2023-22743. Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Charter Online Management and Performance System (COMPS) CSP Credit Enhancement APR

AGENCY:

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Department is proposing a new information collection request (ICR).

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before December 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

To access and review all the documents related to the information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED–2023–SCC–0181. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, the Department will temporarily accept comments at [e-mail]. Please include the docket ID number and the title of the information collection request when requesting documents or submitting comments. Please note that comments submitted after the comment period will not be accepted. Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the Manager of the Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 6W203, Washington, DC 20202–8240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For specific questions related to collection activities, please contact Andrew Brake, (202) 453–6136.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Department, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. The Department is soliciting comments on the proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The Department is especially interested in public comment addressing the following issues: (1) is this collection necessary to the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use of information technology. Please note that written comments received in response to this notice will be considered public records.

Title of Collection: Charter Online Management and Performance System (COMPS) CSP Credit Enhancement APR.

OMB Control Number: 1810–NEW.

Type of Review: New ICR.

Respondents/Affected Public: Private Sector.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 82.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 2,050.

Abstract: This request is for a new OMB approval to collect the Annual Performance Report (APR) data from Charter School Programs (CSP) Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program (CE) grantees.

The Charter School Programs was originally authorized under title V, part B, subpart 1, sections 5201 through 5211 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. For fiscal year 2017 and thereafter, ESEA has been amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), (20USC 7221–7221i), which reserves funds to improve education by supporting innovation in public education and to: (2) provide financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools; (3) increase the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States; (4) evaluate the impact of charter schools on student achievement, families, and communities, and share best practices between charter schools and other public schools; (5) encourage States to provide support to charter schools for facilities financing in an amount more nearly commensurate to the amount States typically provide for traditional public schools; (6) expand opportunities for children with disabilities, English learners, and other traditionally underserved students to attend charter schools and meet the challenging State academic standards; (7) support efforts to strengthen the charter school authorizing process to improve performance management, including transparency, oversight and monitoring (including financial audits), and evaluation of such schools; and (8) support quality, accountability, and transparency in the operational performance of all authorized public chartering agencies, including State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and other authorizing entities.

Specific to the CE program, grant funds are awarded to demonstrate innovative methods of helping charter schools to address the costs of acquiring, constructing, and renovating facilities by enhancing the availability of loans or bond financing and used by grantees to assist one or more charter schools to access private-sector capital to accomplish one or more of the following objectives: (1) The acquisition (by purchase, lease, donation, or otherwise) of an interest (including an interest held by a third party for the benefit of a charter schools) in improved or unimproved real property that is necessary to commence or continue the operation of a charter schools; (2) The construction of new facilities, or the renovation, repair, or alteration of existing facilities, necessary to commence or continue the operation of a charter school; (3) The predevelopment costs required to assess sites for purposes of paragraph (1) or (2) and that are necessary to commence or continue the operation of a charter school.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is requesting authorization to collect data from CSP grantees within the CE program with new APR tool. The former APR data collection package for CE grantees was discontinued in March 2023. The CSP made revisions to the questionnaire aimed at reducing grantee burden ( e.g., eliminating questions) and collecting more accurate and useful program data ( e.g., identifying joint transactions with other CE grantees). To further these aims, CSP is planning to collect the APR data through a web-based system used to collect APR data from other CSP program grantees.

Dated: October 11, 2023.

Kun Mullan,

PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance, Governance and Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.