[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 67 (Thursday, April 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18200-18201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8452]



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Part VI





Department of Education





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

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 67 / Thursday, April 6, 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--Middle 
School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program Coordinators Grant 
Competition

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Notice of final priority, definitions, and selection criteria.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces a final priority, definitions, and 
selection criteria for fiscal year (FY) 2000 under the Safe and Drug-
Free Schools and Communities--National Programs--Federal Activities-
Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program Coordinators 
Grant Competition. The Secretary may use this priority, definitions, 
and selection criteria for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2001 and 
later years. The Secretary takes this action to focus Federal financial 
assistance on a national need to recruit, hire and train drug 
prevention and school safety program coordinators in middle schools 
that have significant drug, discipline and violence problems.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This priority, definitions, and selection criteria are 
effective May 8, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deirdra Hilliard, Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools Program, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, 
SW., Room 3E256, Washington, DC 20202-6123. Telephone: (202) 260-2643. 
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you 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.

    Note: This notice of final priority does not solicit 
applications. A notice inviting applications under this competition 
is published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. 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: The Secretary published a notice of proposed 
priority, definitions, and selection criteria for this competition in 
the Federal Register on February 14, 2000 (65 FR 7424-7425). Except for 
minor editorial revisions, there are no differences between the notice 
of proposed priority, definitions, and selection criteria and this 
notice of final priority, definitions, and selection criteria.

Public Comment

    In the notice of proposed priority, definitions, and selection 
criteria, the Secretary invited comments on the proposed priority, 
definitions, and selection criteria. We did not receive any comments.
    Definitions: 1. 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 the absolute priority for the competition in this 
notice.
    2. 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 serious 
problems 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.
    General: In making awards under this grant program, the Secretary 
may take into consideration the geographic distribution of the projects 
in addition to the rank order of applicants.
    Contingent upon the availability of funds, the Secretary may make 
additional awards in FY 2001 from the rank-ordered list of nonfunded 
applications from this competition.
    Priority: Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and the Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools and Communities Act of 1994, the Secretary gives an absolute 
preference to applications that meet the following priority and funds 
under this competition only applications that meet this absolute 
priority.
    Under the 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;
    (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 
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 priority.


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    (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 uses the following selection criteria to evaluate 
applications for new grants under this competition. The maximum score 
for all of these criteria is 100 points. The maximum score for each 
criterion or factor under that criterion is indicated in parentheses.
    (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 in the development and implementation of the project; 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 Executive 
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the 
objectives of the Executive Order is to foster an intergovernmental 
partnership and a strengthened federalism. The Executive order relies 
on processes developed by State and local governments for coordination 
and review of proposed Federal financial assistance.
    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
actions for this program.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html
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    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

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.184K, Safe and 
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act--National Programs--Federal 
Activities--Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program 
Coordinators Grant Competition)

    Dated: March 31, 2000.
Michael Cohen,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-8452 Filed 4-5-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U