[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 165 (Tuesday, August 25, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52302-52303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18553]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Annual Survey of School System Finances

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information 
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information 
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the 
proposed revision of the Annual Survey of School System Finances, prior 
to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB 
for approval.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before October 26, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference Annual Survey of 
School System Finances in the subject line of your comments. You may 
also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2020-0019, to 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All 
comments received are part of the public record. No comments will be 
posted to http://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after the 
comment period has closed. Comments will generally be posted without 
change. All Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and 
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. You may submit 
attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe 
PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to David Gromos, Chief, Education Finance Branch, 301-763-4659, and 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The U.S. Census Bureau plans to continue the current Office of 
Management and Budget clearance for the Annual Survey of School System 
Finances with revisions. The Annual Survey of School System Finances is 
the only comprehensive source of public elementary-secondary school 
system finance data collected on a nationwide scale using uniform 
definitions, concepts, and procedures. The collection covers the 
revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets of all public elementary-
secondary school systems. This data collection has been coordinated 
with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES

[[Page 52303]]

uses this collection to satisfy its need for school finance data.
    The revisions will include the following: Expanding the federal 
revenue section to reflect recent changes in legislation and demand for 
information on other federal grants, renaming existing federal revenue 
data items to better match the federal grants that each are tied to, 
and adding new data items for special education expenditures in 
response to increasing demand by policymakers, researchers, and the 
general public. There is also the potential to add new data items in 
response to the COVID19 pandemic and CARES Act but a final decision has 
yet to be determined pending more research, including a webinar with 
state coordinators.
    Fiscal data provided by respondents aid data users in measuring the 
effectiveness of resource allocation. The products of this data 
collection make it possible for data users to search a single database 
to obtain information on such things as per pupil expenditures and the 
percent of state, local, and federal funding for each school system. 
Elementary-secondary education related spending is the single largest 
financial activity of state and local governments. Education finance 
statistics provided by the Census Bureau allow for analyses of how 
public elementary-secondary school systems receive their funding and 
how they are spending their funds.

II. Method of Collection

    A letter is mailed electronically at the beginning of each survey 
period to solicit the assistance of the state education agencies. This 
letter officially announces the opening of the data collection period 
and requests some administrative data, such as the estimated date of 
submission, any change to the reporting format from prior year, and 
updated contact information for the state coordinator.
    The survey form (F-33) contains item descriptions and definitions 
of the elementary-secondary education finance items collected jointly 
by the Census Bureau and NCES. It is used primarily as a worksheet and 
instruction guide by the state education agencies providing school 
finance data centrally for the school systems in their respective 
states. The Census Bureau collects almost all of the finance data for 
local school systems from state education agency databases through 
central collection arrangements with the state education agencies. The 
states transfer this information in electronic format over the internet 
via file transfer protocol. The Census Bureau has also facilitated 
central collection of school system finance data by accepting data in 
multiple formats.
    Supplemental forms are sent to local school systems in states where 
the state education agency cannot centrally provide information on 
assets (F-33-L1), indebtedness (F-33-L2), or both (F-33-L3).

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0700.
    Form Number(s): F-33, Supplemental forms: F-33-L1, F-33-L2 and F-
33-L3.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Affected Public: State and local governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: F-33: 51, Supplement: 3,481.
    Estimated Time per Response: F-33: 63 hrs., 11 minutes, 
Supplemental: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4,130.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0 (This is not the cost of 
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for 
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to 
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services 
required specifically by the collection.)
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Census: Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 8(b), 161, and 
182. NCES: Title 20 U.S.C. Sections 9543-44.

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-18553 Filed 8-24-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P