[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5135-5137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2175]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools


Overview Information: Elementary and Secondary School Counseling 
Programs Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2004.

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.215E.

DATES: Applications Available: February 3, 2004.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 19, 2004.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 18, 2004.
    Eligible applicants: Local educational agencies.
    Estimated available funds: $11,500,000. Contingent upon the 
availability of funds, the Secretary may make additional awards in FY 
2005 from the rank-ordered list of unfunded applicants from this 
competition.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000-$400,000.
    Maximum Award: Section 5421(a)(5) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 
2001, 20 U.S.C. 7245 (ESEA) limits the amount of a grant under this 
program in any one year to a maximum of $400,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 35.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice.

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.

I. Full Text of Announcement

    Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Elementary and Secondary 
School Counseling program is to award grants to local educational 
agencies for the purpose of establishing or expanding elementary and 
secondary school counseling programs.
    Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(iv), this priority 
is from Section 5421 of the ESEA.
    Absolute Priority: For FY 2004 this priority is an absolute 
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications that 
meet this priority.
    This priority is: the establishment or expansion of elementary 
school counseling programs. Under 34 CFR part 77, an elementary school 
is a day or residential school that provides elementary education, as 
determined under State law. Applicants must also address the 
requirements in section 5421(c)(2) of the ESEA. A copy of the statute 
authorizing this competition is included in the application package.
    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7245.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 
82, 84, 85, 97, 98, 99, and 299.

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
    Estimated Available Funds: $11,500,000. Contingent upon the 
availability of funds, the Secretary may make additional awards in FY 
2005 from the rank-ordered list of unfunded applicants from this 
competition.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000-$400,000.
    Maximum Award: Section 5421(a)(5) of the ESEA limits the amount of 
a grant under this program in any one year to a maximum of $400,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 35.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice.

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: Local educational agencies.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not involve cost 
sharing or matching, but does involve supplement-not-supplant funding 
provisions. Section 5421(b)(2)(G) of the

[[Page 5136]]

ESEA requires applicants under the program to assure that program funds 
will be used to supplement, and not supplant, any other Federal, State, 
or local funds used for providing school-based counseling and mental 
health services to students.
    3. Other: Section 5421(g)(2) of the ESEA requires that for any 
fiscal year in which the amount available for this program is less than 
$40,000,000 the Secretary makes grants to local educational agencies 
only to establish or expand counseling programs in elementary schools. 
The FY 2004 appropriation for this program is $33,799,400. Therefore, 
under this notice applicants must propose projects that establish or 
expand counseling programs only in elementary schools.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: Paper copies of 
applications for this program are available from the Education 
Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, Maryland 20794-
1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-7827. Fax: (301) 470-1244. If 
you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call 
(toll free): 1-877-576-7734.
    You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edupubs.html or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address, 
[email protected], in order to request a paper copy of the application 
for this program.
    If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify 
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.215E.
    The application package for this program is also available to be 
downloaded from the Department's Web site at: http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/grantapps/index.html. The application package is available 
in both PDF and WORD formats.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package for this program in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large 
print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on request to the program 
contact person listed under For Further Information Contact elsewhere 
in this notice.
    2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements 
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you 
must submit, are in the application package for this program.
    3. Submission Dates and Times: Applications Available: February 3, 
2004.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 19, 2004. The dates 
and times for the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand 
(including a courier service or commercial carrier) are in the 
application package for this program. The application package also 
specifies the hours of operation of the e-Application Web site.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 18, 2004.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive 
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about 
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 
12372 is in the application package for this program.
    5. Funding Restrictions: Section 5421(d) of the ESEA requires that 
no more than four percent of a grant award may be used for 
administrative costs to carry out the project.
    6. Other Submission Requirements: Instructions and requirements for 
the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including a courier 
service or commercial carrier) are in the application package for this 
program.

Application Procedures

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting applications differ from those in the Education 
Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR 
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make 
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy. 
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined 
that proposed rulemaking is not required.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

    We are continuing to expand our pilot project for electronic 
submission of applications to include additional formula grant programs 
and additional discretionary grant competitions. Elementary and 
Secondary School Counseling Programs--CFDA 84.215E is one of the 
programs included in the pilot project. If you have an applicant under 
Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs, you may submit 
your application to us in either electronic or paper format.
    The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant 
Application System (e-Application). If you use e-Application, you will 
be entering data online while completing your application. You may not 
e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us. If you 
participate in this voluntary pilot project by submitting an 
application electronically, the data you enter online will be saved 
into a database. We request your participation in e-Application. We 
will continue to evaluate its success and solicit suggestions for its 
improvement.
    If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
     Your participation is voluntary.
     When you enter the e-Application system, you 
will find information about its hours of operation. We strongly 
recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline date to 
initiate an e-Application package.
     You will not receive additional point value 
because you submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will 
we penalize you if you submit an application in paper format.
     You may submit all documents electronically, 
including the Application for Federal Education Assistance (ED 424), 
Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all 
necessary assurances and certifications.
     Your e-Application must comply with any page 
limit requirements described in this notice.
     After you electronically submit your 
application, you will receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will 
include a PR/Award number (an identifying number unique to your 
application).
     Within three working days after submitting your 
electronic application, fax a signed copy of the Application for 
Federal Education Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center 
after following these steps:
    1. Print ED 424 from e-Application.
    2. The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this 
form.
    3. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the 
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
    4. Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at (202) 
260-1349.
     We may request that you give us original 
signatures on other forms at a later date.

Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability

    If you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for 
Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs and you are 
prevented from submitting your application on the application deadline 
date because the e-Application

[[Page 5137]]

system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension of one business 
day in order to transmit your application electronically, by mail, or 
by hand delivery. We will grant this extension if-
    1. You are a registered user of e-Application, and have initiated 
an e-Application for this competition; and
    2. (a) The e-Application system is unavailable for 60 minutes or 
more between the house of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date; or
    (b) The e-Application system is unavailable for any period of time 
during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time 
between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the 
application deadline date.
    We must acknowledge and confirm these periods of unavailability 
before granting you an extension. To request this extension or to 
confirm our acknowledgement of any system unavailability, you may 
contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in this notice under For 
Further Information Contact (see VII. Agency Contact) or (2) the e-
GRANTS help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
    You may access the electronic grant application for Elementary and 
Secondary School Counseling Programs at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.

V. Application Review Information

    1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are 
in the application package.
    2. Review and Selection Process: Applicants also must address the 
requirements in section 5421(c)(2) of the ESEA.

VI. Award Administration Information

    1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your 
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice 
(GAN). We may also notify you informally.
    If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, 
we notify you.
    2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify 
administrative and national policy requirements in the application 
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable 
Regulations section of this notice.
    We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of 
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and 
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also 
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding 
commitments under the grant.
    3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a 
final performance report. If you receive a multi-year award, you must 
submit an annual report that provides the most current performance and 
financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in 34 
CFR 75.118.
    4. Performance Measures: The Secretary has established the 
following performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the 
Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs: (1) The percentage 
of grantees closing the gap between their student/mental health 
professional ratios and student/mental health professional ratios 
recommended by the American School Health Association will increase; 
and (2) the number of referrals/suspensions for disciplinary reasons 
for students receiving counseling under the program will decrease. 
These two measures constitute the Department's indicators of success 
for this program. Consequently, applicants for a grant under this 
program are advised to give careful consideration to these two outcomes 
in conceptualizing the design, implementation, and evaluation of their 
proposed project. If funded, applicants will be asked to collect and 
report data in their annual performance reports about progress toward 
these goals. The Secretary will also use this information to respond to 
reporting requirements concerning this program established in Section 
5421(f) of the ESEA.

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Loretta McDaniel, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E220, Washington, DC 20202-
6450. Telephone: (202) 260-2661, or by e-mail: [email protected].
    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 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this 
section.

VIII. Other Information

    Electronic Access to This Document: You may 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. If you have questions about using 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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: January 29, 2004.
William Modzeleski,
Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
[FR Doc. 04-2175 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P