[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 122 (Friday, June 25, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34225-34226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-16196]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.314B]


Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative Grants

AGENCY: Department of Education

ACTION: Notice to extend deadline for applications for assistance under 
the Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative grant authority, 
and information on cost issues involving those grants.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education announces an extension of the 
deadline for States to apply for a fiscal year (FY) 1999 new award 
under the Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative grant 
authority. In addition, the Secretary will authorize certain pre-award 
costs for grant recipients, and consider State requests for waivers of 
the requirement that only non-Federal funds be used as matching 
resources for the grant under the waiver authority in section 14401 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

DATES: The new deadline for State offices and agencies to submit their 
Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative applications for the 
second stage of this grant competition is October 15, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain further information, contact 
Patricia McKee, Compensatory Education Programs, Office of Elementary 
and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland 
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202-6132; telephone (202) 260-0826; or e-
mail address [email protected].
    Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department published the FY 1999 
application for Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative 
competitive grants in the Federal Register on February 24, 1999 (64 FR 
9229). The Department also published a notice of final priority for 
those grants on the same date (64 FR 9228). The application established 
an original deadline for transmittal of applications for the second 
stage of applications of August 20, 1999.
    First, because of the need to prepare competitive grant 
applications for other Department programs, such as those under the 
Reading Excellence Act, some States have not been able to convene the 
consortium that is required to create the Statewide Initiative plan for 
the Even Start competitive grant application. In recognition of the 
competing demands on States, and in the interest of giving States 
sufficient planning time to prepare high-quality applications and to 
benefit from further technical assistance that the Department will 
provide, the Secretary extends the deadline for the second stage of 
applications for these grants to October 15, 1999.
    Second, the Department's regulations already authorize grant 
recipients to incur allowable pre-award costs up to 90 calendar days 
before the grant award (34 CFR 75.263 and 74.25(e)(1)). In addition, 
for this competition, the Secretary will authorize grant recipients to 
use grant funds to pay certain pre-award costs incurred more than 90 
days before the date of the grant award but no earlier than the date of 
the initial notice soliciting grant applications (February 24, 1999). 
Those authorized pre-award costs are the necessary and reasonable costs 
to establish, convene, and facilitate the required consortium's work in 
creating the plan for the proposed Statewide family literacy 
initiative. All pre-award costs are incurred at the recipient's risk. 
That is, the Secretary is under no obligation to reimburse these costs 
if for any reason the applicant does not receive an award or if the 
award is less than anticipated and inadequate to cover these costs.
    Third, under this grant competition, a State that receives a grant 
for an Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative must contribute 
an amount from non-Federal sources, in cash or in kind, at least equal 
to the Federal funds awarded under the grant. Drawing on

[[Page 34226]]

non-Federal contributions is important to building successful 
collaborative Statewide efforts to strengthen and expand family 
literacy services. However, identifying sufficient resources to meet 
this requirement may be difficult in some instances. In those cases, if 
the State educational agency (SEA) is the applicant State office or 
agency, the SEA may request from the Secretary a waiver under section 
14401 of the ESEA of the requirement that only non-Federal funds may be 
used to match the Federal award. Such a waiver, if approved, would 
allow that State to use Federal resources (such as Head Start, Title I, 
Adult Education Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and 
Reading Excellence Act resources), in addition to non-Federal 
resources, to meet the matching requirement.
    Any waiver request must meet the required criteria in section 14401 
by, among other things, identifying how the waiver would contribute to 
improvements in teaching and learning. Applicants seeking a waiver of 
the requirement for non-Federal matching resources should include their 
waiver request with their application. To receive assistance concerning 
a waiver request, potential waiver applicants may call the Department's 
Waiver Assistance Line at (202) 401-7801 or 1-800-USA-LEARN, or the 
program contact above. Waiver guidance, including information about 
preparing a request, is also available in the Department's on-line 
library at http://www.ed.gov/flexibility.

Electronic Access to This Document

    Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or 
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

    To use the pdf, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program, 
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 
toll free at 1-888-293-6498.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6362(c).

    Dated: June 22, 1999.
Judith Johnson,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 99-16196 Filed 6-24-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U