(a) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education is authorized to establish a special section within its organization, to be known as the Equity Assistance Center, designed to provide assistance to the school districts of the state in such activities as affirmative action, program accessibility, human relations, awareness, and desegregation.
(b) This assistance shall include on-site visits, workshops, program review, and any other special activity which might enable the school districts of the state to more effectively meet their civil rights responsibilities.
(c)
(1) The center created by this section shall be the liaison for the division with the United States Office for Civil Rights.
(2) The center shall maintain manuals, guidelines, procedures, and other informational materials setting requirements in the area of civil rights and describing how determination of compliance is made.
(d) Annually, each local school district in the state shall provide the center assurances of compliance with civil rights responsibilities in the form and at the time as is designated by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.
(e) The division may withhold state aid from any school district that fails to file its assurance of compliance with civil rights responsibilities by October 15 each year or fails to file any other information with a published deadline requested from school districts by the center so long as thirty (30) calendar days are given between the request for the information and the published deadline, except that thirty (30) days notice shall not be required when the request comes from a member or committee of the General Assembly.
(f) The division is authorized to develop forms and promulgate appropriate rules and procedures as may be required to implement the provisions of this section.