2010-9515. Small, Rural School Achievement Program

AGENCY:

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION:

Notice announcing application deadline.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.358A.

SUMMARY:

Under the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) Program, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) awards grants on a formula basis to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) to address the unique needs of rural school districts. In this notice, we establish the deadline for submission of fiscal year (FY) 2010 SRSA grant applications.

DATES:

The deadline for transmittal of electronic applications is June 30, 2010, 4:30:00 p.m. Washington, DC time.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Eric Schulz, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 3W107, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: [phone] or by e-mail: [e-mail].

If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Which LEAs Are Eligible for an Award Under the SRSA Program?

An LEA (including a public charter school that is considered an LEA under State law) is eligible for an award under the SRSA program if—

(a) The total number of students in average daily attendance at all of the schools served by the LEA is fewer than 600, or each county in which a school served by the LEA is located has a total population density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile; and

(b) All of the schools served by the LEA are designated with a school locale code of 7 or 8 by the Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), or the Secretary has determined, based on a demonstration by the LEA and concurrence of the State educational agency, that the LEA is located in an area defined as rural by a governmental agency of the State.

The school locale codes are the locale codes determined on the basis of the NCES school code methodology in place on the date of enactment of section 6211(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Which Eligible LEAs Must Submit an Application To Receive an FY 2010 SRSA Grant Award?

An eligible LEA must submit an application to receive an FY 2010 SRSA grant award if it falls under any of the following categories:

1. The LEA never submitted an application for SRSA funds in any prior year;

2. The LEA received an SRSA grant for FY 2007, and, as of December 31, 2009, had not drawn down from the Department's Grant Administration and Payment System any of its FY 2007 SRSA funds;

3. The LEA was identified in a prior year on the SRSA eligibility spreadsheets as needing to re-apply for SRSA because of the absence of drawdown activity, but did not do so.

Under the regulations in 34 CFR 75.104(a), the Secretary makes grants only to an eligible party that submits an application. Given the limited purpose served by the application under the SRSA program, the Secretary considers the application requirement to be met if an LEA submitted an SRSA application for any prior year and does not fall under any of the categories listed above requiring the submission of a new application. In this circumstance, unless an LEA advises the Secretary by the application deadline that it is withdrawing its application, the Secretary deems the application that an LEA previously submitted to remain in effect for FY 2010 funding, and the LEA does not have to submit an additional application.

We intend to provide, by April 15, 2010, a list of LEAs eligible for FY 2010 funds on the Department's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/​programs/​reapsrsa/​eligibility.html. Eligible LEAs that must submit a new electronic application to the Department to receive an FY 2010 SRSA grant award will be highlighted on the list in yellow. The list will also include eligible LEAs that are considered already to have met the application requirement.

Eligible LEAs needing to submit a new application in order to receive FY 2010 SRSA funds must do so electronically by the deadline established in this notice.

Electronic Submission of Applications

An eligible LEA that is required to submit an application to receive FY 2010 SRSA funds (in other words, an LEA that did not submit an application in a prior year, or was identified in a prior year as needing to re-apply because of the absence of drawdown activity) must submit an electronic application by June 30, 2010, 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time. If it submits its application after this deadline, the LEA will receive a grant award only to the extent that funds are available after the Department awards grants to other eligible LEAs under the program.

Submission of an electronic application involves the use of the Department's Electronic Grant Application System (e-Application) available through the Department's e-GRANTS system.

You can access the electronic application for the SRSA Program at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.

When you access this site, you will receive specific instructions regarding the information to include in your application.

The hours of operation of the e-Grants Web site are 6:00 a.m. Monday until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday; and 6:00 a.m. Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, Washington, DC time. Please note that, because of maintenance, the system is unavailable between 8:00 p.m. on Sundays and 6:00 a.m. on Mondays, and between 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and 6:00 a.m. on Thursdays, Washington, DC time. Any modifications to these hours are posted on the e-Grants Web site.

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 computer diskette) on request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Electronic Access To This Document: You can 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.

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.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7345-7345b.

Dated: April 20, 2010.

Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana,

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.