[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 198 (Monday, October 16, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71343-71344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22743]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2023-SCC-0181]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Charter Online Management and Performance System (COMPS) CSP Credit 
Enhancement APR

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Department 
of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
the Department is proposing a new information collection request (ICR).

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
December 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2023-SCC-0181. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal 
mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the regulations.gov 
site is not available to the public for any reason, the Department will 
temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please include the 
docket ID number and the title of the information collection request 
when requesting documents or submitting comments. Please note that 
comments submitted after the comment period will not be accepted. 
Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail 
or delivery should be addressed to the Manager of the Strategic 
Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 6W203, 
Washington, DC 20202-8240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Andrew Brake, (202) 453-6136.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department, in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to 
comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of 
information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. The Department is soliciting comments on the 
proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. 
The Department is especially interested in public comment addressing 
the following issues: (1) is this collection necessary to the proper 
functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and 
used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) 
how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (5) how might the Department 
minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including 
through the use of information technology. Please note that written 
comments received in response to this notice will be considered public 
records.
    Title of Collection: Charter Online Management and Performance 
System (COMPS) CSP Credit Enhancement APR.
    OMB Control Number: 1810-NEW.
    Type of Review: New ICR.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Private Sector.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 82.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 2,050.
    Abstract: This request is for a new OMB approval to collect the 
Annual Performance Report (APR) data from Charter School Programs (CSP) 
Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program (CE) grantees.
    The Charter School Programs was originally authorized under title 
V, part B, subpart 1, sections 5201 through 5211 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left 
Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. For fiscal year 2017 and thereafter, ESEA 
has been amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), (20USC 7221-
7221i), which reserves funds to improve education by supporting 
innovation in public education and to: (2) provide financial assistance 
for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter 
schools; (3) increase the number

[[Page 71344]]

of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United 
States; (4) evaluate the impact of charter schools on student 
achievement, families, and communities, and share best practices 
between charter schools and other public schools; (5) encourage States 
to provide support to charter schools for facilities financing in an 
amount more nearly commensurate to the amount States typically provide 
for traditional public schools; (6) expand opportunities for children 
with disabilities, English learners, and other traditionally 
underserved students to attend charter schools and meet the challenging 
State academic standards; (7) support efforts to strengthen the charter 
school authorizing process to improve performance management, including 
transparency, oversight and monitoring (including financial audits), 
and evaluation of such schools; and (8) support quality, 
accountability, and transparency in the operational performance of all 
authorized public chartering agencies, including State educational 
agencies, local educational agencies, and other authorizing entities.
    Specific to the CE program, grant funds are awarded to demonstrate 
innovative methods of helping charter schools to address the costs of 
acquiring, constructing, and renovating facilities by enhancing the 
availability of loans or bond financing and used by grantees to assist 
one or more charter schools to access private-sector capital to 
accomplish one or more of the following objectives: (1) The acquisition 
(by purchase, lease, donation, or otherwise) of an interest (including 
an interest held by a third party for the benefit of a charter schools) 
in improved or unimproved real property that is necessary to commence 
or continue the operation of a charter schools; (2) The construction of 
new facilities, or the renovation, repair, or alteration of existing 
facilities, necessary to commence or continue the operation of a 
charter school; (3) The predevelopment costs required to assess sites 
for purposes of paragraph (1) or (2) and that are necessary to commence 
or continue the operation of a charter school.
    The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is requesting authorization 
to collect data from CSP grantees within the CE program with new APR 
tool. The former APR data collection package for CE grantees was 
discontinued in March 2023. The CSP made revisions to the questionnaire 
aimed at reducing grantee burden (e.g., eliminating questions) and 
collecting more accurate and useful program data (e.g., identifying 
joint transactions with other CE grantees). To further these aims, CSP 
is planning to collect the APR data through a web-based system used to 
collect APR data from other CSP program grantees.

    Dated: October 11, 2023.
Kun Mullan,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance, Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, 
Evaluation and Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 2023-22743 Filed 10-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P