[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 41 (Thursday, March 2, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 11866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5037]
[[Page 11865]]
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Part X
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
Bilingual Education: Comprehensive School Grants; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 41 / Thursday, March 2, 1995 /
Notices
[[Page 11866]]
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Bilingual Education: Comprehensive School Grants
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed priority for fiscal year (FY) 1996 and
following years.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes a priority for FY 1996 and following
years under the Bilingual Education: Comprehensive School Grants
program authorized in title VII of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965, as amended (the Act). The Secretary takes this
action to implement a provision of the Act by focusing Federal
financial assistance on an identified national need. The priority is
intended to provide financial assistance to those local educational
agencies (LEAs) or LEAs in collaboration with institutions of higher
education (IHEs), community-based organizations (CBOs), other LEAs, or
a State educational agency (SEA) proposing projects that will serve
schools with significant concentrations of limited English proficient
(LEP) students.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 3, 1995.
ADDRESSES: All comments concerning this proposed priority should be
addressed to: Harry Logel, U.S. Department of Education, 600
Independence Ave., SW., Room 5090, Switzer Building, Washington, DC
20202-6510. Telephone: (202) 205-5530. 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Logel. Telephone: (202) 205-
5530.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Comprehensive School Grants program is a
new program. Under section 7114(a) of the Act, the purpose of the
program is to assist LEAs or LEAs in collaboration with IHEs, CBOs,
other LEAs, or an SEA to implement schoolwide bilingual education
programs or special alternative instructional programs for reforming,
restructuring, and upgrading all relevant programs and operations,
within an individual school, that serve virtually all LEP children and
youth in schools with significant concentrations of these children and
youth.
To assist those schools with significant concentrations of LEP
children and youth, the Secretary proposes to require that to be
eligible for funding the project must serve only schools in which the
number of LEP students, in each school served, equals at least 25
percent of the total student enrollment. By using a 25 percent
threshold the Secretary is targeting those schools in which LEP
students constitute a major portion of the school population. The
Secretary chose a percentage threshold rather than a number threshold
to include schools with small student enrollments. Using the 25 percent
threshold, approximately 4,400 schools would be eligible to participate
under this program. These numbers are based on data from the
Descriptive Study of Services to LEP Students conducted by Development
Associates, Inc., in 1993.
The Secretary will announce the final priority for FY 1996 and
following years in a notice in the Federal Register at a later date.
The final priority for FY 1996 and following years will be determined
by response to this notice, available funds, and other considerations
of the Department. Funding of particular projects depends on the
availability of funds, the nature of the final priority, and the
quality of the applications received. The publication of this proposed
priority does not preclude the Secretary from proposing additional
priorities, nor does it limit the Secretary to funding only this
priority, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice of proposed priority does not solicit
applications. A notice inviting applications under this competition
for FY 1996 will be published in the Federal Register following
publication of the notice of final priority. A notice of final
priority for FY 1995 for this program is published elsewhere in this
issue of the Federal Register.
Priority
Under section 7114(a) of the 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:
Projects that serve only schools in which the number of LEP
students, in each school served, equals at least 25 percent of the
total student enrollment.
Intergovernmentary 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 governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
In accordance with the order, this document is intended to provide
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for
this program.
Invitation to Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit comments and
recommendations regarding this proposed priority.
All comments submitted in response to this notice will be available
for public inspection, during and after the comment period, in Room
5611, 330 C Street, SW., Washington, D.C., between the hours of 8:30
a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday of each week except Federal
holidays.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7424.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.290 Bilingual
Education: Comprehensive School Grants.)
Dated: February 6, 1995.
Eugene E. Garcia,
Director, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs.
[FR Doc. 95-5037 Filed 3-1-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
