[Federal Register: February 14, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 30)]
[Notices]
[Page 7423-7425]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14fe00-105]
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Part III
Department of Education
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Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free
Schools and Communities National Programs; Federal Activities Grant
Program--Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program
Coordinators; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free
Schools and Communities National Programs; Federal Activities Grant
Program--Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program
Coordinators
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed priority, definitions, and selection
criteria for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 and subsequent years.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces the proposed priority, definitions,
and selection criteria for FY 2000, and, at the discretion of the
Secretary, for subsequent years under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools
and Communities (SDFSC) National Programs Federal Activities Grants
Program for the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program
Coordinators competition. The Secretary takes this action to focus
Federal financial assistance on a national need to recruit, hire, and
train persons to serve as drug prevention and school safety program
coordinators in middle schools that have significant drug, discipline
and violence problems.
DATES: Comments must be received by the Department on or before March
15, 2000.
ADDRESSES: All comments concerning this proposed priority, definitions,
and selection criteria should be addressed to Deirdra R. Hilliard, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, 3E256, Washington, DC
20202-6123. Comments may be sent through the Internet: comments@ed.gov.
You must include the term ``Middle School Coordinator'' in the subject
line of your electronic message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deirdra R. Hilliard, (202) 260-2643.
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) upon request to the contact person listed above.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. A notice
inviting applications under this competition will be published in
the Federal Register concurrent with or following the publication of
the notice of final priority, definitions, and selection criteria.
The notice inviting applications will specify the date and time by
which applications for this competition must be received by the
Department. Applications received after that time will not be
eligible for funding. Postmarked dates will not be accepted.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation To Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit comments and
recommendations regarding this proposed priority, definitions, and
selection criteria. All comments submitted in response to this notice
will be available for public inspection, during and after the comment
period, in Room 3E222, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, between
the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday
of each week except Federal holidays. On request, the Department
supplies an appropriate aid, such as a reader or print magnifier, to an
individual with a disability that needs assistance to review the
comments. An individual with a disability who wants to schedule an
appointment for this type of aid may call (202) 205-8113 or (202) 260-
9895. An individual who uses a TDD may call the Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.,
Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC)
National Programs Federal Activities Grants Program for the Middle
School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program Coordinators
competition the Secretary plans to make awards for up to 36 months to
local educational agencies.
In making awards under this grant program, the Secretary may take
into consideration the geographic distribution in addition to the rank
order of applicants.
Contingent upon the availability of funds, the Secretary may make
additional awards in fiscal year 2001 from the rank-ordered list of
unfunded applications from this competition.
Definitions
The Secretary proposes that the following definitions apply to this
competition:
(a) Middle schools are defined as any school serving students in
two or more grades from grades five through nine. (Note: Students in
grades lower than five or higher than nine are not eligible to be
served under this priority.)
(b) Local educational agencies (LEAs) with the most significant
problems in their middle schools are defined as those that have
identified drug use, drug prevention and school safety as a serious
problem in their most recent needs assessment and that have taken one
or more of the following actions within the 12 months preceding the
date of this announcement:
(1) Suspended, expelled, or transferred to alternative schools or
programs at least one middle school student for possession,
distribution, or use of alcohol or drugs, including tobacco;
(2) Referred for treatment of substance abuse at least five middle
school students;
(3) Suspended, expelled, or transferred to alternative schools or
programs at least one middle school student for possession or use of a
firearm or other weapon;
(4) Suspended, expelled or transferred to alternative schools or
programs at least five middle school students for physical attacks or
fights.
Absolute Priority
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c )(3) and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
Communities Act, the Secretary proposes to give an absolute preference
to applications that meet the following priority. The Secretary
proposes to fund under this competition only applications that meet
this absolute priority.
Under the proposed absolute funding priority for this grant
competition, LEAs with significant drug, discipline, or school safety
problems in their middle schools must propose projects that--
(a) Recruit, hire, and train full-time drug prevention and school
safety program coordinator(s) for their middle schools with significant
drug, discipline or school safety problems;
(b) Require coordinators hired with funds under this priority to
perform at least the following functions in one or more middle schools
with significant drug, discipline or school safety problems:
(1) Identify research-based drug and violence prevention strategies
and programs;
(2) Assist schools in adopting the most successful strategies,
including training of teachers and staff and relevant partners, as
needed;
(3) Develop, conduct, and analyze assessments of school crime and
drug problems;
(4) Work with community agencies and organizations to ensure that
students' needs are met;
(5) Work with parents and students to obtain information about
effective programs and strategies and encourage their participation in
program selection and implementation;
(6) Facilitate evaluation of prevention programs and strategies and
use findings to modify programs, as needed;
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(7) Identify additional funding sources for drug prevention and
school safety program initiatives;
(8) Provide feedback to SEAs on programs and activities that have
proven to be successful in reducing drug use and violent behavior;
(9) Coordinate with student assistance and employee assistance
programs; and
(10) Link other educational resources, e.g. Title I compensatory
education funds, to programs and strategies that serve to create safer,
more orderly schools; and
(c) Have measurable goals and objectives and report annually on
progress toward meeting those goals and objectives.
Local educational agencies may apply for funding under this
proposed priority to hire one or more coordinators to serve middle
schools in the district. Each coordinator hired with funds from this
grant must:
(1) Serve at least one middle school but no more than seven middle
schools;
(2) Serve only students in two or more grades from grades five
through nine;
Note: Students in grades lower than five or higher than nine are
not eligible to be served under this proposed priority.
(3) Have no duties other than coordination of drug prevention or
school safety programs;
(4) At a minimum, have a degree from an accredited four-year
institution of higher education and an academic background or
equivalent work experience in a field related to youth development,
such as education, psychology, sociology, social work, or nursing.
LEAs may apply in consortia with one or more adjacent LEAs;
however, each participating LEA must ensure that all requirements of
the priority for this competition are met.
Selection Criteria
The Secretary proposes to use the following selection criteria to
evaluate applications for new grants under this competition. The
maximum score for all of these criteria is 100 points.
(1) Need for the Project (25 Points)
In determining the need for the proposed project, the following
factor is considered: The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses
in services, infrastructure, or opportunities have been identified and
will be addressed by the proposed project, including the nature and
magnitude of those gaps or weaknesses.
(2) Quality of the Project Design (25 Points)
In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project,
the following factors are considered:
(A) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target
population;
(B) The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build
capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of
Federal financial assistance;
(C) The extent to which the proposed project will establish
linkages with other appropriate agencies and organizations providing
services to the target population, including community coalitions;
(D) The extent to which the proposed project encourages parental
involvement; and
(E) The extent to which performance feedback and continuous
improvement are integral to the design of the proposed project.
(3) Adequacy of Resources (25 Points)
In determining the adequacy of resources, the following factors are
considered:
(A) The adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment,
supplies, and other resources from the applicant organization or the
lead applicant organization;
(B) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the
number of persons to be served and to the anticipated results and
benefits;
(C) The potential for continued support of the project after
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated
commitment of appropriate entities to such support; and
(D) The potential for the incorporation of project purposes,
activities, or benefits into the ongoing program of the agency or
organization at the end of federal funding.
(4) Quality of the Project Evaluation (25 Points)
In determining the quality of the project evaluation, the following
factors are considered:
(A) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are appropriate
to the context within which the project operates;
(B) The extent to which the methods of evaluation provide for
examining the effectiveness of project implementation strategies; and
(C) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide
performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward
achieving intended outcomes.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. The objective of the
Executive Order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism by relying on processes developed by State and
local government for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
In accordance with this order, this document is intended to provide
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for
this program.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131
Electronic Access to This Document
Department of Education documents are published in the Federal
Register, in text or portable document format (PDF) on the Internet at
either of the following sites:
http://www.ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html.
To use PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you
have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing
Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC
area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: 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 on GPO Access at: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84-184K, Safe and
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act National Programs--Federal
Activities Grants Program)
Dated: February 9, 2000.
Michael Cohen,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-3477 Filed 2-11-00; 8:45 am]
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