[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 81 (Monday, April 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23335-23336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09603]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA Number: 84.004D.]
Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the
Training and Advisory Services--Equity Assistance Centers Program
AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.
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SUMMARY: For 36-month projects funded in fiscal year (FY) 2011 under
the Training and Advisory Services--Equity Assistance Centers (EACs)
program, the Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR
75.261(c)(2), which prohibits the extension of project periods
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The Secretary
also proposes to extend the project period of these grants for up to an
additional 24 months. This would enable the 10 current EAC grantees to
continue to receive Federal funding annually for project periods
through FY 2015 and possibly through FY 2016. Further, the waiver and
extension, as proposed, would mean that we would not announce a new
competition or make new awards in FY 2014. We intend to announce a new
competition in either FY 2015 or FY 2016.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before May 28, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit all comments on this proposed waiver and extension to
Jenelle Leonard, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW.,
Room 3W203, Washington, DC 20202-6400.
If you prefer to send your comments by email, use the following
address: [email protected]. You must include the term ``Proposed
Waiver and Extension for EACs'' in the subject line of your message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenelle Leonard. Telephone: (202) 401-
0039 or by email at: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding
this proposed waiver and extension. We are particularly interested in
receiving comments on the potential impact that this proposed project
period waiver and extension might have on EACs and on potential
applicants that would be eligible to apply for grant awards in any new
EAC competition, should there be one.
Eligible applicants for the EACs program are public agencies (other
than State educational agencies or school boards) or private, non-
profit organizations.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this proposed waiver and extension in room 3W209, 400
Maryland Ave 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 proposed waiver and extension. If you
want to schedule an appointment for this type of aid, please contact
one of the persons listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Background
The EACs program awards grants through cooperative agreements to
eligible entities to operate 10 regional EACs. The EACs provide
technical assistance and training at the request of school boards and
other responsible governmental agencies on the preparation, adoption,
and implementation of plans for the desegregation of public schools and
the development of effective methods of coping with unique educational
problems occasioned by desegregation. In this context,
``desegregation'' refers to equity--including segregation based on
race, sex, and national origin. The EACs (formerly the Desegregation
Assistance Centers) assist States, districts, and public schools in
providing effective instruction to all students and specifically to
those students for whom disparities in achievement persist.
The EACs are authorized by title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(42 U.S.C. 2000c) and operate under the implementing regulations at 34
CFR parts 270 and 272. These regulations identify, among other
components of the program, the 10 regions to be served by the EACs,
eligible recipients of EAC assistance, the criteria used to make a
grant, how the amount of the grant is determined, and the conditions
that must be met by the grant recipient.
The geographic regions served by the EACs are:
Region I: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, and Vermont.
Region II: New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands.
Region III: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, and West Virginia.
Region IV: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Region V: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and
Wisconsin.
Region VI: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Region VII: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Region VIII: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah,
and Wyoming.
Region IX: Arizona, California, and Nevada.
Region X: Alaska, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Northern
Mariana Islands, Oregon, The Federated States of Micronesia, The
Republic of the Marshall Islands, The Republic of Palau, and
Washington.
On March 10, 2011, we published in the Federal Register a notice
inviting applications for new awards under the FY 2011 EACs program
competition (2011 EAC NIA) (76 FR 13137). In FY 2011, the Department
made three-year awards to 10 EAC projects. The project period for these
EACs is currently scheduled to end on September 30, 2014.
For those EACs, the Secretary now proposes to waive the
requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2), which prohibits the extension of
project periods involving the obligation of additional Federal funds,
and proposes to extend the project period for the current EACs for up
to 24 months. This would allow the 10 current EAC grantees to continue
to receive Federal funding annually for project periods through FY 2015
and possibly through FY 2016.
We are proposing this waiver and project period extension because
we have concluded it would not be in the public interest to incur the
disruption in services associated with holding a new EAC competition in
FY 2014. It would be more effective to maintain continuity of the high-
quality services offered by
[[Page 23336]]
these grantees to their clients rather than transition to new grantees
every three years. These services include disseminating information on
successful education practices and legal requirements related to
nondiscrimination on the basis of race, sex, and national origin in
educational programs; training designed to develop educators' skills in
specific areas such as identification of race and sex bias in
instructional materials; technical assistance in the identification and
selection of appropriate educational programs to meet the needs of
limited English proficient students; addressing disproportionality in
schools among students and/or teachers; and instructing school
officials on how to prevent sexual harassment and combat biases. In
addition, issuing continuation awards, instead of holding a new
competition, will also allow the current grantees to continue to serve
as a resource for the Office for Civil Rights in working with school
districts that have achieved unitary status. The grantees would
continue to offer technical assistance to school districts, State
education agencies, and others who seek to resolve civil rights
conflicts and promote social justice and equity. Further, the current
grantees would continue to provide resources and training in the areas
of hate crimes, racial prejudice, and bullying.
We intend to fund the extended project period by using the FY 2014
and FY 2015 funds, depending on whether the grants are extended for one
or two years, that Congress appropriates under the current statutory
authority.
Under this proposed waiver and extension of the project period--
(1) Current grantees will be authorized to receive EAC continuation
awards annually for up to two years.
(2) We will not announce a new EAC competition or make new EAC
grant awards in FY 2014.
(3) During the extension period, any activities carried out must be
consistent with, or be a logical extension of the scope, goals, and
objectives of each grantee's approved application from the 2011 EAC
competition.
(4) Each grantee who receives a continuation award must also
continue to comply with the requirements established in the program
regulations and the 2011 EAC NIA.
Furthermore, all requirements applicable to continuation awards for
current EAC grantees and the requirements in 34 CFR 75.253 will apply
to any continuation awards received by current EAC grantees.
If we announce this proposed waiver and extension as final, we will
make decisions regarding annual continuation awards based on each
grantee demonstrating substantial progress performing its approved
grant activities, as evidenced through program narratives, budgets and
budget narratives, and performance reports, and based on the
regulations in 34 CFR 75.253.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension and
the activities required to support additional years of funding would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The entities that would be affected by this proposed waiver
and extension are the 10 current EAC grantees receiving Federal funds
and any other potential applicants.
The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension
would not have a significant economic impact on these entities because
the proposed waiver and extension impose minimal compliance costs to
extend projects already in existence, and the activities required to
support the additional years of funding would not impose additional
regulatory burdens or require unnecessary Federal supervision.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
This proposed waiver and extension 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 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 this
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.
Program Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2000c--2000c-2, 2000c-5.
Dated: April 23, 2014.
Deborah S. Delisle,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2014-09603 Filed 4-25-14; 8:45 am]
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