[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11803-11804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03870]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Chapter III
Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the
National Dropout Prevention Center for Students With Disabilities
[Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.326W.]
AGENCY: Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Department of Education.
ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR
75.250 and 75.261(a) and (c)(2) of the Education Department General
Administrative Regulations that, respectively, generally prohibit
project periods exceeding five years and project period extensions
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The proposed
waiver and extension of the project period would enable the currently
funded National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with
Disabilities to receive funding from October 1, 2013, through September
30, 2014.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before March 22, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed waiver and
extension of the project period to Selete Avoke, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., room 4158, Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2600.
If you prefer to send your comments by email, use the following
address: [email protected]. You must include the phrase ``Proposed
waiver and extension of the project period'' in the subject line of
your message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Selete Avoke. Telephone: (202) 245-
7260 or by email: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf or a text
telephone, call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-877-
8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding
this proposed waiver and extension. During and after the comment
period, you may inspect all public comments about this proposed waiver
and extension of the project period in room 4158, PCP, 550 12th Street,
SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week, except Federal
holidays.
Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request, we will provide an appropriate
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the
public rulemaking record for this notice of proposed waiver and
extension of the project period. If you want to schedule an appointment
for this type of aid, please contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Background
On June 23, 2008, the Department published a notice in the Federal
Register (73 FR 35376) inviting applications for new awards for fiscal
year (FY) 2008 for a National Dropout Prevention Center for Students
with Disabilities (Center). The establishment and operation of the
Center was funded under the Technical Assistance and Dissemination to
Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (TA&D)
program, authorized under section 663 of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Its purpose is to provide States and
local educational agencies (LEAs) with technical assistance (TA) on (1)
implementing and evaluating effective comprehensive dropout prevention,
reentry, and school completion models and practices for students with
disabilities; (2) developing and improving data collection systems to
track students at risk of dropping out; and (3) designing training for
policymakers, administrators, and practitioners that will help them
support efforts to improve dropout prevention, reentry, and school
completion for students with disabilities.
Based on the selection criteria published in the 2008 notice
inviting applications, the Department made one award for a period of 60
months to Clemson University to establish the Center, which is
currently known as the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students
with Disabilities. The Center has the following four interrelated goals
that reflect its overarching purpose:
Goal 1: Increase the awareness of policymakers,
administrators, and practitioners about dropout prevention, reentry,
and school completion.
Goal 2: Increase the number of States that set and meet
reasonable and rigorous performance targets for State Performance Plan
Indicators 1 \1\ and 2.\2\
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\1\ Indicator 1: Percent of youth with individualized education
programs (IEPs) graduating from high school with a regular diploma
(20 U.S.C. 1416 (a)(3)(A)).
\2\ Indicator 2: Percent of youth with IEPs dropping out of high
school (20 U.S.C. 1416 (a)(3)(A)).
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Goal 3: Help State educational agencies (SEAs) and
LEAs develop and improve data systems to track students at risk of
dropping out.
Goal 4: Help SEAs and LEAs implement and evaluate
effective, comprehensive school-completion models, practices, and
systems for students with disabilities.
The Center works to accomplish these goals through a combination of
activities in the following areas: (1) Knowledge development activities
to synthesize what is currently known about dropout prevention for
students with disabilities, and to develop a series of high-quality
products that can be used by States in designing and developing
effective dropout prevention programs; (2) TA to SEAs, LEAs, and
organizations to increase their capacity to design and implement
effective dropout prevention, reentry, and school completion models and
practices; (3) collaboration with a variety of organizations that
provide direct program services and TA to education agencies that
provide educational programs and services to students with disabilities
in order to prepare and disseminate information and materials that will
increase the awareness and use of research-validated practices by a
variety of audiences; and (4) dissemination of knowledge and
information about effective dropout prevention programs, policies, and
resources to SEAs and LEAs.
The Center's current project period is scheduled to end on
September 30, 2013. We do not believe that it would be in the public
interest to run a competition for a new Center this year because the
Department is planning to change the organization of its TA activities
to better meet the needs of States and LEAs for TA relating to
transition to college and the workforce, including dropout prevention,
for students with disabilities. We also have concluded that it would be
contrary to the public interest to have a lapse in the provision of TA
services currently
[[Page 11804]]
provided by the Center pending the changes to the organization of the
Department's TA activities. For these reasons, the Secretary proposes
to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which prohibit project
periods exceeding five years, and waive the requirements in 34 CFR
75.261(a) and (c)(2), which limit the extension of a project period if
the extension involves the obligation of additional Federal funds. The
waiver would allow the Department to issue a continuation award in the
amount of $665,000 to Clemson University for an additional 12-month
period, which should ensure that the Center's TA, training, and
dissemination of information to families, SEAs, LEAs, and other State
agencies will not be interrupted.
Any activities to be carried out during the year of the
continuation award would have to be consistent with, or be a logical
extension of, the scope, goals, and objectives of the grantee's
application as approved in the 2008 National Dropout Prevention Center
for Students with Disabilities competition.
If the proposed waiver and extension of the project period are
announced in a final notice in the Federal Register, the requirements
applicable to continuation awards for this competition, set forth in
the June 23, 2008, notice inviting applications, and the requirements
in 34 CFR 75.253 would apply to any continuation awards sought by the
current National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with
Disabilities grantee. If we announce the waiver and extension as final,
we will base our decisions regarding a continuation award on the
program narrative, budget, budget narrative, and program performance
report submitted by the current grantee, and the requirements in 34 CFR
75.253.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Department certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of
the project period would not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The only entity that would be affected by the proposed waiver and
extension of the project period is the current grantee.
The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension
would not have a significant economic impact on this entity because the
extension of an existing project imposes minimal compliance costs, and
the activities required to support the additional year of funding would
not impose additional regulatory burdens or require unnecessary Federal
supervision.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
This notice of proposed waiver and extension of the project period
does not contain any information collection requirements.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance. This document provides early notification of our
specific plans and actions for this program.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free
Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well
as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the
site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at:
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Dated: February 13, 2013.
Michael Yudin,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 2013-03870 Filed 2-19-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P