[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 97 (Tuesday, May 20, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28917-28918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11669]


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

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the 
Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program

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

ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension of the project period.

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

SUMMARY: For the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy program, the 
Secretary proposes to: (1) Waive the restriction against project period 
extensions involving the obligation of additional Federal funds; and 
(2) extend the project period for a grantee that only requested three 
out of a possible five years of funding. The Secretary proposes this 
action because additional funds are available from the fiscal year (FY) 
2014 appropriation to support this extension and we believe that it 
would be in the public interest to support continued funding of the 
affected project. This proposed extension would support the affected 
grantee in its efforts to fully implement its State Literacy Plan, as 
well as to continue its sustainability efforts and program activities.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before June 19, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed waiver and 
extension of the project period to Rosemary Fennell, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3E228, Washington, DC 20202-
6200.
    If you prefer to send your comments by email, use the following 
address: [email protected]. You must include the phrase 
``Proposed waiver and extension of the project period'' in the subject 
line of your message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rosemary Fennell by telephone at (202) 
401-2425 or by email at: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding 
this proposed waiver and extension of the project period.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this proposed waiver and extension in Room 3E228, 400 
Maryland Avenue SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 
4:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week 
except Federal holidays.
    Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the 
Rulemaking Record: On request we will provide an appropriate 
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who 
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the 
public rulemaking record for this proposed waiver and extension. If you 
want to schedule an appointment for this type of accommodation or 
auxiliary aid, please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

Background

    In FY 2010, Congress appropriated $200 million to support 
establishment of a comprehensive literacy development and education 
program through the Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 111-117, 
``the Act'') under section 1502 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). The purpose of the Striving 
Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant program (SRCL) is to advance 
literacy skills--including pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing--
for students from birth through grade 12, including limited-English-
proficient students and students with disabilities. Section 1502 of the 
ESEA provides the authority for demonstration programs, like SRCL, that 
show promise of enabling children to meet challenging academic content 
and achievement standards. SRCL funds are awarded through multiple 
funding streams--formula grants, discretionary grants and set-aside--
for the common purpose of advancing literacy skills. The FY 2010 
formula grant program awarded $10 million to 46 States, the District of 
Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to assist States in 
creating or maintaining a State Literacy Team of at least nine members 
with expertise in literacy development and education for children from 
birth through grade 12 to assist the State in developing a 
comprehensive literacy plan.
    FY 2010 funds also were distributed through a discretionary grant 
competition conducted in FY 2011 to six State educational agencies 
(SEAs), and through set aside grants to the Bureau of Indian Education 
(BIE) and four Outlying Areas--American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. The U.S. 
Department of Education (the Department) announced this discretionary 
grant competition in a notice inviting applications that was published 
in the Federal Register on March 10, 2011 (76 FR 13143) (March 2011 
NIA). The purpose of the discretionary grants to SEAs and the set 
asides to BIE and the Outlying Areas is to encourage these entities to 
take a comprehensive approach to literacy that includes pre-literacy, 
reading, and writing skills for all students--including disadvantaged 
students, limited-English proficient students, and students with 
disabilities--from birth to grade 12.
    The grants awarded under the FY 2011 competition were for a project 
period of up to five years. The Department indicated in the March 2011 
NIA that it planned to make continuation awards in accordance with 
section 75.253 of the Education Department's General Administrative 
Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR 75.253), depending on the availability of 
funds.
    Five of the six SEA grantees funded under the FY 2011 grant 
competition submitted a budget for all five years of the grant period. 
One grantee, the Montana Department of Education, submitted a budget 
request for only three years, believing that it could request funding 
for years 4 and 5 after receiving a grant award. On March 25, 2014, the 
Montana Department of Education, Office of Public Instruction requested 
to extend its project period for an additional two years.
    The Secretary proposes to waive the requirement of 34 CFR 75.261(a) 
and (c)(2) of EDGAR that generally prohibits project period extensions 
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. The Secretary 
also proposes to extend the current Montana SRCL project period for an 
additional 24 months. This

[[Page 28918]]

would allow the grantee to seek a continuation award for FY 2014 and FY 
2015.
    The FY 2014 appropriation contained sufficient funding to continue 
Montana's grant. The appropriation for the SRCL program included $158 
million, an increase of approximately $6 million over the FY 2013 
funding level. Based on this modest increase, the Department does not 
plan to conduct a new competition in FY 2014, as there are insufficient 
funds to provide continuation awards and to fund new grantees.
    We believe it best serves the interests of the Department and the 
public to ensure the full cohort of grantees, including Montana, the 
opportunity to complete a five-year program, as originally intended in 
the March 2011 NIA, to get the best data on promising literacy 
practices that can be implemented nationwide. Providing Montana an 
opportunity for an additional two years of funding, and in turn an 
additional two years of data on implementation, is consistent with the 
underlying purpose of the SRCL program funded under the Section 1502 
demonstration authority: To provide data on the results of promising 
literacy practices implemented under the SRCL program.
    Additionally, the Montana Department of Education's SRCL project is 
at a critical point; the State is working with participating local 
education agencies (LEA) to fully implement the State Literacy Plan, 
and to implement sustainability efforts and activities. The Montana 
SRCL Implementation Team continues it work to assess and evaluate the 
effectiveness of the implementation of the State Literacy Plan, and 
continues to identify and provide the support and resources necessary 
to ensure processes and systems created through the SRCL program are 
sustainable. The Montana Department of Education has used data-driven 
decisions, through its evaluation and assessment activities, to make 
improvements to the SRCL program across 10 LEAs and 32 schools. Without 
an extension of the project period to allow for the work that will lead 
to sustainability and full implementation of the State Literacy Plan, 
the SRCL program may cease in some LEAs and be greatly curtailed in 
others.
    Therefore, to ensure continuity and stability of the SRCL program 
in Montana, we propose to waive the requirement of 34 CFR 75.261(a) and 
(c)(2) of EDGAR to extend the Montana Department of Education's SRCL 
project for two additional years. This two-year extension of the 
project period would ensure seamless program delivery to the sub-
grantees awarded under the Montana Department of Education SRCL grant 
award, as well as data on project implementation.
    If the waiver of the requirement of 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2) of 
EDGAR that we propose in this proposed waiver and extension is 
announced by the Department in a final proposed waiver and extension, 
the requirements applicable to continuation awards for current SRCL 
grantees and the requirements in section 75.253 of EDGAR would apply to 
any continuation awards made to current SRCL grantees, including the 
Montana Department of Education.
    If we announce this proposed waiver and extension of the project 
period as final, we would use the process stated in the March 2011 NIA 
and the regulations in 34 CFR 75.253 to make continuation awards based 
on information that each grantee provides, indicating that each grantee 
is making substantial progress performing its SRCL grant activities and 
is showing improvement against baseline data on specific indicators 
listed in the March 2011 NIA.
    Any activities to be carried out during the remaining continuation 
years of the SRCL award must be consistent with, or be a logical 
extension of, the scope, goals, and objectives of each grantee's 
application as approved in the FY 2011 SRCL competition. Under this 
proposed waiver and extension, the project period for the Montana SRCL 
grantees would be extended through September 30, 2016--the same project 
period for all SRCL grantees.
    We will announce the final waiver and extension of the proposed 
project period in the Federal Register. We will determine the final 
waiver and extension of the proposed project period after considering 
responses to this proposed waiver and extension, and other information 
available to the Department.

    Note: This proposed waiver and extension does not solicit 
applications.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that this proposed waiver and extension of 
the activities required to support additional years of funding would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The entities that would be affected by this proposed waiver 
and extension are the current SRCL grantees receiving Federal funds and 
any other potential applicants.
    The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension 
would not have a significant economic impact on these entities because 
the proposed waiver and extension impose minimal compliance costs to 
extend a single project already in existence, and the activities 
required to support the additional years of funding would not impose 
additional regulatory burdens or require unnecessary Federal 
supervision.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This proposed waiver and extension of the period does not contain 
any information collection requirements.
    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.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: May 15, 2014.
Deborah Delisle,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2014-11669 Filed 5-19-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P