[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 30 (Monday, February 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7424-7425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3477]



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Part III





Department of Education





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Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools and Communities National Programs; Federal Activities Grant 
Program--Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program 
Coordinators; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 30 / Monday, February 14, 2000 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools and Communities National Programs; Federal Activities Grant 
Program--Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program 
Coordinators

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority, definitions, and selection 
criteria for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 and subsequent years.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces the proposed priority, definitions, 
and selection criteria for FY 2000, and, at the discretion of the 
Secretary, for subsequent years under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools 
and Communities (SDFSC) National Programs Federal Activities Grants 
Program for the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program 
Coordinators competition. The Secretary takes this action to focus 
Federal financial assistance on a national need to recruit, hire, and 
train persons to serve as drug prevention and school safety program 
coordinators in middle schools that have significant drug, discipline 
and violence problems.

DATES: Comments must be received by the Department on or before March 
15, 2000.

ADDRESSES: All comments concerning this proposed priority, definitions, 
and selection criteria should be addressed to Deirdra R. Hilliard, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, 3E256, Washington, DC 
20202-6123. Comments may be sent through the Internet: [email protected]. 
You must include the term ``Middle School Coordinator'' in the subject 
line of your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deirdra R. Hilliard, (202) 260-2643. 
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.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) upon request to the contact person listed above.

    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. A notice 
inviting applications under this competition will be published in 
the Federal Register concurrent with or following the publication of 
the notice of final priority, definitions, and selection criteria. 
The notice inviting applications will specify the date and time by 
which applications for this competition must be received by the 
Department. Applications received after that time will not be 
eligible for funding. Postmarked dates will not be accepted.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation To Comment

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments and 
recommendations regarding this proposed priority, definitions, and 
selection criteria. All comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be available for public inspection, during and after the comment 
period, in Room 3E222, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, between 
the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday 
of each week except Federal holidays. On request, the Department 
supplies an appropriate aid, such as a reader or print magnifier, to an 
individual with a disability that needs assistance to review the 
comments. An individual with a disability who wants to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid may call (202) 205-8113 or (202) 260-
9895. An individual who uses a 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.
    Under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) 
National Programs Federal Activities Grants Program for the Middle 
School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program Coordinators 
competition the Secretary plans to make awards for up to 36 months to 
local educational agencies.
    In making awards under this grant program, the Secretary may take 
into consideration the geographic distribution in addition to the rank 
order of applicants.
    Contingent upon the availability of funds, the Secretary may make 
additional awards in fiscal year 2001 from the rank-ordered list of 
unfunded applications from this competition.

Definitions

    The Secretary proposes that the following definitions apply to this 
competition:
    (a) Middle schools are defined as any school serving students in 
two or more grades from grades five through nine. (Note: Students in 
grades lower than five or higher than nine are not eligible to be 
served under this priority.)
    (b) Local educational agencies (LEAs) with the most significant 
problems in their middle schools are defined as those that have 
identified drug use, drug prevention and school safety as a serious 
problem in their most recent needs assessment and that have taken one 
or more of the following actions within the 12 months preceding the 
date of this announcement:
    (1) Suspended, expelled, or transferred to alternative schools or 
programs at least one middle school student for possession, 
distribution, or use of alcohol or drugs, including tobacco;
    (2) Referred for treatment of substance abuse at least five middle 
school students;
    (3) Suspended, expelled, or transferred to alternative schools or 
programs at least one middle school student for possession or use of a 
firearm or other weapon;
    (4) Suspended, expelled or transferred to alternative schools or 
programs at least five middle school students for physical attacks or 
fights.

Absolute Priority

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c )(3) and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 
Communities 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.
    Under the proposed absolute funding priority for this grant 
competition, LEAs with significant drug, discipline, or school safety 
problems in their middle schools must propose projects that--
    (a) Recruit, hire, and train full-time drug prevention and school 
safety program coordinator(s) for their middle schools with significant 
drug, discipline or school safety problems;
    (b) Require coordinators hired with funds under this priority to 
perform at least the following functions in one or more middle schools 
with significant drug, discipline or school safety problems:
    (1) Identify research-based drug and violence prevention strategies 
and programs;
    (2) Assist schools in adopting the most successful strategies, 
including training of teachers and staff and relevant partners, as 
needed;
    (3) Develop, conduct, and analyze assessments of school crime and 
drug problems;
    (4) Work with community agencies and organizations to ensure that 
students' needs are met;
    (5) Work with parents and students to obtain information about 
effective programs and strategies and encourage their participation in 
program selection and implementation;
    (6) Facilitate evaluation of prevention programs and strategies and 
use findings to modify programs, as needed;

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    (7) Identify additional funding sources for drug prevention and 
school safety program initiatives;
    (8) Provide feedback to SEAs on programs and activities that have 
proven to be successful in reducing drug use and violent behavior;
    (9) Coordinate with student assistance and employee assistance 
programs; and
    (10) Link other educational resources, e.g. Title I compensatory 
education funds, to programs and strategies that serve to create safer, 
more orderly schools; and
    (c) Have measurable goals and objectives and report annually on 
progress toward meeting those goals and objectives.
    Local educational agencies may apply for funding under this 
proposed priority to hire one or more coordinators to serve middle 
schools in the district. Each coordinator hired with funds from this 
grant must:
    (1) Serve at least one middle school but no more than seven middle 
schools;
    (2) Serve only students in two or more grades from grades five 
through nine;

    Note: Students in grades lower than five or higher than nine are 
not eligible to be served under this proposed priority.

    (3) Have no duties other than coordination of drug prevention or 
school safety programs;
    (4) At a minimum, have a degree from an accredited four-year 
institution of higher education and an academic background or 
equivalent work experience in a field related to youth development, 
such as education, psychology, sociology, social work, or nursing.
    LEAs may apply in consortia with one or more adjacent LEAs; 
however, each participating LEA must ensure that all requirements of 
the priority for this competition are met.

Selection Criteria

    The Secretary proposes to use the following selection criteria to 
evaluate applications for new grants under this competition. The 
maximum score for all of these criteria is 100 points.

(1) Need for the Project (25 Points)

    In determining the need for the proposed project, the following 
factor is considered: The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses 
in services, infrastructure, or opportunities have been identified and 
will be addressed by the proposed project, including the nature and 
magnitude of those gaps or weaknesses.

(2) Quality of the Project Design (25 Points)

    In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project, 
the following factors are considered:
    (A) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is 
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target 
population;
    (B) The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build 
capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of 
Federal financial assistance;
    (C) The extent to which the proposed project will establish 
linkages with other appropriate agencies and organizations providing 
services to the target population, including community coalitions;
    (D) The extent to which the proposed project encourages parental 
involvement; and
    (E) The extent to which performance feedback and continuous 
improvement are integral to the design of the proposed project.

(3) Adequacy of Resources (25 Points)

    In determining the adequacy of resources, the following factors are 
considered:
    (A) The adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment, 
supplies, and other resources from the applicant organization or the 
lead applicant organization;
    (B) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the 
number of persons to be served and to the anticipated results and 
benefits;
    (C) The potential for continued support of the project after 
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated 
commitment of appropriate entities to such support; and
    (D) The potential for the incorporation of project purposes, 
activities, or benefits into the ongoing program of the agency or 
organization at the end of federal funding.

(4) Quality of the Project Evaluation (25 Points)

    In determining the quality of the project evaluation, the following 
factors are considered:
    (A) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are appropriate 
to the context within which the project operates;
    (B) The extent to which the methods of evaluation provide for 
examining the effectiveness of project implementation strategies; and
    (C) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide 
performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward 
achieving intended outcomes.

Intergovernmental 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 government for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    In accordance with this order, this document is intended to provide 
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for 
this program.

    Program Authority:  20 U.S.C. 7131

Electronic Access to This Document

    Department of Education documents are published in the Federal 
Register, in text or portable document format (PDF) on the Internet at 
either of the following sites:

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

    To use PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, 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 (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC 
area at (202) 512-1530.

    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.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84-184K, Safe and 
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act National Programs--Federal 
Activities Grants Program)

    Dated: February 9, 2000.
Michael Cohen,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-3477 Filed 2-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U