[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 151 (Wednesday, August 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45791-45792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18607]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Final Waiver and Extension of the Project Period; Striving
Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program
AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Final waiver and extension of the project period.
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[Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.371C.]
SUMMARY: For the Montana Department of Education's 36-month grant
project funded in fiscal year (FY) 2011, under the Striving Readers
Comprehensive Literacy program (SRCL), the Secretary waives the
requirements that generally prohibit project period extensions
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The Secretary
also extends the current Montana SCRL project period for an additional
24 months.
DATES: This final waiver and extension of the project period are
effective August 6, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosemary Fennell, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3E228, Washington, DC 20202-
5970. Telephone: (202) 401-2425 or by email: [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: On May 20, 2014, we published a notice in
the Federal Register (79 FR 28917) (May 2014 proposed waiver) proposing
an extension of a project period and a waiver of the requirement of 34
CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2), which restricts project period extensions
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds, as it applies to
the Montana Department of Education's project funded under the FY 2011
SRCL competition. The Secretary also proposed to extend this grantee's
project period for an additional 24 months.
Public Comment
In the May 2014 proposed waiver, the Secretary invited comments on
the proposed waiver and extension of the project period. We received 21
comments in response.
Analysis of Comments and Changes
Comment: The 21 commenters who addressed the proposed waiver and
extension supported it, discussed the accomplishments of the current
SRCL grantee and benefits of the program, and stated that an extension
of the project period would allow the grantee to continue its work and
expand on its accomplishments. We did not receive any negative comments
regarding the proposed waiver and extension of the project period.
Response: We agree with the commenters that extending the current
SCRL grant period for one grantee, the Montana Department of Education
and, therefore allowing this grantee to request a continuation award,
would enable it to continue to work toward accomplishing its goals and
objectives stated in its approved 2011 SCRL grant application.
Change: None.
Background
In FY 2010, Congress appropriated $200 million to support
establishment of a comprehensive literacy development and education
program through the Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 111-117)
under section 1502 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965, as amended (ESEA). The purpose of SRCL is to advance literacy
skills--including pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing--for
students from birth through grade 12, including limited-English-
proficient students and students with disabilities. Section 1502 of the
ESEA provides the authority for demonstration programs, like SCRL, that
show promise of enabling children to meet challenging academic content
and achievement standards. In FY 2010, the U.S. Department of Education
(the Department) awarded $10 million in formula grants to 46 States,
the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to
establish or support State Literacy Teams with expertise in literacy
development and education for children from birth to grade 12 to assist
the States in developing a comprehensive literacy plan.
The Department also used FY 2010 funds to award set-aside grants to
the Bureau of Indian Education and four Outlying Areas, and to award
discretionary grants to six State educational agencies (SEAs) to create
comprehensive literacy programs to advance literacy skills--including
pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing--for students from birth
through grade 12, including limited-English-proficient students and
students with disabilities. The Department announced this discretionary
grant competition in a notice inviting applications that was published
in the Federal Register on March 10, 2011 (76 FR 13143) (March 2011
NIA). The grants awarded under
[[Page 45792]]
the FY 2011 competition were for a project period of up to five years.
The Department indicated in the March 2011 NIA that it planned to make
continuation awards in accordance with section 75.253 of the Education
Department's General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR
75.253), depending on the availability of funds.
Five of the six SEA grantees funded under the FY 2011 grant
competition submitted a budget for all five years of the grant period.
One grantee, the Montana Department of Education, submitted a budget
request for only three years, believing that it could request funding
for years four and five after receiving a grant award. On March 25,
2014, the Montana Department of Education, Office of Public
Instruction, requested to extend its project period for an additional
two years.
As outlined in the May 2014 proposed waiver, the FY 2014
appropriation contained sufficient funding to continue Montana's grant.
The appropriation for SCRL included $158 million, an increase of
approximately $6 million over the FY 2013 funding level. The Department
does not plan to conduct a new competition in FY 2014, as there are
insufficient funds both to provide continuation grants and fund new
grantees.
We believe it best serves the interests of the Department and the
public to ensure that the full cohort of grantees, including Montana,
has the opportunity to complete a full five-year program, as originally
intended in the March 2011 NIA. Providing Montana an opportunity for an
additional two years of funding, and in turn an additional two years of
data on implementation, is consistent with the underlying purpose of
the SRCL program funded under the Section 1502 demonstration authority:
To provide data on the results of promising literacy practices
implemented under the SRCL program.
Additionally, the Montana Department of Education's SRCL project is
at a critical point; the State is working with participating local
education agencies (LEA) to fully implement the State Literacy Plan,
and to implement sustainability efforts and activities. The Montana
SRCL Implementation Team continues it work to assess and evaluate the
effectiveness of the implementation of the State Literacy Plan, and
continues to identify and provide the support and resources necessary
to ensure processes and systems created through the SRCL program are
sustainable. The Montana Department of Education has used data-driven
decisions, through its evaluation and assessment activities, to make
improvements to the SRCL program across 10 LEAs and 32 schools. Without
an extension of the project period to allow for the work that will lead
to sustainability and full implementation of the State Literacy Plan,
the SRCL program may cease in some LEAs and be greatly curtailed in
others.
For these reasons, the Secretary waives the requirements in 34 CFR
75.261(a) and (c)(2) of EDGAR that generally prohibit project period
extensions involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The
Secretary also extends the current Montana SCRL project period for an
additional 24 months. This two-year extension of the project period
will ensure seamless program delivery to the sub-grantees awarded under
the Montana Department of Education SRCL grant award, as well as data
on project implementation.
We will use the process stated in the March 2011 NIA and the
regulations in 34 CFR 75.253 to make continuation awards based on
information that each grantee provides, indicating that each grantee is
making substantial progress performing its SRCL grant activities and is
showing improvement against baseline data on specific indicators listed
in the March 2011 NIA.
Any activities to be carried out during the remaining continuation
years of the SCRL award must be consistent with, or be a logical
extension of, the scope, goals, and objectives of each grantee's
application as approved in the FY 2011 SCRL competition. With this
final waiver and extension of the project period, the project period
for the Montana SCRL grantee will be extended through September 30,
2016, which is the same ending date as the ending date for the other
SCRL grantees' project periods.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that the waiver and extension of the
project period will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. The entities that will be
affected by this waiver and extension are the current SRCL grantees
receiving Federal funds.
The Secretary certifies that the waiver and extension will not have
a significant economic impact on these entities because minimal
compliance costs are imposed by extending a single project already in
existence, and the activities required to support the additional years
of funding will not impose additional regulatory burdens or require
unnecessary Federal supervision.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
The final extension of project period and waiver do not contain any
information collection requirements.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR parts 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 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 the 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 the search to documents published
by the Department.
Program Authority: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub.
L. 111-117) under the Title I demonstration authority (Part E,
Section 1502 of the ESEA).
Dated: August 1, 2014.
Deborah Delisle,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2014-18607 Filed 8-5-14; 8:45 am]
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