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Thriving Community Gardens Act
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the development and maintenance of school and community gardens, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the development and maintenance of school and community gardens.
- Includes school and community garden development as an activity to support healthy, active lifestyles in students.
- Requires the Secretary of Education to regularly collect information from schools using these grant funds for community gardens.
- Requires the Secretary of Education to identify best practices for developing and maintaining community gardens based on information from schools.
- Requires the Secretary of Education to publish best practices for community gardens on a publicly accessible Department of Education website and regularly update them.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
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![Rep. Brown, Shontel M. [D-OH-11]](https://media.civicgate.org/people/d/politicians/B001313.thumb.jpg)
Rep. Brown, Shontel M. (D-OH) [#11]
2 cosponsors
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![Del. Plaskett, Stacey E. [D-VI-At Large]](https://media.civicgate.org/people/d/politicians/P000610.thumb.jpg)
Del. Plaskett, Stacey E. (D-VI) [At-large] -
![Rep. Carey, Mike [R-OH-15]](https://media.civicgate.org/people/d/politicians/C001126.thumb.jpg)
Rep. Carey, Mike (R-OH) [#15]
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Shontel M. Brown’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- MINUTEMEN FAMILY OF COMPANIES $13,200
- MALLARD INVESTMENTS, INC. $6,600
- LATHAM & WATKINS $6,600
- CARNEGIE CORPORATION $6,600
- LUPA SYSTEMS LLC $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Shontel M. Brown → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Sep 10, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Sep 10, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2025
Ms. Brown (for herself, Mr. Carey, and Ms. Plaskett) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the development and maintenance of school and community gardens, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Thriving Community Gardens Act”.
SEC. 2. ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT SAFE AND HEALTHY STUDENTS.
Clause (ii) of section 4108(5)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7118(5)(C)) is amended to read as follows:
“(ii) support a healthy, active lifestyle, including—
“(I) nutritional education and regular, structured physical education activities and programs, that may address chronic disease management with instruction led by school nurses, nurse practitioners, or other appropriate specialists or professionals to help maintain the well-being of students; and
“(II) the development and maintenance of school or community gardens;”.
SEC. 3. INFORMATION COLLECTION AND BEST PRACTICES.
(a) Information Collection.—The Secretary of Education shall regularly collect information from local educational agencies that use funds provided under section 4108 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7118), as amended by this Act, to develop and maintain community gardens (as authorized under paragraph
(5)(C)(ii)(II) of such section).
(b) Identification of Best Practices.—Based on the information collected from local educational agencies under subsection (a), the Secretary of Education shall identify best practices for the development and maintenance of community gardens as described in such subsection.
(c) Publication and Updates.—The Secretary of Education shall—
(1) publish the best practices identified under subsection
(b) on a publicly accessible website of the Department of Education; and
(2) regularly update the best practices based on information received from local educational agencies under subsection (a). <all>
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