[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 72 (Friday, April 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16063-16064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07744]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Applications for New Awards; Expanding Opportunity Through 
Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP)--Grants to Charter School 
Developers for the Opening of New Charter Schools and for the 
Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools; Amendment 
and Extension of Deadline for Transmittal of Applications

AGENCY: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice; Amendment and Extension of Deadline for Transmittal of 
Applications.

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SUMMARY: On March 2, 2018, we published in the Federal Register (83 FR 
8974) a notice inviting applications (NIA) for new awards for fiscal 
year (FY) 2018 for the CSP Grants to Developers for the Opening of New 
Charter Schools and for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality 
Charter Schools, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Numbers 
84.282B and 84.282E. Since that time, Congress passed and the President 
signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Act), which provides 
funding for the awards under this competition. This document amends the 
NIA by: (1) Stating that the Secretary may fund out of rank order 
applications proposing to open a new charter school or replicate or 
expand a high-quality charter school in underserved, high-poverty, 
rural areas; and (2) adding definitions related to funding such 
applications out of rank order.
    In addition, we are extending the deadline for transmittal of 
applications by two weeks, until April 30, 2018.

DATES: 
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 30, 2018.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 29, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eddie Moat, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 4W224, Washington, DC 20202-
5970. Telephone: (202) 401-2266. Email: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-
877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Following publication of the NIA, Congress passed and the President 
signed the Act, which provides funding for the awards under this 
competition. The report accompanying the Act (the Statement of the 
Managers) \1\ includes language reflecting congressional intent that, 
of these funds, ``up to $7,500,000 [is] for developer grants to 
establish or expand charter schools in underserved, high-poverty, rural 
areas.'' The Statement of the Managers modifies language in the report 
accompanying the Senate appropriations committee bill,\2\ which 
indicates congressional intent for CSP appropriations to include 
``dedicated funding to expand charter schools in rural areas.'' Taking 
into account this language, we are amending the NIA to notify 
prospective applicants that the Secretary may fund out of rank order 
applications proposing to open a new charter school or replicate or 
expand a high-quality charter school in underserved, high-poverty, 
rural areas; and to add definitions related to funding such 
applications out of rank order. In addition, we are extending the 
deadline for transmittal of applications for the competition by two 
weeks.
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    \1\ See www.congress.gov/crec/2018/03/22/CREC-2018-03-22-bk3.pdf.
    \2\ See www.congress.gov/115/crpt/srpt150/CRPT-115srpt150.pdf.
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    All other requirements and conditions stated in the NIA remain the 
same.

Amendments

    In FR Doc. No. 2018-04294, in the Federal Register of March 2, 2018 
(83 FR 8974), we make the following amendments:
    (a) On page 8974, in the middle column, after the words ``Deadline 
for Transmittal of Applications:'' we are removing the date ``April 16, 
2018'' and replacing it with the date ``April 30, 2018''.
    (b) On page 8974, in the middle column, after the words ``Deadline 
for Intergovernmental Review:'' we are removing the date ``June 15, 
2018'' and replacing it with the date ``June 29, 2018''.
    (c) On page 8978, in the middle of the first column following the 
definition of ``expand'', we are adding the following definition, which 
we are establishing for FY 2018 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):
    High-poverty school means a school in which at least 50 percent of 
students are from low-income families as determined using one of the 
measures of poverty specified under section 1113(a)(5) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended. For 
middle and high schools, eligibility may be calculated on the basis of 
comparable data from feeder schools. Eligibility as a high-poverty 
school under this definition is determined on the basis of the most 
currently available data.
    (d) On page 8978, in the middle of the second column, following the 
definition of ``rural local educational agency'', we are adding the 
following definition, which we are establishing for FY 2018 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 GEPA:
    Underserved community means a community that has limited access to 
high-quality educational options.
    (e) On page 8981, beginning in the middle column, at the end of 
section V.2 (Review and Selection Process), we are adding the following 
paragraph:
    Depending upon the number and quality of applications received, the 
Department may fund out of rank order high-quality applications that 
propose to open a new charter school, or replicate or expand a high-
quality charter school, that (a) is located in an underserved community 
(as defined in this notice); and (b) primarily serves students from 
rural local educational agencies with at least one high-poverty school 
(as defined in this notice). To be considered for funding out of rank 
order, we encourage an applicant to include in its application (i) a 
statement that it is proposing to open a new charter school, or 
replicate or expand a high-quality charter school, that is located in 
an underserved community and primarily serves students from rural local 
educational agencies with at least

[[Page 16064]]

one high-poverty school; and (ii) a description of how the proposed 
project meets each of the above criteria. If an application that is 
within funding range contains insufficient information to verify that 
the application meets these criteria, we may contact the applicant to 
obtain additional relevant information.
    Program Authority: Title IV, part C of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7221-
7221j).
    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.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations 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 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: April 10, 2018.
Margo Anderson,
Acting Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 2018-07744 Filed 4-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P