[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7969-7971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02606]


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

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Application Deadline for Fiscal Year 2023; Small, Rural School 
Achievement Program

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

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: Under the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program, 
Assistance Listing Number 84.358A, the U.S. Department of Education 
(Department) awards grants on a formula basis to eligible local 
educational agencies (LEAs) to address the unique needs of rural school 
districts. In this notice, we establish the deadline and describe the 
application process for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 SRSA grant. This 
notice relates to the approved information collection under Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) control number 1810-0646. All LEAs eligible 
for FY 2023 SRSA funds must apply electronically via the process 
described in this notice by the deadline listed below.

DATES: 
    Applications Available: February 8, 2023.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 14, 2023.
    Application Technical Assistance: The Department will announce 
application technical assistance opportunities for applicants when the 
application becomes available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leslie Poynter, REAP Group Leader, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20202. Telephone: (202) 401-0039. Email: [email protected].
    If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and 
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Award Information

    Type of Award: Formula grant.
    Available Funds: $107,500,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $0-$60,000.

    Note: The amount of an LEA's award depends on the number of 
eligible LEAs in a given year, the number of eligible LEAs that 
complete the SRSA application, and the amount of funds Congress 
appropriates for the program. Some eligible LEAs may receive an SRSA 
allocation of $0 due to the statutory funding formula and, in that 
case, will not be invited to submit an application.

    Estimated Number of Awards: 4,215.

II. Program Authority and Eligibility Information

Under what statutory authority will FY 2023 SRSA grant awards be made?

    The FY 2023 SRSA grant awards will be made under title V, part B, 
subpart 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), 
20 U.S.C. 7345-7345a.

Which LEAs are eligible for an award under the SRSA program?

    For FY 2023, an LEA (including a public charter school that meets 
the definition of LEA in section 8101(30) of the ESEA) is eligible for 
an award under the SRSA program if it meets both of the criteria below:
    (a) The total number of students in average daily attendance at all 
of the schools served by the LEA is fewer than 600, or each county in 
which a school served by the LEA is located has a total population 
density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile; and
    (b) All of the schools served by the LEA are designated with a 
school locale code of 41, 42, or 43 by the Department's National Center 
for Education Statistics (NCES), or the Secretary has determined, based 
on a demonstration by the LEA and concurrence of the State educational 
agency, that the LEA is located in an area defined as rural by a 
governmental agency of the State.
    The Department provides an eligibility spreadsheet listing each LEA 
eligible to apply for FY 2023 SRSA grant funds. The spreadsheet is 
available on the Department's website at https://oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-formula-grants/rural-insular-native-achievement-programs/rural-education-achievement-program/small-rural-school-achievement-program/eligibility/.
    If an LEA will close prior to the 2023-2024 school year, that LEA 
is not

[[Page 7970]]

eligible to receive an FY 2023 SRSA award and should not apply.

    Note: The ``Choice of Participation'' provision under section 
5225 of the ESEA gives an LEA eligible for both SRSA and the Rural 
and Low-Income School (RLIS) program, which is authorized under 
title V, part B, subpart 2 of the ESEA, the option to participate in 
either the SRSA program or the RLIS program. 20 U.S.C. 7351d. An LEA 
eligible for both SRSA and RLIS is henceforth referred to as a 
``dual-eligible LEA.''

Which eligible LEAs must submit an application to receive an FY 2023 
SRSA grant award?

    Under 34 CFR 75.104(a), the Secretary makes a grant only to an 
eligible entity that submits an application.
    In FY 2023, each LEA eligible to receive an SRSA award is required 
to submit an SRSA application in order to receive SRSA funds, 
regardless of whether the LEA received an award or submitted an 
application in a previous year. This requirement applies to all 
eligible LEAs, including each dual-eligible LEA that chooses to 
participate in the SRSA program instead of the RLIS program and each 
SRSA-eligible LEA that is a member of an educational service agency 
(ESA) that does not receive SRSA funds on the LEA's behalf. In the case 
of an SRSA-eligible LEA that is a member of an SRSA-eligible ESA, the 
LEA and ESA must coordinate directly with each other to determine which 
entity will submit an SRSA application on the LEA's behalf, as both 
entities may not apply for or receive SRSA funds for the LEA. As noted 
above, pursuant to section 5225 of the ESEA, a dual-eligible LEA that 
applies for SRSA funds may not receive an RLIS award.
    A separate application must be submitted for each eligible LEA. For 
example, if a rural community has two distinct LEAs--one composed of 
its elementary school(s) and one composed of its high school(s)--each 
distinct LEA must submit its own SRSA application with the LEA's own 
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in accordance with the guidance provided 
in 2 CFR part 25 (available at the following web page: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-I/part-25).
    The UEI is a 12-character alphanumeric code assigned to an entity 
by the System for Award Management (SAM), the Government's primary 
registrant database. The UEI is the primary means of entity 
identification for Federal awards. The process of obtaining and 
registering a UEI through SAM's online platform, https://sam.gov/content/home, is entirely free to LEAs. To further assist you with 
registering in SAM or updating your existing SAM registration, see the 
Quick Start Guide for Grant Registrations and the Entity Registration 
Video at https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration. You may also 
review the resources or utilize the live chat function on the following 
Federal Service Desk website: https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp. An LEA 
must update its SAM registration annually, and the Department 
recommends that an LEA begin the SAM registration or re-activation 
process early to prevent delays in accessing any awarded SRSA funds. 
Note, an LEA that receives an SRSA award must have a UEI with an active 
registration status in SAM to access its SRSA grant funds. An LEA may 
not receive an SRSA award until it has a UEI with an active 
registration status in SAM.

III. Application and Submission Information

    Note: Since FY 2020, the SRSA grant application is no longer 
housed on the Grants.gov platform. Please see below for the updated 
application process.

    Electronic Submission of Applications Using MAX.gov:
    The Department will send an email with a unique application link on 
February 8, 2023, to each LEA that is eligible and estimated to receive 
a positive allocation for an FY 2023 SRSA grant award. The email will 
include detailed instructions for completing the electronic application 
via the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) MAX Survey platform.
    An eligible LEA must submit an electronic application via OMB MAX 
Survey by April 14, 2023, to be assured of receiving an FY 2023 SRSA 
grant award. The Department may consider applications submitted after 
the deadline to the extent practicable and contingent upon the 
availability of funding.
    Please note the following:
     We estimate that it will take 30 minutes to complete the 
application. We strongly recommend that you do not wait until the 
application deadline date to begin the application process, however.
     The FY 2023 SRSA application incorporates minor revisions 
approved through a revised information collection; applicants are 
encouraged to read the application instructions thoroughly and 
participate in technical assistance opportunities offered by the 
Department that will be announced when the application becomes 
available. To better ensure applications are processed in a timely, 
accurate, and efficient manner, eligible LEAs will receive periodic 
emails reminding them to complete the SRSA application prior to the 
April 14, 2023, deadline.
     An application received by OMB MAX Survey is dated and 
time-stamped upon submission, and an applicant will receive a 
confirmation email after the application is submitted.
     If any applicant information changes (e.g., address or 
contact information for the LEA) after an application has been 
submitted via OMB MAX Survey, the applicant must contact REAP staff 
directly by emailing [email protected] to update such information.
    Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues 
with OMB MAX Survey:
    If you are unable to submit an application by April 14, 2023, 
because of technical issues with OMB MAX Survey, contact REAP staff by 
emailing [email protected] within 5 business days and provide an explanation 
of the technical problem you experienced. The late application will be 
accepted as having met the deadline if REAP program staff can confirm 
that a technical issue occurred with the OMB MAX Survey system that 
affected your ability to submit the application by the deadline. As 
noted above, if you submit the application after the deadline and the 
late submission is not due to a technical issue about which you have 
notified REAP program staff, the Department may consider your 
application to the extent practicable and contingent upon the 
availability of funding.

IV. Other Procedural Requirements

    System for Award Management (SAM):
    To do business with the Department, an entity must maintain an 
active registration in the SAM, the Federal Government's primary 
registrant database, using the following information:
    a. UEI.
    b. Legal business name.
    c. Physical address associated with the UEI.
    d. Taxpayer identification number (TIN).
    e. Taxpayer name associated with the TIN.
    f. Bank information to set up Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) 
(i.e., routing number, account number, and account type (checking/
savings)).

V. Acessibility Information and Program Authority

    Accessible Format: Upon request to the REAP Group Leader (using the 
email or phone number provided in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section above), individuals with disabilities can

[[Page 7971]]

obtain this document and a copy of the application package in an 
accessible format. The Department will provide the requestor with an 
accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text 
format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible format.
    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 at https://www.govinfo.gov/. 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.
    Program Authority: Sections 5211-5212 of the ESEA, 20 U.S.C. 7345-
7345a.

James F. Lane,
Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary, delegated the authority to 
perform the functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary, Office of 
Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2023-02606 Filed 2-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P