[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 82 (Thursday, April 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25219-25220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09104]


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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: 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 June 27, 2022.

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-2022-0007, 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 Stephen Wheeler, Survey Statistician, Education Finance Branch, 301-
763-9950, 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 pre-kindergarten through 12th grade 
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 cosponsored by and coordinated with the National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES uses this collection to satisfy 
its need for school finance data.
    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.
    The Annual Survey of School System Finances was revised for the 
fiscal year (FY) 2020 collection to include 12 new data items in 
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six revenue data items and six 
expenditure items were added to the survey to collect financial 
information from school systems concerning the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, 
and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. The survey was then revised 
again for the FY 2021 collection in response to new legislation passed 
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Coronavirus Response and 
Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) and the American Rescue 
Plan (ARP). Four new revenue items were added to the survey to collect 
financial data based on these two new legislative acts and two obsolete 
revenue items added in FY 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic 
were removed from the survey. Two new expenditure items were also added 
to expand the scope of financial data collected concerning COVID-19 
federal assistance funds.
    This proposed revision to the Annual Survey of School System 
Finances is to further expand the collection of expenditure data for 
COVID-19 federal assistance funds. The CARES Act of 2020 established 
several relief funds that would be made available to school systems, 
including the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) 
Fund, the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund, and the 
Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). Subsequent legislation such as the CRRSA 
and the ARP further funded these sources and established additional 
funds made available to school systems, including the ARP Act 
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. In response to these 
various funds being established and utilized by school systems, 21 new 
data items will be added to the survey to collect data on expenditures 
from these funding sources. Three data items collecting data for 
current expenditures, instructional expenditures, and capital outlay 
expenditures will be added for seven different sources of funds for a 
total of 21 new data items.
    As a result of these 21 new data items being added to the survey, 
an increase in the total burden hours and estimated time per response 
for the primary survey form (F-33) is expected compared to prior survey 
collections. A slight decrease in the number of supplemental 
respondents is also expected in future collections due to school system 
consolidations, mergers, and other factors affecting the composition of 
school systems in states where supplemental debt and asset data is 
collected. This will partially offset some of the increase in total 
burden hours as a result of the 21 new items collected on the survey; 
however, an overall increase in total burden hours is still expected.

II. Method of Collection

    A letter is mailed electronically at the beginning of each survey 
period to solicit the assistance of the state

[[Page 25220]]

education agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This 
letter officially announces the opening of the data collection period 
and requests some administrative data, such as their estimated date of 
submission, any change to the reporting format from prior year, and 
updated contact information for the state coordinator for the survey.
    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 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). School 
systems have the option of completing a paper form to mail back to the 
Census Bureau or completing the survey using an online web application.

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, Supplemental: 3426.
    Estimated Time per Response: F-33: 70 hours, 45 minutes, 
Supplemental: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4465.
    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. 2022-09104 Filed 4-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P