[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2091-2093]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-529]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies; 
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Overview Information; 
Notice Inviting Applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.060A.

    Dates:
    Part I of the Formula Grant Electronic Application System for 
Indian Education (EASIE) Applications Available: January 13, 2011.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Part I Applications: February 14, 2011, 
11:59:59 p.m., Washington, DC time.
    Part II of Formula Grant (EASIE) Applications Available: April 4, 
2011.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Part II Applications: May 6, 2011, 
11:59:59 p.m., Washington, DC time.
    Applicants must meet the deadlines for both Part I and Part II to 
receive funds as part of the initial grant awards, which are expected 
to be issued around July 1, 2011. If there are funds remaining after 
the initial grant awards are made, the Department will give priority to 
applicants that filed a timely application for Part I, but missed the 
deadline for Part II. Applicants that missed the Part I deadline will 
only be funded if there are funds remaining after awards are made to 
all applicants that met the Part I deadline (including those applicants 
that met the Part I deadline, but missed the Part II deadline).
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 5, 2011.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of Program: The Indian Education 
Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies program provides grants to 
support local educational agencies (LEAs) and other eligible entities 
described in this notice in their efforts to reform and improve 
elementary and secondary school programs that serve Indian students. 
The Department funds programs designed to help Indian students meet the 
same State academic content and student academic achievement standards 
used for all students. In addition, under section 7116 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), the 
Secretary will, upon receipt of an acceptable plan for the integration 
of education and related services, authorize the entity receiving the 
funds under this program to consolidate, in accordance with the 
entity's plan, the funds for any Federal program exclusively serving 
Indian children, or the funds reserved under any Federal program to 
exclusively serve Indian children, that are awarded under a statutory 
or administrative formula to the entity, for the purpose of providing 
education and related services to Indian students. Instructions for 
submitting an integration of education and related services plan are 
included in the EASIE described elsewhere in this notice under 
Application Process and Submission Information.

    Note:  Under the Indian Education Formula Grants to Local 
Educational Agencies program, applicants are required to develop the 
project for which application is made (a) in open consultation with 
parents of Indian children and teachers and, if appropriate, Indian 
students from secondary schools, including through public hearings 
held to provide a full opportunity to understand the program and to 
offer recommendations regarding the program (section 7114(c)(3)(C) 
of the ESEA); (b) with the participation of a parent committee 
selected in accordance with section 7114(c)(4) of the ESEA and with 
the written approval of that parent committee (section 7114(c)(4) of 
the ESEA).

    Eligible Applicants: LEAs, including charter schools authorized as 
LEAs under State law, certain schools funded by the Bureau of Indian 
Education of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Indian tribes 
under certain conditions, as prescribed by section 7112(c) of the ESEA.
    Application Process and Submission Information:
    Applications for grants under this program must be submitted 
electronically unless you qualify for an exception to this requirement 
in accordance with the instructions in this section. We will reject 
your application if you submit it in paper format unless, as described 
elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of the exceptions to the 
electronic submission requirement and submit, no later than two weeks 
before the application deadline dates for both Part I and Part II 
applications, a written statement to the Department that you qualify 
for one of these exceptions. Further information regarding calculation 
of the date that is two weeks before the application deadline date is 
provided later in this section under Exception to Electronic Submission 
Requirement.
    Formula Grant EASIE Electronic Application System: Formula Grant 
EASIE is an easy-to-use, electronic application system. It communicates 
with data from State submissions to EDFacts, the Department's data 
collection system that contains performance information from State 
educational agencies about schools and Federal education programs. To 
the extent that your State has provided the necessary EDFacts data 
files, Formula Grant EASIE will be able to interface with EDFacts and 
pull those LEA-specific data into the application. Additionally, this 
system allows the Department to review applications and interact online 
with applicants during the application review and approval process.
    The Formula Grant EASIE application is divided into two parts--Part 
I and Part II.
    Part I, Student Count, provides the appropriate data-entry screens 
to submit your Indian student count totals.
    Part II, Program and Budget Information, provides your award

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amount based on the Indian student count total submitted under Part I. 
Part II also enables you to enter student performance data, identify 
your project's services and activities, and build a realistic program 
budget based on a known grant amount. Based on student assessment data, 
you will select your program objectives and services from a variety of 
menu options that were designed with grantee input.
    Registration for Formula Grant EASIE: Entities are encouraged to 
register as soon as possible at the registration Web site: http://www.easie.org to ensure that any potential registration issues are 
resolved prior to the deadline for the submission of an application. 
The purpose of the initial registration is to re-activate entities' 
access to EASIE and to ensure that the correct entity information 
(e.g., NCES or DUNS numbers) is pre-populated into the first part of 
EASIE. The registration Web site does not serve as the entity's grant 
application. The registration may be completed by current, former, and 
new applicants interested in submitting an Indian Formula Grant EASIE 
application. For information on how to register, contact the EDFacts 
Partner Support Center listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an 
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your 
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application 
through the EASIE system because--
     You do not have access to the Internet; or
     You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to 
the EASIE system; and
     No later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the 
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business 
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement 
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception 
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
    If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be 
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must 
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the 
application deadline date.
    Address and mail or fax your statement to: Bernard Garcia, U.S. 
Department of Education, Office of Indian Education, 400 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., room 3E307, Washington, DC 20202-6335. FAX: (202) 205-
0606. Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the 
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
    Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a 
commercial carrier) your application to the U.S. Department of 
Education, Office of Indian Education. You must mail the original and 
two copies of your application, on or before the application deadline 
date, to the Office of Indian Education at the following address: U.S. 
Department of Education, Office of Indian Education, Attention: CFDA 
Number 84.060A, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 3E307, Washington, DC 
20202-6335.
    You must show proof of mailing consisting of one of the following:
    (1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
    (2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the 
U.S. Postal Service.
    (3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial 
carrier.
    (4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the 
U.S. Department of Education.
    If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do 
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
    (1) A private metered postmark.
    (2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
    If your application is postmarked after the application deadline 
date, we will not consider your application.

    Note:  The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a 
dated postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with 
your local post office.

    Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper 
application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original 
and two copies of your application by hand, on or before the 
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address: 
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Indian Education, Attention: 
CFDA Number 84.060A, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 3E307, Washington, 
DC 20202-6335.
    The Program Office accepts hand deliveries daily between 8:00 a.m. 
and 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, Sundays, and 
Federal holidays.

    Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you 
mail or hand deliver your application to the Department--
    (1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by 
the Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, including 
suffix letter, if any, of the competition under which you are 
submitting your application; and
    (2) The Program Office will mail to you a notification of 
receipt of your grant application. If you do not receive this 
notification within 15 business days from the application deadline 
date, you should call the U.S. Department of Education Office of 
Indian Education at (202) 260-3774.

    Data Universal Numbering System Number, Taxpayer Identification 
Number, and Central Contractor Registry: To do business with the 
Department of Education, you must--
    a. Have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and a 
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN);
    b. Register both your DUNS number and TIN with the Central 
Contractor Registry (CCR), the Government's primary registrant 
database;
    c. Provide your DUNS number and TIN on your application; and
    d. Maintain an active CCR registration with current information 
while your application is under review by the Department and, if you 
are awarded a grant, during the project period.
    You can obtain a DUNS number from Dun and Bradstreet. A DUNS number 
can be created within one business day.
    If you are a corporate entity, agency, institution, or 
organization, you can obtain a TIN from the Internal Revenue Service. 
If you are an individual, you can obtain a TIN from the Internal 
Revenue Service or the Social Security Administration. If you need a 
new TIN, please allow 2-5 weeks for your TIN to become active.
    The CCR registration process may take five or more business days to 
complete. If you are currently registered with the CCR, you may not 
need to make any changes. However, please make certain that the TIN 
associated with your DUNS number is correct. Also note that you will 
need to update your CCR registration on an annual basis. This may take 
three or more business days to complete.
    Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested 
$104,331,000 for this program for FY 2011. The actual level of funding, 
if any, depends on final Congressional action. However, we are inviting 
applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if 
Congress appropriates funds for this program.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $4,000-$2,750,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $82,475.

[[Page 2093]]

    Estimated Number of Awards: 1,265.

    Note:  The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice and funding levels may change based on final appropriations 
for the program.

    Project Period: 12 months.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 
84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

    Note:  The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants 
except federally recognized Indian tribes.

    Performance Measures: The Secretary has established the following 
key performance measures for assessing the effectiveness and efficiency 
of the Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies 
program: (1) The percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native 
students in grades four and eight who score at or above the basic level 
in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); 
(2) the percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native students in 
grades four and eight who score at or above the basic level in 
mathematics on the NAEP; (3) the percentage of American Indian and 
Alaska Native students in grades three through eight meeting State 
performance standards by scoring at the proficient or the advanced 
levels in reading and mathematics on State assessments; (4) the 
difference between the percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native 
students in grades 3 through 8 at the proficient or advanced levels in 
reading and mathematics on State assessments and the percentage of all 
students scoring at those levels; (5) the percentage of American Indian 
and Alaska Native students who graduate from high school; and (6) the 
percentage of funds used by grantees prior to award close-out.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the EDFacts Partner Support 
Center, telephone: 877-457-3336 (877-HLP-EDEN) or by e-mail at: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
EDFacts Partner Support Center, toll free, at 1-888-403-3336 (888-403-
EDEN).
    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) by contacting the EDFacts 
Partner Support Center.
    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. 7421 et seq.

    Dated: January 7, 2011.
Thelma Mel[eacute]ndez de Santa Ana,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2011-529 Filed 1-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P