Sponsor
Martin Heinrich
Senator · D-NM
Senator · D-NM
Establishes competitive planning and implementation grants plus a national clearinghouse to convert K–12 outdoor spaces into resilient, educational, and community-accessible revitalized schoolyards.
Official title: Authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to revitalize schoolyards.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by Martin Heinrich · Last progress March 26, 2026
The bill would expand and improve schoolyard green spaces and outdoor learning—targeting low-income, tribal, and climate‑vulnerable schools and providing technical support—while shifting significant costs, administrative burdens, and some fiscal unpredictability onto local districts and federal budgets.
Students at participating public elementary and secondary schools get substantially improved outdoor learning spaces and nature-based play areas that support hands-on education, health, and state learning standards.
Low-income schools and schools in heat- or flood-vulnerable areas are prioritized, increasing equitable access to greener, safer schoolyards for high-need students and communities.
Grants fund ecological and resilience features (trees, stormwater systems, biodiversity, non‑petroleum materials) that reduce heat and flood risks and improve local environmental health around schools.
Local school districts and taxpayers face increased upfront and ongoing costs—20% local match requirement plus higher maintenance and supervision/liability expenses for revitalized schoolyards—which may be unaffordable for many districts without waivers or additional funding.
The grant program adds administrative complexity and uncertainty—detailed planning, community input, ADA compliance, and discretionary viability criteria—burdening smaller districts and creating uneven applicant outcomes.
Opening schoolyards to public use creates potential security, scheduling, and liability conflicts that districts must manage to protect student safety and school operations.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal grant program to help public elementary and secondary schools plan and build “revitalized schoolyards” — park-like outdoor learning and play environments that improve ecology, student health, and community access. Grants are offered in two stages (planning and implementation), prioritize high-poverty and vulnerable schools, reserve a portion of funds for Bureau of Indian Education and tribally operated schools, require competitive scoring and matching funds (with waivers for high-poverty grantees), and fund a national clearinghouse of design and curriculum resources. Funding is authorized for fiscal years 2027–2031 as "such sums as may be necessary."