FR Doc 05-11653
[Federal Register: June 13, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 112)]
[Notices]
[Page 34107-34109]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13jn05-37]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Grants to States To Improve Management of Drug and Violence
Prevention Programs
AGENCY: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of final priorities and requirements.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools
announces priorities and requirements under the Safe and Drug-Free
Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) National Programs for Grants to
States to Improve Management of Drug and Violence Prevention Programs.
We may use one or more of these priorities and requirements for
competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2005 and later years. We take this
action to focus Federal financial assistance on an identified national
need. We intend the priorities and requirements to facilitate the
development, enhancement, or expansion of the capacity of States and
other entities that receive SDFSCA State Grants program funds to
collect, analyze, and use data to improve the management of drug and
violence prevention programs.
DATES: Effective Date: These priorities and requirements are effective
July 13, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria Worthen, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E234, Washington, DC 20202-
6450. Telephone: (202) 205-5632 or via Internet: maria.worthen@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: States and their local communities are
implementing a variety of programs, activities, and strategies designed
to prevent youth drug use and violence in schools. Just as
policymakers, education professionals, and parents seek reliable
information about student academic progress, stakeholders also need
sufficient information and data to assess the nature of youth drug and
violence prevention problems in their communities, select research-
based approaches to preventing these problems, and determine whether
these prevention efforts are successful.
The U.S. Department of Education currently requires States to
collect and report data on youth drug and violence prevention problems
and prevention efforts through a uniform management information and
reporting system (UMIRS) that States must establish under section
4112(c)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as
amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (ESEA) (20 U.S.C.
7112(c)(3)). States also need to use objective data about school safety
to meet the Unsafe School Choice Option (USCO) requirements in section
9532 of the ESEA.
States and local communities face several challenges in
implementing these requirements and, in turn, operating and managing
effective drug and violence prevention programs. These challenges may
include:
Lack of standardized collection instruments and
definitions both within and across States;
Lack of expertise related to collecting data about youth
drug use and violence;
Lack of time and other resources to support high-quality
data collection and analysis in these areas;
Unfavorable community and media reaction to high rates of
youth drug use and violence that discourages full and accurate
reporting; and
Negative consequences for administrators whose schools
have high rates of drug use or violent incidents.
The Department proposed the priorities and requirements announced
in this notice to provide support to States to explore strategies that
help them address each of these challenges so that they can enhance
their capacity to collect and use data to assess and improve
implementation of their drug and violence prevention programs.
We published a notice of proposed priorities and requirements for
this program in the Federal Register on March 9, 2005 (70 FR 11623).
Except for minor technical revisions, and a change to the
requirements described in the Analysis of Comments and Changes section,
there are no differences between the notice of proposed priorities and
requirements and this notice of final priorities and requirements.
Analysis of Comments and Changes
In response to our invitation in the notice of proposed priorities
and requirements, three parties submitted comments on the proposed
priorities and requirements. An analysis of the comments and of any
changes in the priorities and requirements since publication of the
notice of proposed priorities and requirements follows.
Generally, we do not address technical and other minor changes or
any suggested changes that the Secretary is not authorized to make
under the applicable statutory authority.
Comment: One commenter recommended that Federal agencies, including
the U.S. Department of Education and the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, that share common program goals should
develop a common set of outcome measures for drug and violence
prevention programs
[[Page 34108]]
that could be used by all Federal agencies that implement these
programs.
Discussion: While we find merit in the commenter's suggestion and
are working with other Federal agencies, including SAMHSA, on the issue
of common outcome measures, we believe that the recommendation is
beyond the scope of this program. The Grants to States to Improve
Management of Drug and Violence Prevention Programs initiative is
specifically designed to help States meet the UMIRS requirements. These
provisions require each State to develop an information management and
reporting system for its schools and communities and to define alcohol
and drug-related offenses in a manner consistent with each State's
criminal code. While common outcome measures are a desirable goal, we
do not believe that we can mandate specific outcome measures that would
apply to all States or to all Federal agencies implementing drug and
violence prevention programs through these priorities and requirements.
Change: None.
Comment: One commenter recommended that the requirement concerning
a Memorandum of Understanding between the authorized representatives
for the State educational agency (SEA) and the State agency receiving
the Governor's portion of SDFSCA State Grants program funds be
streamlined. The commenter suggested that a letter from the SEA and
State Agency indicating their agreement to conduct the activities
proposed in the application, including the roles and responsibilities
of each agency would assume, would be sufficient.
The commenter also expressed a concern that sufficient resources
available under this grant program might not be provided to permit a
State to meet all of the requirements of the absolute priority and
recommended that States be allowed to focus on a subset of these
requirements if available resources are not sufficient to fully address
all of the grant goals.
Discussion: The requirement for a Memorandum of Understanding is
not intended to impose a significant additional burden on applicants.
Instead, the requirement is designed to ensure that necessary
participants for the project participate in project development, agree
upon their roles and responsibilities, and have the support of senior
leadership for the project. We agree, however, that the approach
suggested by the commenter may make development of an application
simpler for some applicants.
In response to the commenter's second concern, language in the
priority provides applicants with some flexibility in developing their
projects. Specifically, the priority provides for the support of
projects to ``develop, enhance, or expand capacity''. Thus an applicant
could focus on one, or more of these areas. Applicants should plan
projects that reflect their existing efforts in the area and, while
projects must address the six required sub-elements, the balance
between the level of effort focused on required activities may be very
different among successful applicants, depending on the previous
investments made by an applicant.
Changes: In response to this comment, we have modified the
requirement concerning a Memorandum of Understanding for this
competition to permit applicants to submit a memorandum of
understanding, letters, or other documentation that contains the
required information. No change concerning the scope of the priority
was made in response to this comment.
Comment: One commenter proposed that, in addition to requirements
contained in the notice of proposed priority and requirements,
applicants also be required to (1) list methods by which the applicant
can address the issue of irregular reporting of UMIRS data collection;
(2) document methods for assisting local educational agencies in
standardizing the reporting of intervention data; (3) describe methods
of reporting interventions for persistent student attendance and
behavior problems, and methods used to address challenges for
standardizing these data; (4) describe a plan for persuading local
educational agencies about the value of high-quality truancy and
intervention data for analysis; and (5) describe methods for motivating
local educational agencies to make appropriate referrals for students
at risk due to severe attendance or behavior problems. These proposed
modifications would be consistent with the commenter's State laws and
procedures concerning truancy and interventions designed to address
truancy, and could potentially support that State's approach to this
issue by providing needed funding.
Discussion: While the commenter's underlying concerns parallel many
of the more general requirements that were included in the notice of
proposed priority and requirements for the program (such as using data
collected under the UMIRS system to assess need, selecting appropriate
interventions, monitoring progress toward performance measures, and
disseminating information about youth drug use and violence to the
public), we do not have any basis to request that all applicants meet
all of these requirements. Applicants, however, are free to include
this information to support their applications.
The additional requirements recommended may support the existing
statutory and regulatory framework in the commenter's State, but there
is tremendous variation across the States in terms of how school
attendance information is collected and used. In developing priorities
and requirements for a grant competition that is designed to benefit
all States, we believe that the more general approach that we have
taken establishes appropriate core requirements that are still flexible
enough to address needs in any of the States.
The commenter's concerns also focused heavily on a single aspect of
the UMIRS requirements--truancy rates, and related interventions. While
school attendance information is an important component of any
statewide data collected to support the management of youth drug and
violence prevention programs, focusing too heavily on this one aspect
of the significantly more comprehensive system that is required would
detract from the program's core goals.
Change: None.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in
which we choose to use one or more of these priorities or
requirements, we invite applications through a notice in the Federal
Register. When inviting applications, we designate each priority as
absolute, competitive preference, or invitational. The effect of
each type of priority follows:
Absolute priority: Under an absolute priority we consider only
applications that meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
Competitive preference priority: Under a competitive preference
priority we give competitive preference to an application by either
(1) awarding additional points, depending on how well or the extent
to which the application meets the competitive priority (34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting an application that meets the
competitive priority over an application of comparable merit that
does not meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
Invitational priority: Under an invitational priority we are
particularly interested in applications that meet the invitational
priority. However, we do not give an application that meets the
invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference over
other applications (34 CFR 75.105)(c)(1)).
[[Page 34109]]
Priorities and Requirements
Absolute Priority--Developing, Enhancing, or Expanding the Capacity of
States and Other Entities That Receive SDFSCA State Grants Funds To
Collect, Analyze, and Use Data To Improve the Management of Drug and
Violence Prevention Programs
This priority supports projects to develop, enhance, or expand the
capacity of States and other entities that receive SDFSCA State Grants
program funds to collect, analyze, and use data to improve the
management of drug and violence prevention programs. At a minimum,
applicants must propose projects to develop, enhance, or expand the
capacity of the State educational agency (SEA), the State agency
administering the Governor's funding under the SDFSCA State Grants
program, and local educational agencies and community-based
organizations that receive SDFSCA State Grants program funding.
Specifically, projects must be designed to:
(a) Include activities designed to expand the capacity of local
recipients of SDFSCA funds to use data to assess needs, establish
performance measures, select appropriate interventions, monitor
progress toward established performance measures, and disseminate
information about youth drug use and violence to the public;
(b) Collect data that, at a minimum, meet the requirements of the
Uniform Management Information and Reporting System (UMIRS) described
in section 4112(c)(3) of the ESEA;
(c) Operate with the aid of a technology-based system for analyzing
and interpreting school crime and violence data;
(d) Be consistent with the State's Performance-Based Data
Management Initiative (PBDMI) strategy and produce data that can be
transmitted to the U.S. Department of Education via the Department's
Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN) project, which facilitates the
transfer of information from State administrative records to the
Department to satisfy reporting requirements for certain programs
administered by the Department, including the SDFSCA State Grants
program;
(e) Be an enhancement to, or capable of merging data with, the
State's student information system if such exists or if the State does
not yet have a statewide, longitudinal student data system, the project
should include the capacity to merge with such a system in the future;
and
(f) Include validation and verification activities at the State and
sub-State recipient levels designed to ensure the accuracy of data
collected and reported.
Competitive Preference Priority--Use of Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)
Definitions
The collection of incident data for projects under the absolute
priority will be done in a manner consistent with the definitions and
protocols developed under the Federal Bureau of Investigation's UCR
program.
Requirements
Eligibility of Applicants: Eligible applicants for this program are
limited to State educational agencies (SEAs) or other State agencies
administering the SDFSCA State Grants program.
Memorandum of Understanding or Other Documentation of
Participation: Applicants must include documentation in the form of a
memorandum of understanding or a letter in their application that
outlines project roles and responsibilities of the participants and
that contains:
1. The signatures of:
a. The authorized representative(s) for the SEA, and
b. The authorized representative(s) for the State agency (or
agencies) receiving the Governor's portion of SDFSCA State Grants
program funding for the State.
2. Evidence that the proposal has been reviewed by, and has the
approval of, the State's chief information officer (CIO) and/or chief
technology officer (CTO). The CIO and/or CTO may sign the required
memorandum of understanding, or may provide a letter including the
required assurance.
Technology-Based System: Each application is required to include a
proposal for a technology-based system for collecting, analyzing, and
interpreting school crime and violence data. Grant funds may be used in
a variety of ways to support this system, including updating an
existing infrastructure, conducting basic planning, and capacity
building.
Executive Order 12866
This notice of final priorities and requirements has been reviewed
in accordance with Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order,
we have assessed the potential costs and benefits of this regulatory
action.
The potential costs associated with the notice of final priorities
and requirements are those resulting from statutory requirements and
those we have determined as necessary for administering this program
effectively and efficiently.
In assessing the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative
and qualitative--of this notice of final priorities and requirements,
we have determined that the benefits of the proposed priorities justify
the costs.
We have also determined that this regulatory action does not unduly
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of
their governmental functions.
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. Electronic Access to This Document: You may
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) on the Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister
.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using 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.
You may also view this document in text or PDF at the following
site: http://www.ed.gov/programs/dvpstatemanagement/applicant.html.
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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.184R Grants to
States to Improve Management of Drug and Violence Prevention
Programs)
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.
Dated: June 8, 2005.
Deborah A. Price,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
[FR Doc. 05-11653 Filed 6-10-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U