided by the sum of the overall increases and reductions in the number of military dependent students in the schools of all eligible local educational agencies for that fiscal year under subsection (a). To calculate this denominator, add the overall increases and the overall reductions for all eligible agencies; do not offset those increases against those reductions to create one net change for all agencies.

(3) Maximum amount of assistance: A local educational agency may not receive more than $15,000,000 in assistance under subsection (a) for any fiscal year.

(d) Duration: Assistance may not be provided under subsection (a) after September 30, 2028.

(e) Notification: By June 30, 2023, and by June 30 of each fiscal year afterward for which funds are made available to carry out this section, the Secretary of Defense must notify each local educational agency eligible for assistance under subsection (a) for that fiscal year of:

(1) the agency's eligibility for the assistance; and

(2) the amount of assistance for which the agency is eligible.

(f) Disbursement of funds: The Secretary of Defense must disburse the assistance made available under subsection (a) for a fiscal year no later than 30 days after the date on which the notification to eligible local educational agencies is provided under subsection (e) for that fiscal year.

(g) Briefing required: By March 1, 2023, the Secretary of Defense must brief the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Armed Services about the estimated cost of providing assistance to local educational agencies under subsection (a) through September 30, 2028.

(h) Funding:

(1) Increase: Despite the amounts listed in the funding tables in division D, the amount authorized to be appropriated in section 301 for Operation and Maintenance, Defense-wide, Department of Defense Education Activity, Line 390, as specified in the corresponding funding table in section 4301, is increased by $15,000,000 for this section's purposes.

(2) Offset: Despite the amounts listed in the funding tables in division D, the amount authorized to be appropriated in section 301 for Operation and Maintenance, Defense-wide, for Washington Headquarters Services, Line 500, as specified in the corresponding funding table in section 4301, is reduced by $15,000,000.

(i) Definitions: In this section:

(1) “Base closure process” means any base closure and realignment process conducted after December 23, 2022, under section 2687 of title 10 or under any other similar law enacted after that date.

(2) “Local educational agency” has the meaning given that term in section 7713(9) of this title. This section does not give the term any other definition.

(3) “Military dependent students” means:

(A) elementary and secondary school students who are dependents of members of the Armed Forces; and

(B) elementary and secondary school students who are dependents of civilian employees of the Department of Defense.

(4) “State” means each of the several States and the District of Columbia.