[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 72 (Friday, April 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16063-16064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07744]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Applications for New Awards; Expanding Opportunity Through
Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP)--Grants to Charter School
Developers for the Opening of New Charter Schools and for the
Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools; Amendment
and Extension of Deadline for Transmittal of Applications
AGENCY: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice; Amendment and Extension of Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications.
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SUMMARY: On March 2, 2018, we published in the Federal Register (83 FR
8974) a notice inviting applications (NIA) for new awards for fiscal
year (FY) 2018 for the CSP Grants to Developers for the Opening of New
Charter Schools and for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality
Charter Schools, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Numbers
84.282B and 84.282E. Since that time, Congress passed and the President
signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Act), which provides
funding for the awards under this competition. This document amends the
NIA by: (1) Stating that the Secretary may fund out of rank order
applications proposing to open a new charter school or replicate or
expand a high-quality charter school in underserved, high-poverty,
rural areas; and (2) adding definitions related to funding such
applications out of rank order.
In addition, we are extending the deadline for transmittal of
applications by two weeks, until April 30, 2018.
DATES:
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 30, 2018.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 29, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eddie Moat, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 4W224, Washington, DC 20202-
5970. Telephone: (202) 401-2266. Email: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-
877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Following publication of the NIA, Congress passed and the President
signed the Act, which provides funding for the awards under this
competition. The report accompanying the Act (the Statement of the
Managers) \1\ includes language reflecting congressional intent that,
of these funds, ``up to $7,500,000 [is] for developer grants to
establish or expand charter schools in underserved, high-poverty, rural
areas.'' The Statement of the Managers modifies language in the report
accompanying the Senate appropriations committee bill,\2\ which
indicates congressional intent for CSP appropriations to include
``dedicated funding to expand charter schools in rural areas.'' Taking
into account this language, we are amending the NIA to notify
prospective applicants that the Secretary may fund out of rank order
applications proposing to open a new charter school or replicate or
expand a high-quality charter school in underserved, high-poverty,
rural areas; and to add definitions related to funding such
applications out of rank order. In addition, we are extending the
deadline for transmittal of applications for the competition by two
weeks.
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\1\ See www.congress.gov/crec/2018/03/22/CREC-2018-03-22-bk3.pdf.
\2\ See www.congress.gov/115/crpt/srpt150/CRPT-115srpt150.pdf.
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All other requirements and conditions stated in the NIA remain the
same.
Amendments
In FR Doc. No. 2018-04294, in the Federal Register of March 2, 2018
(83 FR 8974), we make the following amendments:
(a) On page 8974, in the middle column, after the words ``Deadline
for Transmittal of Applications:'' we are removing the date ``April 16,
2018'' and replacing it with the date ``April 30, 2018''.
(b) On page 8974, in the middle column, after the words ``Deadline
for Intergovernmental Review:'' we are removing the date ``June 15,
2018'' and replacing it with the date ``June 29, 2018''.
(c) On page 8978, in the middle of the first column following the
definition of ``expand'', we are adding the following definition, which
we are establishing for FY 2018 and any subsequent year in which we
make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this
competition, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the General
Education Provisions Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1):
High-poverty school means a school in which at least 50 percent of
students are from low-income families as determined using one of the
measures of poverty specified under section 1113(a)(5) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended. For
middle and high schools, eligibility may be calculated on the basis of
comparable data from feeder schools. Eligibility as a high-poverty
school under this definition is determined on the basis of the most
currently available data.
(d) On page 8978, in the middle of the second column, following the
definition of ``rural local educational agency'', we are adding the
following definition, which we are establishing for FY 2018 and any
subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded
applications from this competition, in accordance with section
437(d)(1) of GEPA:
Underserved community means a community that has limited access to
high-quality educational options.
(e) On page 8981, beginning in the middle column, at the end of
section V.2 (Review and Selection Process), we are adding the following
paragraph:
Depending upon the number and quality of applications received, the
Department may fund out of rank order high-quality applications that
propose to open a new charter school, or replicate or expand a high-
quality charter school, that (a) is located in an underserved community
(as defined in this notice); and (b) primarily serves students from
rural local educational agencies with at least one high-poverty school
(as defined in this notice). To be considered for funding out of rank
order, we encourage an applicant to include in its application (i) a
statement that it is proposing to open a new charter school, or
replicate or expand a high-quality charter school, that is located in
an underserved community and primarily serves students from rural local
educational agencies with at least
[[Page 16064]]
one high-poverty school; and (ii) a description of how the proposed
project meets each of the above criteria. If an application that is
within funding range contains insufficient information to verify that
the application meets these criteria, we may contact the applicant to
obtain additional relevant information.
Program Authority: Title IV, part C of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7221-
7221j).
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document and a copy of the application package in an accessible format
(e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc) on request to
the program 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. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations 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 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: April 10, 2018.
Margo Anderson,
Acting Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 2018-07744 Filed 4-12-18; 8:45 am]
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