[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90343-90354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29936]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Applications for New Awards; Opening Doors, Expanding 
Opportunities

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

ACTION: Notice.

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Overview Information:
Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities
Notice inviting applications for new awards using fiscal year (FY) 2016 
funds.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.377C.

DATES: 
Applications Available: December 14, 2016.
Date of Pre-Application Webinar: January 5, 2017.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply (optional): January 13, 2017.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 13, 2017.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 13, 2017.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

Purpose of Program
    In an effort to support the implementation of effective school 
improvement strategies, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) 
is using a portion of its FY 2016 School Improvement Grants (SIG) 
national activities funds to initiate the FY 2017 grant competition for 
the Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities program. This program 
supports Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) \1\ and their communities in 
preparing to implement innovative, effective, ambitious, comprehensive, 
and locally driven strategies to increase socioeconomic diversity in 
schools and LEAs as a means to improve the achievement of students in 
the lowest-performing schools.\2\ Through the Opening Doors,

[[Page 90344]]

Expanding Opportunities program, the Department will support LEAs in 
two different stages of increasing socioeconomic diversity in their 
schools. First, this program supports an LEA, or a consortium of LEAs, 
to: (1) Analyze existing challenges and devise potential solutions for 
increasing socioeconomic diversity in their schools; and (2) create a 
blueprint for improving academic outcomes for students in their lowest-
performing schools by substantially increasing socioeconomic diversity, 
as referenced above, in their lowest-performing schools by the end of 
the 2025-2026 school year and a strategy for implementing that 
blueprint. Second, this program supports an LEA, or a consortium of 
LEAs, that have existing or established efforts to improve student 
outcomes by increasing socioeconomic diversity, to: (1) Analyze 
existing challenges and devise potential solutions for further 
increasing socioeconomic diversity in their schools; (2) publish a 
blueprint for building on these existing efforts to improve academic 
outcomes for students in their lowest-performing schools by 
substantially increasing and maintaining socioeconomic diversity in 
their lowest-performing schools by the end of the 2025-2026 school 
year; and (3) execute one or more Pre-Implementation Activities that 
will contribute to the possible full implementation of the blueprint 
after the grant period.
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    \1\ Defined terms are used throughout the notice and are 
indicated by capitalization.
    \2\ Note that applicants may address various types of diversity. 
If racial or ethnic diversity is considered it should be one of many 
factors in accordance with the ``Guidance on the Voluntary Use of 
Race to Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary 
and Secondary Schools,'' released by the U.S. Department of 
Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the U.S. Department of 
Justice on December 2, 2011. http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/guidance-ese-201111.html.
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    The resulting blueprints will: (1) Provide a publicly available 
implementation plan for the grantee LEAs and their communities to 
support efforts to increase the socioeconomic diversity in their 
schools; (2) serve as a resource for local and State policy decisions 
that could reduce barriers to, and build support for, increasing 
socioeconomic diversity in schools; and (3) serve as a resource for 
other communities considering similar approaches.
    The Department also intends to provide technical assistance to 
grantees during the grant period, which will include a community of 
practice with opportunities for collaborative planning and problem 
solving with other grantees and experts in the field.
Background
    The SIG program, authorized under section 1003(g) of Title I of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by 
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), provides resources in 
order to substantially raise the achievement of students in the lowest-
performing schools. Since FY 2012, Congress has authorized the 
Department to reserve up to five percent of the SIG appropriations to 
carry out activities to build State and LEA capacity to implement the 
SIG program effectively. These funds are used to build upon the school 
improvement work that States and LEAs have been doing with SIG funds in 
order to raise the achievement of students in SIG Schools. The 
Department has used its national activities reservation to support 
SEAs, LEAs, and schools in increasing the effectiveness of their school 
improvement activities, including through activities that support the 
preparation and development of school leaders who lead turnaround 
efforts; the development of early warning indicator systems to help 
identify students at risk of dropout early on to provide appropriate 
interventions as soon as possible; efforts to strengthen community 
partnerships in low-performing schools with AmeriCorps service members; 
and the incorporation of arts into school turnaround efforts. The 
Department will take the lessons it has learned from the investments it 
has made to date, and with this notice apply it to the school 
improvement efforts it will undertake as it seeks to support State and 
local implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which 
calls for all States to target attention and resources to their lowest 
performing schools, those with chronic underperformance among student 
subgroups, and high schools with low graduation rates.
    Increasing student diversity is one of many potentially beneficial 
strategies for improving low-performing schools. As outlined in this 
section, studies of recent initiatives to increase student diversity 
indicate that such efforts may improve student achievement and may 
particularly benefit students from low-income households. Furthermore, 
increasing student diversity has the potential to further support 
whole-school reform models implemented in SIG Schools. Diverse learning 
environments can serve as engines of social mobility. Unfortunately, 
our Nation's schools are becoming less diverse and more segregated each 
year. More than sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education, public 
schools continue to be separate and unequal, with recent research 
showing that America's schools are more segregated, not only by 
students' race, but also socioeconomic status, than they were in the 
late 1960s.\3\ For example, nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of our 
Nation's public school students attend high-poverty schools (75-100 
percent poverty level).\4\ In many cases, high-poverty schools are in 
high-poverty LEAs (75-100 percent poverty level).\5\ Specifically as it 
relates to the SIG program, when compared to all public elementary and 
secondary schools, SIG-Eligible Schools were more likely to be high-
poverty (72 percent of students in SIG-Eligible Schools were eligible 
for free or reduced-price lunch compared to 47 percent of students 
nationwide).\6\
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    \3\ Orfield, G., Frankenberg, E., Jongyeon, E., & Kuscera, J. 
(2014). Brown at 62: Great Progress, a Long Retreat and an Uncertain 
Future. Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, May 2014 
(revised version May 15, 2014).
    \4\ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 
Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), ``Public Elementary/Secondary 
School Universe Survey,'' 2010-11. See Digest of Education 
Statistics 2012. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/pubschuniv.asp.
    \5\ Owens, A, Reardon, S.F., & Jencks, C. (2016). Income 
Segregation between Schools and Districts, 1990 to 2010. Stanford 
Center for Education Policy Analysis. Retrieved from: http://cepa.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/wp16-04-v201602.pdf.
    \6\ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 
Statistics, ``School Improvement Grants: Analyses of State 
Applications and Eligible and Awarded Schools,'' 2012. http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20124060/.
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    These data reflect inequities that can have detrimental impacts on 
children and communities. Studies have shown that students from low-
income households enter kindergarten far behind their middle- and 
upper-income peers. For example, cognitive and socio-emotional skill 
gaps between low-income and middle-class children are evident by 
kindergarten entry, and these gaps persist through the beginning of 
high school.\7\ Disadvantaged children still enter kindergarten with 
fewer academic and behavioral skills than their more advantaged peers, 
though the

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academic skills gap narrowed between 1998 and 2010.\8\ The academic 
skills gaps between low- and high-socioeconomic status children are 
larger than the skills gaps between non-white and white students.\9\
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    \7\ Noble, K.G., Norman, M.F., & Farah, M.J. (2005). 
``Neurocognitive correlates of socioeconomic status in kindergarten 
children.'' Developmental Science, 8(1), 74-78;
    Hackman, D.A., & Farah, M.J. (2009). ``Socioeconomic status and 
the developing brain.'' Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(2), 65-73. 
doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.11.003;
    Hughes, C., Ensor, R., Wilson, A., & Graham, A. (2010). 
``Tracking executive function across the transition to school: A 
latent variable approach.'' Developmental Neuropsychology, 35(1), 
20-36. doi:10.1080/87565640903325691;
    Council of Economic Advisers. (2016). 2016 Economic Report of 
the President. Accessed from https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/ERP_2016; Isaaacs, J.B. (2012). Starting School 
at a Disadvantage: The School Readiness of Poor Children. 
Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Accessed from 
www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0319_school_disadvantage_isaacs.pdf.
    \8\ Reardon, S.F. & Portilla, X.A. (2016). ``Recent trends in 
income, racial, and ethnic school readiness gaps at kindergarten 
entry.'' AERA Open, 2(3), 1-18.
    \9\ Reardon & Portilla (2016).
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    Multiple studies indicate that increasing student diversity, 
through socioeconomic diversity and other means, is one strategy that 
holds promise for supporting efforts to improve low-performing schools. 
One study showed that low-income children gain more language and 
mathematics skills from preschool if they attend preschools with 
children from economically diverse backgrounds.\10\ In addition, 
students from low-income households attending more affluent schools 
have been found to have higher mathematics and science scores than 
similar students from low-income households attending high-poverty 
schools. For example, average scale scores on the 2009 National 
Assessment of Educational Progress Fourth Grade Mathematics assessment 
\11\ were about 240 for low-income students in schools with 1-25 
percent low-income students in the school, compared to about 220 for 
low-income students in schools with 76-99 percent low-income students 
in the school.\12\ Moreover, students who attend low-poverty schools 
are nearly 70 percent more likely to enroll in a four-year college than 
students who attend high-poverty schools; mediating factors include 
peer effects and school effects (such as a schoolwide emphasis on 
academics).\13\
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    \10\ Reid, J.L. (2012). ``Socioeconomic Diversity and Early 
Learning: The Missing Link in Policy for High-Quality Preschools.'' 
In R. Kahlenberg (Ed.), The Future of School Integration: 67-125.
    \11\ For more information about how to interpret NAEP scores, 
you may wish to visit the following Web site: https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/mathematics/interpret_results.aspx.
    \12\ Mantil, A., Perkins, A.G., & Aberger, S. (2012). ``The 
Challenge of High-Poverty Schools: How Feasible Is Socioeconomic 
School Integration?'' In R. Kahlenberg (Ed.), The Future of School 
Integration: 155-222.
    \13\ Palardy, G.J. (2013). ``High School Socioeconomic 
Segregation and Student Attainment.'' American Educational Research 
Journal: 714-754.
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    Although the Department anticipates that applicants will propose to 
develop approaches best suited to their local context, it is worth 
illuminating a few examples of efforts to increase student diversity. 
Data on one effort that increased socioeconomic diversity in Montgomery 
County, Maryland, schools \14\ shows that after five to seven years, 
students in public housing who were randomly assigned to low-poverty 
elementary schools significantly outperformed their peers in public 
housing who attended moderate-poverty elementary schools in both 
mathematics and reading.\15\ Additionally, some districts with 
longstanding socioeconomic integration programs, such as the Cambridge 
Public School District, have seen steadily rising scores on State 
assessments and high school graduation rates.\16\ Inter-district 
policies also hold promise to reduce the number of high-poverty 
schools.\17\
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    \14\ This policy allows the public housing authority to purchase 
one-third of the inclusionary zoning homes in each subdivision to 
operate as federally subsidized public housing, which enables 
students from low-income households who occupy those public housing 
units to attend schools in that neighborhood-based attendance zone.
    \15\ Schwartz, H. (2012). ``Housing Policy is School Policy: 
Economically Integrative Housing Promotes Academic Success in 
Montgomery County, Maryland.'' In R. Kahlenberg (Ed.), The Future of 
School Integration: 27-66.
    \16\ Potter, H., Quick, K, & Davies, E. (2016). ``A New Wave of 
School Integration: Districts and Charters Pursuing Socioeconomic 
Diversity.'' The Century Foundation. Retrieved from: https://tcf.org/content/report/a-new-wave-of-school-integration/.
    \17\ Mantil, A., Perkins, A.G., & Aberger, S. (2012). ``The 
Challenge of High-Poverty Schools: How Feasible Is Socioeconomic 
School Integration?'' The Future of School Integration: 155-222.
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    Therefore, as Secretary King recently noted, ``A number of 
promising examples demonstrate what research has shown: increasing 
diversity has the power to pay off for everyone. From corporate boards 
to the scientific world, there are increasing indications that 
diversity isn't just a feel-good nicety--it's a clear path to better 
outcomes in school and in life.'' \18\ As the above instances show, 
although student diversity in our Nation's public schools remains 
alarmingly low, there are several examples of policies that have 
increased diversity in schools. In addition to the examples mentioned 
above, some LEAs currently use socioeconomic status as a consideration 
in student school assignment, including strategies such as attendance 
zone boundaries, district-wide choice policies, magnet school 
opportunities, and transfer policies. Some charter school operators 
across the country also consider socioeconomic status in their 
admissions policies.\19\
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    \18\ King, J. (2016). ``Stronger Together: Why Our Budget 
Supports Voluntary, Community-led Efforts to Increase 
Diversity.''Medium. https://medium.com/@JohnKingAtED/stronger-together-why-our-budget-supports-voluntary-community-led-efforts-to-increase-diversity-53b45a5f49df#.n9h807fre.
    \19\ Potter, H., Quick, K, & Davies, E. (2016). ``A New Wave of 
School Integration: Districts and Charters Pursuing Socioeconomic 
Diversity.'' The Century Foundation, 2016. Retrieved from: https://tcf.org/content/report/a-new-wave-of-school-integration/.
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    Through the Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities program, the 
Department invites interested LEAs and consortia of LEAs to apply for 
funding to develop ambitious blueprints focused on improving academic 
outcomes for students in SIG Schools or SIG-Eligible Schools by 
systematically increasing socioeconomic diversity, and offers the 
option to apply for funding for one or more Pre-Implementation 
Activities aligned to their blueprint. The Department seeks to support 
applicants who will explore and develop voluntary, community-led 
strategies that will positively impact the socioeconomic diversity in a 
significant percentage or number of SIG Schools or SIG-Eligible Schools 
where a substantial number of students are acutely impacted by a lack 
of student diversity, while also closing historic achievement gaps. 
Applicants may, but are not required to, consider developing voluntary 
strategies to increase socioeconomic diversity in early learning 
settings (which may include schools implementing the SIG early learning 
model, as described in the SIG final requirements, published in the 
Federal Register on February 9, 2015 (80 FR 7223)), charter schools, 
and secondary schools. Applicants may, but are not required to, 
consider how they might develop new, or leverage existing, partnerships 
through this program; communities that have been designated ``Promise 
Zones'' \20\ and communities that have recently completed the U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assessment of Fair 
Housing \21\ are encouraged to apply.
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    \20\ A list of designated Promise Zones and lead organizations, 
as well as a more detailed description about the program, can be 
found at the following Web site: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2016/HUDNo_16-085.
    \21\ For more information see the following Web site: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/overview/.
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    Although the Department expects applicants to propose plans for 
developing blueprints for socioeconomic diversity, applicants may also 
choose to voluntarily promote student diversity by considering 
additional factors beyond socioeconomic diversity, including race and 
ethnicity, in their efforts to diversify schools. We encourage all 
applicants choosing to consider factors in addition to socioeconomic 
diversity to consult the ``Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to 
Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary and 
Secondary Schools,''

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released by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights 
(OCR) and the U.S. Department of Justice on December 2, 2011.\22\ The 
guidance outlines, ``school districts should first determine if they 
can meet their compelling interests by using race-neutral approaches. 
When race-neutral approaches would be unworkable to achieve their 
compelling interests, school districts may employ generalized race-
based approaches. Generalized race-based approaches employ expressly 
racial criteria, such as the overall racial composition of 
neighborhoods, but do not involve decision-making on the basis of any 
individual student's race.'' The guidance also provides examples of 
approaches that may be considered, including school and program siting; 
grade realignment and feeder patterns; school zoning; open choice and 
enrollment; admission to competitive schools and programs; and inter- 
and intra-district transfers. We encourage applicants to consult legal 
counsel when considering which approaches might be best suited to a 
particular situation and in alignment with their project's objectives.
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    \22\ http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/guidance-ese-201111.html.
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    Priorities: This competition includes three absolute priorities and 
two competitive preference priorities. We are establishing these 
priorities for this FY 2017 grant competition (which uses FY 2016 SIG 
national activities funds) and any subsequent year in which we make 
awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, in 
accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions 
Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1).
    Absolute Priorities: These priorities are absolute priorities. 
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet 
Absolute Priority 1 and either Absolute Priority 2 or Absolute Priority 
3. All applicants must address Absolute Priority 1. Absolute Priority 1 
is from the notice of final supplemental priority for discretionary 
grant programs, published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2016 
(81 FR 63099).
    An applicant must indicate in its application whether it is 
applying under Absolute Priority 2 or Absolute Priority 3. If an 
applicant applies under Absolute Priority 3 and is deemed ineligible, 
it will be considered for funding under Absolute Priority 2, if it 
meets the requirements for Absolute Priority 2. If an applicant 
mistakenly applies under Absolute Priority 2 but clearly proposes Pre-
Implementation Activities and meets the requirements for Absolute 
Priority 3, it will be peer reviewed for consideration under Absolute 
Priority 3. The Secretary prepares a rank order of applications for 
Absolute Priority 2 and Absolute Priority 3 based solely on the 
evaluation of their quality according to the selection criteria. 
Absolute Priorities 2 and 3 each constitutes its own funding category. 
Assuming that applications in each funding category are of sufficient 
quality, the Secretary intends to award grants under both Absolute 
Priorities 2 and 3 (Absolute Priority 1 applies to all grants).
    These priorities are:
    Absolute Priority 1: Increasing Socioeconomic Diversity in Schools.
    Projects that are designed to increase socioeconomic diversity in 
educational settings by addressing one or more of the following:
    (a) Using established survey or data-collection methods to identify 
socioeconomic stratification and related barriers to socioeconomic 
diversity at the classroom, school, district, community, or regional 
level.
    (b) Designing or implementing, with community input, education 
funding strategies, such as the use of weighted per-pupil allocations 
of local, State, and eligible Federal funds, to provide incentives for 
schools and districts to increase socioeconomic diversity.
    (c) Developing or implementing policies or strategies to increase 
socioeconomic diversity in schools that are evidence-based; demonstrate 
ongoing, robust family and community involvement, including a process 
for intensive public engagement and consultation; and meet one or more 
of the following factors--
    (i) Are carried out on one or more of an intra-district, inter-
district, community, or regional basis;
    (ii) Reflect coordination with other relevant government entities, 
including housing or transportation authorities, to the extent 
practicable;
    (iii) Include one or both of the following strategies--
    (A) Establishing school assignment or admissions policies that are 
designed to give preference to low-income students, students from low-
performing schools, or students residing in neighborhoods experiencing 
concentrated poverty to attend higher-performing schools; or
    (B) Establishing or expanding schools that are designed to attract 
substantial numbers of students from different socioeconomic 
backgrounds, such as magnet or theme schools, charter schools, or other 
schools of choice.
    Absolute Priority 2: Improving Schools by Increasing Student 
Diversity--Blueprint.
    To meet this priority, the applicant must propose to develop a 
blueprint for improving student academic outcomes in SIG Schools or 
SIG-Eligible Schools by increasing the diversity of students enrolled 
in those schools and, at the applicant's discretion, other schools in 
the LEA(s) to be served. Applicants under this priority may only use 
funds for Planning Activities.
    Absolute Priority 3: Improving Schools by Increasing Student 
Diversity--Blueprint and Pre-implementation.
    To meet this priority, the applicant must propose to: (1) Develop a 
blueprint for improving student academic outcomes in SIG Schools or 
SIG-Eligible Schools by increasing the diversity of students enrolled 
in those schools and, at the applicant's discretion, other schools in 
the LEA(s) to be served, including by expanding existing plans of the 
LEA(s) to increase student diversity in schools; and (2) execute one or 
more Pre-Implementation Activities that are outlined in existing plans. 
The applicant must also provide evidence of its existing diversity 
plans.
    Competitive Preference Priorities: These priorities are competitive 
preference priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), we award up to an 
additional six points to an application for Competitive Preference 
Priority 1, depending on how well the application addresses this 
priority, and we award an additional three points to an application 
that meets Competitive Preference Priority 2.
    These priorities are:
    Competitive Preference Priority 1: Blueprint for Inter-District 
Efforts to Increase Student Diversity. (zero to six points)
    This priority is for applicants that propose to develop a blueprint 
that includes establishing or expanding an inter-district partnership 
that provides students with increased educational options by allowing 
them to attend schools in another LEA. Under this priority, an inter-
district partnership may be between contiguous or non-contiguous LEAs. 
Under this priority, the applicant must submit, for each LEA that will 
participate in the inter-district partnership, a memorandum of 
understanding (MOU) or letter of commitment signed by the 
superintendent or chief executive officer (CEO) of each LEA that 
describes each LEA's proposed commitment, including its contribution of 
financial or in-kind resources (if any). An applicant will receive 
competitive preference priority points under this priority based on the 
strength of the commitment of each LEA to the partnership. Note that 
applicants

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do not need to apply as a consortium to be considered for Competitive 
Preference Priority 1 points.
    Competitive Preference Priority 2: Efforts to Increase Student 
Diversity in Rural Schools. (zero or three points)
    This priority is for applicants that propose to serve at least one 
SIG School or SIG-Eligible School designated as a Rural School. If 
applying as a consortium, at least one LEA in the consortium must have 
at least one SIG School or SIG-Eligible School designated as a Rural 
School. Applicants applying under this priority must provide the school 
name and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) number for 
each school designated as a Rural School. An applicant will receive 
three competitive preference priority points under this priority if at 
least one SIG School or SIG-Eligible School the applicant proposes to 
serve is designated as a Rural School.
    Application Requirements:
    Assurances. The applicant must assure in its grant application that 
it will:
    (1) Fully participate in the Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities 
Community of Practice to explore strategies and design solutions to 
relevant problems, and also attend, in-person, at least one project 
director's meeting;
    (2) Participate in any program evaluation or related activity 
(which may include public presentations) conducted by or for the 
Department, including by providing access to relevant program and 
project data and other information, as appropriate; and
    (3) Submit to the Department within the project period of the grant 
award, a blueprint that meets the Program Requirements as outlined in 
this notice.
    Plan to Develop a Blueprint. In its application, the applicant must 
describe how it will develop a blueprint for public dissemination by 
the end of the project period of the grant award by addressing the 
following: need for the project, significance of the project, project 
design, project personnel, management plan, and resources.
    Pre-Implementation Activities Plan. If applying under Absolute 
Priority 3, in its application, the applicant must also describe:
    (1) Each Pre-Implementation Activity;
    (2) How each Pre-Implementation Activity will promote student 
diversity in the schools to be served;
    (3) How each proposed Pre-Implementation Activity will contribute 
to full implementation of the blueprint;
    (4) A theory of action and the evidence base (with consideration 
for the Department's recent guidance on using evidence \23\) that 
support the appropriateness and effectiveness of each Pre-
Implementation Activity;
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    \23\ Available at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/guidanceuseseinvestment.pdf.
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    (5) A description of the anticipated challenges and potential 
solutions to executing each Pre-Implementation Activity, including 
stakeholder support for work to date and plans to engage stakeholders 
going forward;
    (6) The timeline for executing each Pre-Implementation Activity;
    (7) The costs associated with each Pre-Implementation Activity, 
including the process by which such costs were estimated;
    (8) The significance of the anticipated impact on the participating 
LEA(s) and schools, including, but not limited to: The percentage and 
number of schools and students (disaggregated by socioeconomic status, 
race, or ethnicity, as appropriate for the blueprint) that will be 
affected by each Pre-Implementation Activity;
    (9) In the appendix, current or recent student diversity plans 
(which do not need to meet the blueprint requirements at the time of 
application) or other relevant documentation to demonstrate that the 
applicant has existing or established efforts related to student 
diversity; and
    (10) If applicable, a description of how the applicant will 
leverage new or existing partnerships to execute each Pre-
Implementation Activity, such as, but not limited to, partnerships with 
the following: (i) An LEA; (ii) a charter management organization or 
charter school operator; (iii) an SEA; (iv) an institution of higher 
education; (v) a non-profit or for-profit organization; (vi) a local 
governmental agency (such as mayor's office or transportation or 
housing authority); (vii) a community-based organization; (viii) a 
Federal agency; and (ix) another organization, as determined by the 
applicant.
    MOUs or other Binding Agreements. If applying as a consortium, 
consistent with 34 CFR 75.128, the applicant must submit as part of its 
application package, for each LEA in the consortium, copies of all MOUs 
or other binding agreements related to the consortium. If applying 
under the competitive preference priority, the applicant must submit, 
as part of its application package, copies of all MOUs or other binding 
agreements related to the partnership and described in the response to 
the competitive preference priority.
    Signature. Applications must be signed by the LEA superintendent or 
CEO. In the case of a consortium, applications must be signed by each 
LEA superintendent or CEO.
    Program Requirements: Within the project period of the grant award, 
an eligible applicant awarded an Opening Doors Expanding Opportunities 
Grant must--
    (1) Submit to the Department, within the grant period, a blueprint 
that includes the following:
    (a) A detailed needs analysis of the LEA(s) to determine the 
factors that have led to low student achievement in its SIG Schools or 
SIG-Eligible Schools, including:
    (i) A comparison of student demographic and academic outcome 
information for the SIG Schools or SIG-Eligible Schools with that of 
other schools in the LEA(s);
    (ii) A comparison of student demographic information for the SIG 
Schools or SIG-Eligible Schools with that of the residential population 
of the LEA(s), if such information is available and relevant; and
    (iii) Other information, if such information is available and 
relevant, including, for the LEA(s) to be served:
    (A) Other analyses of concentrated poverty or racial or ethnic 
segregation;
    (B) Analyses of the location and capacity of school facilities or 
the adequacy of local or regional transportation infrastructure; and
    (C) Analyses of school-level resources, including per pupil 
expenditures (if available), student access to instructional tools, 
full day Pre-Kindergarten, advanced coursework, and effective 
educators;
    (b) An explanation of how the LEA(s) determined which schools would 
be served under the blueprint, including:
    (i) The extent to which the LEA(s) gave priority to serving 
students in SIG Schools or SIG-Eligible Schools; and
    (ii) The extent to which the determination of the participating 
schools reflected robust parental involvement and community engagement;
    (c) Measurable goals, beginning with the 2019-2020 school year and 
for every two years thereafter through the 2025-2026 school year, 
including a description of how such goals were determined, for 
increasing student diversity and for improving student academic 
outcomes:
    (i) In each school to be served;
    (ii) At the applicant's discretion, in other schools in the LEA(s) 
to be served; and
    (iii) At the applicant's discretion and if appropriate, in the 
LEA(s) to be served;
    (d) A detailed description of the strategies the applicant will 
pursue to

[[Page 90348]]

improve student academic outcomes in the schools to be served by 
increasing student diversity, including:
    (i) A theory of action and the evidence base (with consideration 
for the Department's recent guidance on using evidence \24\) that 
support the appropriateness and effectiveness of the selected 
strategies based on findings from the needs analyses described in 
blueprint requirement (a) and the likelihood of achieving the goals 
described in blueprint requirement (c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ Available at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/guidanceuseseinvestment.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) For each selected strategy:
    (A) A description of the anticipated challenges and potential 
solutions;
    (B) Timeline for implementation;
    (C) Costs associated with implementation, including the process by 
which such costs were estimated; and
    (D) A description of the extent to which it reflects parental 
involvement and community engagement; and
    Note: Selected strategies must not be limited to virtual 
educational experiences and may include, but are not limited to, 
redesigning school boundaries, assignment policies, feeder patterns, 
and admissions policies (e.g., establishing open enrollment using 
controlled choice); creating or expanding schools capable of attracting 
students from diverse backgrounds, including by converting existing 
schools into charter schools, theme schools, or magnet schools; using 
new funding strategies to incentivize schools to enroll a diverse group 
of students (e.g., weighted per-pupil allocations of State and local 
funds); and establishing or expanding inter-district school choice 
programs;
    (e) A description of the significance of the anticipated impact on 
the participating LEA(s) and schools, including, but not limited to:
    (i) The percentage and number of schools and students 
(disaggregated by socioeconomic status, race, or ethnicity, as 
appropriate for the blueprint) that will be affected by the 
implementation of the blueprint;
    (ii) If applicable, how the implementation of the blueprint may 
positively or adversely affect diversity or educational opportunities 
available to poor or minority students in other schools within the 
LEA(s) and how these adverse effects could be mitigated; and
    (iii) Potential cost savings as a result of specific strategies 
outlined in the blueprint.
    (f) Plans for continued community engagement, parental involvement, 
and LEA and school staff capacity building to support the ongoing 
implementation of the blueprint (including a summary of how the 
community, parents, and family participated in the planning process as 
well as a description of how they will be engaged during 
implementation);
    (g) If applicable, a description of how the applicant will leverage 
new or existing partnerships with entities such as, but not limited to, 
the following: (i) An LEA; (ii) a charter management organization or 
charter school operator; (iii) an SEA; (iv) an institution of higher 
education; (v) a non-profit or for-profit organization; (vi) a local 
governmental agency (such as mayor's office or transportation or 
housing authority); (vii) a community-based organization; (viii) a 
Federal agency; and (ix) another organization, as determined by the 
applicant;
    (h) An implementation plan including a proposed personnel and 
management plan; and
    (i) A description of potential opportunities to implement the 
blueprint (e.g., leveraging available Federal, State, local, and 
private funding sources, integrating the blueprint into related 
programs or initiatives).
    (2) For grantees who applied under Absolute Priority 3, blueprints 
must be submitted to the Department prior to executing Pre-
Implementation Activities.
    Definitions: The following definitions apply to this competition. 
For the purposes of this competition, we establish the definitions for 
Community of Practice, Planning Activities, Pre-Implementation 
Activities, Rural School, SIG-Eligible School, and SIG School, in this 
notice, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, 20 U.S.C. 
1232(d)(1). The definition for Local Educational Agency is from section 
8101(30) of the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA.
    Community of Practice means a group of grantees that meets and 
collaborates regularly to solve persistent problems and improve 
practice in areas important to the success of their projects.
    Local Educational Agency (LEA) means a public board of education or 
other public authority legally constituted within a State for either 
administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service 
function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in a city, 
county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a 
State, or of or for a combination of school districts or counties that 
is recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public 
elementary schools or secondary schools. The term includes any other 
public institution or agency having administrative control and 
direction of a public elementary school or secondary school. The term 
includes an elementary school or secondary school funded by the Bureau 
of Indian Education but only to the extent that including the school 
makes the school eligible for programs for which specific eligibility 
is not provided to the school in another provision of law and the 
school does not have a student population that is smaller than the 
student population of the Local Educational Agency receiving assistance 
under this Act with the smallest student population, except that the 
school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any State 
educational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Education. The term 
includes educational service agencies and consortia of those agencies. 
The term includes the State educational agency in a State in which the 
State educational agency is the sole educational agency for all public 
schools.
    Planning Activities mean activities that support the development of 
a student diversity blueprint. Some examples of activities are:
    (1) Collecting and analyzing available demographic data;
    (2) Using surveys and other research strategies to gain a better 
understanding of local student diversity issues and concerns, barriers 
to integration, etc.;
    (3) Identifying Federal, State, and local resources needed to 
implement each activity;
    (4) Convening groups of stakeholders to better understand 
challenges (such as local zoning or State legislative barriers to 
overcome) and brainstorm solutions (such as viable opportunities to 
transport students to different schools);
    (5) Designing student admission systems aligned to strategies 
included in the blueprint; and
    (6) Visiting districts that are implementing diversity strategies 
to inform blueprint development.
    Pre-Implementation Activities mean activities that support the 
development of an infrastructure to create more diverse schools as 
outlined in the blueprint. Some examples of activities are:
    (1) Making upgrades to a data system to improve the capacity to 
track and use information relevant to the blueprint; and
    (2) Piloting activities included in the blueprint (e.g., running a 
pilot student admissions lottery for select schools, redesigning school 
assignment boundaries, simulating various factors

[[Page 90349]]

to consider for revised attendance zones).
    Rural School is a school that is assigned a locale code of 41 
(located in a census-defined rural territory less than 5 miles from an 
urban cluster), a locale code of 42 (located in a census-defined rural 
territory more than 5 miles but less than or equal to 25 miles from an 
urban cluster), or a locale code of 43 (located in a census-defined 
rural territory that is more than 25 miles from an urban cluster) by 
NCES. To identify the locale code of any school to be served by the 
proposed project, access the NCES public school database here: http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/.
    SIG-Eligible School means either:
    (a) A school that is identified in the State's most recently 
approved State SIG application as a Tier I or Tier II school; or
    (b) For a State that previously received approval of its ESEA 
flexibility request, any school identified as a priority or focus 
school by the State under ESEA flexibility for the 2016-2017 school 
year.
    SIG School means either:
    (a) A Tier I or Tier II school as defined in the SIG final 
requirements published in the Federal Register on February 9, 2015 (80 
FR 7223) that is, as of the date of the application, implementing one 
of the SIG intervention models or a planning year in preparation to 
implement a model, including any school identified as a Tier I or Tier 
II school in the State's most recently approved State SIG application; 
or
    (b) For a State that previously received approval of its ESEA 
flexibility request, any school identified as a priority or focus 
school by the State under ESEA flexibility for the 2016-2017 school 
year that is, as of the date of the application, implementing one of 
the SIG intervention models or a planning year in preparation to 
implement a model.
    Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure 
Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the Department generally offers interested parties 
the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities, definitions, and 
other requirements. Section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, however, allows the 
Secretary to exempt from rulemaking requirements, regulations governing 
the first grant competition under a new or substantially revised 
program authority. This is the first grant competition for this program 
under Division H, Title III, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing 
Appropriations Act, 2016 (Pub. L. 114-113) and therefore qualifies for 
this exemption. In order to ensure timely grant awards, the Secretary 
has decided to forgo public comment on the priorities, definitions, and 
requirements under section 437(d)(1) of GEPA. These priorities, 
definitions, and requirements will apply to the FY 2017 grant 
competition and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the 
list of unfunded applicants from this competition.
    Program Authority: Section 1003(g) of the ESEA, as amended by NCLB 
(20 U.S.C. 6303(g)); the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Pub. L. 
114-113).
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 81, 82, 
84, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
Guidelines to Agencies on Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension 
(Nonprocurement) in 2 CFR part 180, as adopted and amended as 
regulations of the Department in 2 CFR part 3485. (c) The Uniform 
Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements 
for Federal Awards in 2 CFR part 200, as adopted and amended as 
regulations of the Department in 2 CFR part 3474. (d) The Notice of 
Final Requirements for SIG, published in the Federal Register on 
February 9, 2015 (80 FR 7223).

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grant.
    Estimated Available Funds: $12,000,000.
    Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of 
applications, we may make additional awards in FY 2018 from the list of 
unfunded applications from this competition.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $350,000-$750,000 under Absolute 
Priority 2; $500,000-$1,500,000 under Absolute Priority 3.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000 under Absolute Priority 
2; $1,000,000 under Absolute Priority 3.
    Maximum Award: We will not fully fund any application that proposes 
a budget exceeding $750,000 for a single budget period of 26 months 
under Absolute Priority 2 or $1,500,000 under Absolute Priority 3 for a 
single budget period of 26 months.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 8-20.

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

    Project Period: Up to 26 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: (a) An LEA with at least one SIG School or 
SIG-Eligible School; and (b) a consortium of LEAs, each with at least 
one SIG School or SIG-Eligible School in each member LEA.

    Note:  Eligible applicants seeking to apply as a consortium must 
comply with the regulations in 34 CFR 75.127-75.129 (see Appendix 
for MOU or Other Binding Agreement Requirements for Consortia 
Applicants).

    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not require cost 
sharing or matching.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: Ashley Briggs, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3W242, 
Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 453-6987 or by email: 
[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.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application 
package in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, 
or compact disc) by contacting the program contact person listed in 
this section.
    2.a. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements 
concerning the content and form of an application, together with the 
forms you must submit, are in the application package for this 
competition.
    Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant, 
address the selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your 
application. You must limit the application narrative to no more than 
40 pages, using the following standards:
     A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11, on one side 
only, with 1'' margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
     Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) 
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings, 
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in 
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
     Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller 
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
     Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, 
Courier New, or Arial. An application submitted in any other font 
(including Times Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be accepted.
    The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II, 
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part 
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the 
resumes, the bibliography, or the letters of support. However, the page

[[Page 90350]]

limit does apply to all of the application narrative.
    Our reviewers will not read any pages of your application that 
exceed the page limit.
    2.b. Submission of Proprietary Information: Given the types of 
projects that may be proposed, your application may include business 
information that you consider proprietary. In 34 CFR 5.11 we define 
``business information'' and describe the process we use in determining 
whether any of that information is proprietary and, thus, protected 
from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 
U.S.C. 552, as amended).
    Because we plan to make successful applications available to the 
public, you may wish to request confidentiality of business 
information.
    Consistent with Executive Order 12600, please designate in your 
application any information that you believe is exempt from disclosure 
under Exemption 4. In the appropriate Appendix section of your 
application, under ``Other Attachments Form,'' please list the page 
number or numbers on which we can find this information. For additional 
information please see 34 CFR 5.11(c).
    3. Submission Dates and Times:
    Applications Available: December 14, 2016.
    Date of Pre-Application Webinar: January 5, 2017.
    Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply (optional): January 13, 
2017.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 13, 2017.
    Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted 
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For 
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your 
application electronically, or in paper format by mail or hand delivery 
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, please refer to Other Submission Requirements in section 
IV of this notice.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact 
the person listed under For Further Information Contact in section VII 
of this notice. If the Department provides an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability in connection with the 
application process, the individual's application remains subject to 
all other requirements and limitations in this notice.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 13, 2017.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This project 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 competition.
    5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding 
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
    6. Data Universal Numbering System Number, Taxpayer Identification 
Number, and System for Award Management: 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 System for Award 
Management (SAM), the Government's primary registrant database;
    c. Provide your DUNS number and TIN on your application; and
    d. Maintain an active SAM 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 at the 
following Web site: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. A DUNS number can be 
created within one to two business days.
    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 two to five weeks for your TIN to become active.
    The SAM registration process can take approximately seven business 
days, but may take upwards of several weeks, depending on the 
completeness and accuracy of the data you enter into the SAM database. 
Thus, if you think you might want to apply for Federal financial 
assistance under a program administered by the Department, please allow 
sufficient time to obtain and register your DUNS number and TIN. We 
strongly recommend that you register early.

    Note:  Once your SAM registration is active, it may be 24 to 48 
hours before you can access the information in, and submit an 
application through, Grants.gov.

    If you are currently registered with SAM, 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 registration annually. This may take three or more business days.
    Information about SAM is available at www.SAM.gov. To further 
assist you with obtaining and registering your DUNS number and TIN in 
SAM or updating your existing SAM account, we have prepared a SAM.gov 
Tip Sheet, which you can find at: http://www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/sam-faqs.html.
    In addition, if you are submitting your application via Grants.gov, 
you must (1) be designated by your organization as an Authorized 
Organization Representative (AOR); and (2) register yourself with 
Grants.gov as an AOR. Details on these steps are outlined at the 
following Grants.gov Web page: www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html.
    7. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under 
this competition must be submitted electronically unless you qualify 
for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the 
instructions in this section.
    a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
    Applications for grants under the Opening Doors, Expanding 
Opportunities program must be submitted electronically using the 
Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at www.Grants.gov. Through this 
site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package, 
complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application. You 
may not email an electronic copy of a grant application to the 
Department.
    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 date, 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.
    You may access the electronic grant application for Opening Doors, 
Expanding Opportunities at www.Grants.gov. You must search for the 
downloadable application package for this competition by the CFDA 
number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search 
(e.g., search for 84.377, not 84.377C).

[[Page 90351]]

    Please note the following:
     When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find 
information about submitting an application electronically through the 
site, as well as the hours of operation.
     Applications received by Grants.gov are date and time 
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted and must 
be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30:00 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as 
otherwise noted in this section, we will not accept your application if 
it is received--that is, date and time stamped by the Grants.gov 
system--after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application 
deadline date. We do not consider an application that does not comply 
with the deadline requirements. When we retrieve your application from 
Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are rejecting your application 
because it was date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system after 
4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date.
     The amount of time it can take to upload an application 
will vary depending on a variety of factors, including the size of the 
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we 
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline 
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
     You should review and follow the Education Submission 
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are 
included in the application package for this competition to ensure that 
you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov 
system. You can also find the Education Submission Procedures 
pertaining to Grants.gov under News and Events on the Department's G5 
system home page at www.G5.gov. In addition, for specific guidance and 
procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov, please 
refer to the Grants.gov Web site at: www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html.
     You will not receive additional point value because you 
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you 
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your 
application in paper format.
     You must submit all documents electronically, including 
all information you typically provide on the following forms: The 
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 
Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications.
     You must upload any narrative sections and all other 
attachments to your application as files in a read-only Portable 
Document Format (PDF). Do not upload an interactive or fillable PDF 
file. If you upload a file type other than a read-only PDF (e.g., Word, 
Excel, WordPerfect, etc.) or submit a password-protected file, we will 
not review that material. Please note that this could result in your 
application not being considered for funding because the material in 
question--for example, the application narrative--is critical to a 
meaningful review of your proposal. For that reason it is important to 
allow yourself adequate time to upload all material as PDF files. The 
Department will not convert material from other formats to PDF.
     Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
     After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that 
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. This notification indicates 
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department. Grants.gov 
will also notify you automatically by email if your application met all 
the Grants.gov validation requirements or if there were any errors 
(such as submission of your application by someone other than a 
registered Authorized Organization Representative, or inclusion of an 
attachment with a file name that contains special characters).
    Once your application is successfully validated by Grants.gov, the 
Department will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send you 
an email with a unique PR/Award number for your application.
    These emails do not mean that your application is without any 
disqualifying errors. While your application may have been successfully 
validated by Grants.gov, it must also meet the Department's application 
requirements as specified in this notice and in the application 
instructions. Disqualifying errors could include, for instance, failure 
to upload attachments in a read-only PDF; failure to submit a required 
part of the application; or failure to meet applicant eligibility 
requirements. It is your responsibility to ensure that your submitted 
application has met all of the Department's requirements.
     We may request that you provide us original signatures on 
forms at a later date.
    Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues 
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting 
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov 
Support Desk, toll free, at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a 
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
    If you are prevented from electronically submitting your 
application on the application deadline date because of technical 
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension 
until 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to 
enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand 
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing 
instructions described elsewhere in this notice.
    If you submit an application after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC 
time, on the application deadline date, please contact the person 
listed under For Further Information Contact in section VII of this 
notice and provide an explanation of the technical problem you 
experienced with Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk 
Case Number. We will accept your application if we can confirm that a 
technical problem occurred with the Grants.gov system and that the 
problem affected your ability to submit your application by 4:30:00 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. We will 
contact you after we determine whether your application will be 
accepted.

    Note:  The extensions to which we refer in this section apply 
only to the unavailability of, or technical problems with, the 
Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed 
to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before 
the application deadline date and time or if the technical problem 
you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system.

    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 Grants.gov system because--
     You do not have access to the Internet; or
     You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to 
the Grants.gov 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

[[Page 90352]]

statement to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an 
exception prevents 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: Ashley Briggs, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3W242, 
Washington, DC 20202. Fax: (202) 401-1557.
    Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the 
mail or hand-delivery instructions described in this notice.
    b. 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 Department. You must mail 
the original and two copies of your application, on or before the 
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address: 
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention: 
CFDA Number 84.377C, LBJ Basement Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    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.

    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.

    We will not consider applications postmarked after the application 
deadline date.
    c. 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, Application Control Center, Attention: 
CFDA Number 84.377C, 550 12th Street SW., Room 7039, Potomac Center 
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    The Application Control Center 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 Application Control Center 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 Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.

V. Application Review Information

    1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are 
from 34 CFR 75.210. We will award up to 100 points to an application 
under the selection criteria; the total possible points for addressing 
each selection criterion are noted in parentheses.
a. Need for Project (25 Points)
    The Secretary considers the need for the proposed project. In 
determining the need for the proposed project, the Secretary considers 
the following factors:
    1. The magnitude or severity of the problem to be addressed by the 
proposed project.
    2. The extent to which the proposed project will focus on serving 
or otherwise addressing the needs of disadvantaged individuals.
    3. 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.
b. Significance (15 Points)
    The Secretary considers the significance of the proposed project. 
In determining the significance of the proposed project, the Secretary 
considers the following factors:
    1. The potential contribution of the proposed project to increased 
knowledge or understanding of educational problems, issues, or 
effective strategies.
    2. The extent to which the proposed project is likely to build 
local capacity to provide, improve, or expand services that address the 
needs of the target population.
c. Quality of the Project Design (30 Points)
    The Secretary considers the quality of the design of the proposed 
project. In determining the quality of the design of the proposed 
project, the Secretary considers the following factors:
    1. The potential and planning for the incorporation of project 
purposes, activities, or benefits into the ongoing work of the 
applicant beyond the end of the grant.
    2. The extent to which the proposed project will integrate with or 
build on similar or related efforts to improve relevant outcomes (as 
defined in 34 CFR 77.1(c)), using existing funding streams from other 
programs or policies supported by community, State, and Federal 
resources.
    3. The extent to which the proposed project will establish linkages 
with other appropriate agencies and organizations providing services to 
the target population.
    4. The extent to which the proposed project encourages parental 
involvement.
d. Quality of Project Personnel (10 Points)
    The Secretary considers the quality of the personnel who will carry 
out the proposed project. In determining the quality of project 
personnel, the Secretary considers the extent to which the applicant 
encourages applications for employment from persons who are members of 
groups that have traditionally been underrepresented based on race, 
color, national origin, gender, age, or disability. In addition, the 
Secretary considers the following factors:
    1. The qualifications, including relevant training and experience, 
of the project director or principal investigator.
    2. The qualifications, including relevant training and experience, 
of key project personnel.
    3. The qualifications, including relevant training and experience, 
of project consultants or subcontractors.

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e. Quality of the Management Plan (15 Points)
    The Secretary considers the quality of the management plan for the 
proposed project. In determining the quality of the management plan for 
the proposed project, the Secretary considers the following factors:
    1. The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives of 
the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly 
defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for accomplishing 
project tasks.
    2. How the applicant will ensure that a diversity of perspectives 
are brought to bear in the operation of the proposed project, including 
those of parents, teachers, the business community, a variety of 
disciplinary and professional fields, recipients or beneficiaries of 
services, or others, as appropriate.
f. Adequacy of Resources (5 Points)
    The Secretary considers the adequacy of resources for the proposed 
project. In determining the adequacy of resources for the proposed 
project, the Secretary considers the following factors:
    1. The extent to which the budget is adequate to support the 
proposed project.
    2. The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the 
objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project.
    3. The adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment, 
supplies, and other resources, from the applicant organization or the 
lead applicant organization.
    2. Review and Selection Process: To ensure that grantees under this 
project serve both LEAs that are just beginning efforts to diversify 
schools and those that have established or existing efforts to 
diversify their schools, the Department may separately consider for 
funding applications meeting Absolute Priority 2 and those meeting 
Absolute Priority 3. We remind potential applicants that in reviewing 
applications in any discretionary grant competition, the Secretary may 
consider, under 34 CFR 75.217(d)(3), the past performance of the 
applicant in carrying out a previous award, such as the applicant's use 
of funds, achievement of project objectives, and compliance with grant 
conditions. The Secretary may also consider whether the applicant 
failed to submit a timely performance report or submitted a report of 
unacceptable quality.
    In addition, in making a competitive grant award, the Secretary 
requires various assurances, including those applicable to Federal 
civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or 
activities receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department 
of Education (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
    3. Risk Assessment and Special Conditions: Consistent with 2 CFR 
200.205, before awarding grants under this competition the Department 
conducts a review of the risks posed by applicants. Under 2 CFR 
3474.10, the Secretary may impose special conditions and, in 
appropriate circumstances, high-risk conditions on a grant if the 
applicant or grantee is not financially stable; has a history of 
unsatisfactory performance; has a financial or other management system 
that does not meet the standards in 2 CFR part 200, subpart D; has not 
fulfilled the conditions of a prior grant; or is otherwise not 
responsible.
    4. Integrity and Performance System: If you are selected under this 
competition to receive an award that over the course of the project 
period may exceed the simplified acquisition threshold (currently 
$150,000), under 2 CFR 200.205(a)(2) we must make a judgment about your 
integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal 
awards--that is, the risk posed by you as an applicant--before we make 
an award. In doing so, we must consider any information about you that 
is in the integrity and performance system (currently referred to as 
the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System 
(FAPIIS)), accessible through SAM. You may review and comment on any 
information about yourself that a Federal agency previously entered and 
that is currently in FAPIIS.
    Please note that, if the total value of your currently active 
grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from the 
Federal Government exceeds $10,000,000, the reporting requirements in 2 
CFR part 200, Appendix XII, require you to report certain integrity 
information to FAPIIS semiannually. Please review the requirements in 2 
CFR part 200, Appendix XII, if this grant plus all the other Federal 
funds you receive exceed $10,000,000.

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 
Notification (GAN); or we may send you an email containing a link to 
access an electronic version of your GAN. We may notify you informally, 
also.
    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: (a) If you apply for a grant under this competition, 
you must ensure that you have in place the necessary processes and 
systems to comply with the reporting requirements in 2 CFR part 170 
should you receive funding under the competition. This does not apply 
if you have an exception under 2 CFR 170.110(b).
    (b) At the end of your project period, you must submit a final 
performance report that must include a description of progress to date 
on its goals, timelines, activities, deliverables, and budgets. The 
Secretary may also require more frequent performance reports under 34 
CFR 75.720(c). For specific requirements on reporting, please go to 
www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
    (c) Under 34 CFR 75.250(b), the Secretary may provide a grantee 
with additional funding for data collection analysis and reporting. In 
this case, the Secretary establishes a data collection period.
    4. Performance Measures: The Secretary has established measures for 
assessing the effectiveness of the Opening Doors, Expanding 
Opportunities program. The performance measures are:
    Performance Measure 1 (for all grantees): The percentage of 
grantees that produce blueprints that are of high quality and feasible 
to implement. In evaluating performance with respect to this measure, 
the Department may convene, at the end of the grant period, a panel of 
experts to assess blueprints using specific criteria regarding quality 
and feasibility of implementation.
    Performance Measure 2 (for grantees awarded under Absolute Priority 
3): The percentage of grantees that complete their Pre-Implementation 
Activities successfully and in a manner consistent with the objectives 
and timelines proposed in their application.

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Ashley Briggs, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW.,

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room 3W242, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 453-6987 or by 
email: [email protected].
    If you use a TDD or a TTY, call the FRS, toll free, at 1-800-877-
8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Accessible Format: 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 compact disc) on request to 
the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
in section VII of this notice.
    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 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: December 8, 2016.
Ann Whalen,
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Delegated the Duties of Assistant 
Secretary, for Elementary and Secondary Education.

Appendix: Memorandum of Understanding or Other Binding Agreement 
Requirements for Consortia Applicants

    An applicant that is applying as part of a consortium must enter 
into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or other binding agreement 
with each member of the consortium. At a minimum, each MOU or other 
binding agreement must include the following key elements, each of 
which is described in detail below: (1) Terms and conditions; and 
(2) signatures.
    1. Terms and conditions: In accordance with the Opening Doors, 
Expanding Opportunities application requirements and the 
requirements for group applicants under 34 CFR 75.127-129, the MOU 
must:
    a. Designate one member of the group to apply for the grant or 
establish a separate legal entity to apply for the grant;
    b. Detail the activities that each party plans to perform;
    c. Bind each party to every statement and assurance made by the 
applicant in the application;
    d. State that the applicant for the consortium (the lead LEA) is 
legally responsible for:
    i. The use of all grant funds;
    ii. Ensuring that the project is carried out by the partners or 
consortium in accordance with Federal requirements;
    iii. Ensuring that the indirect costs are determined as required 
under 34 CFR 75.564(e);
    iv. Carrying out the activities it has agreed to perform; and
    v. Using the funds that it receives under the MOU or other 
binding agreement in accordance with the Federal requirements that 
apply to the Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities grant.
    e. State that each member of the consortium is legally 
responsible for:
    i. Carrying out the activities it has agreed to perform; and
    ii. Using the funds that it receives under the MOU or other 
binding agreement in accordance with the Federal requirements that 
apply to the Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities grant.
    2. Signatures: Each MOU must be signed by each party's 
superintendent or CEO.

[FR Doc. 2016-29936 Filed 12-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P