[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 233 (Wednesday, December 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84775-84777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26732]


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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; School District Review Program

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 School District Review Program, 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 February 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to Michael S. Snow at [email protected]. Please reference 
``School District Review Program'' in the subject line of your 
comments. You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number 
USBC-2023-0010, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. All comments received are part of the public 
record. No comments will be posted to https://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 Michael S. Snow, Program Manager, by phone at 301-763-9912 or by 
email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The School District Review Program (SDRP) is a U.S. Department of 
Education National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) sponsored 
program conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is of vital 
importance for each state's allocation under title I of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act of 
2015, Public Law 114-95. School district information submitted through 
this program, along with the decennial census population, Small Area 
Income and Poverty Estimates, and current population estimates, are 
used in forming the Census Bureau's estimates of the number of children 
ages 5 through 17 in families in poverty for each school district. The 
U.S Department of Education uses these estimates to

[[Page 84776]]

allocate more than $16 billion annually in Title I funds.
    The SDRP encompasses the review of Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 
school districts as defined by the NCES. Type 1 is a local school 
district that is not a component of a supervisory union. Type 2 is a 
local school district component of a supervisory union sharing a 
superintendent and administrative services with other local school 
districts. Type 3 is an education agency that performs administrative 
services for more than one school district, providing a common 
superintendent for participating districts.
    Respondents to the SDRP are the mapping coordinators and Title I 
Coordinators from the fifty states and the District of Columbia. NCES 
also anticipates the inclusion of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 
the next three years. Mapping coordinators are designated by the state 
departments of education and are tasked with reviewing and providing 
updates for school district boundaries, federal school district local 
education agency codes, names, grade ranges, and levels to the Census 
Bureau. Title I Coordinators are responsible for overseeing the SDRP 
and reviewing all materials.
    There are two phases to the SDRP: the Annotation Phase and 
Verification Phase. During the Annotation Phase, the Census Bureau 
provides mapping coordinators with materials containing the latest 
school district boundaries and school district information that the 
Census Bureau has on file for their state. Mapping coordinators review 
the data and submit any changes to the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau 
reviews and processes the information submitted by the mapping 
coordinator and updates the Master Address File/Topologically 
Integrated Geographic Encoding and Reference (MAF/TIGER) System. During 
the Verification Phase, mapping coordinators verify that the Census 
Bureau updated the MAF/TIGER System accurately and completely with 
updates submitted during the Annotation Phase.

II. Method of Collection

Annotation Phase

    In the Annotation Phase, mapping coordinators gather school 
district updates from sources within the state, e.g., local school 
district officials, counties, and state agencies. They use Census 
Bureau-provided materials to review and update school district 
boundaries, names, codes, and geographic relationships. The Census 
Bureau provides mapping coordinators with school district listings, 
spatial data in Esri shapefile format, blank submission logs, and 
Geographic Update Partnership Software (GUPS). The school district 
listings consist of school district inventories, school district names, 
levels, grade ranges, and other data about school districts within 
their state. If the mapping coordinator has non-spatial updates (e.g., 
name changes, simple consolidations, simple dissolutions, and others), 
the mapping coordinator updates the Census Bureau provided submission 
log with those changes. If a mapping coordinator needs to perform 
spatial updates to a school district boundary, the mapping coordinator 
uses Census Bureau provided GUPS and spatial data to make updates. GUPS 
is a free, customized geographic information system application 
provided by the Census Bureau for mapping coordinators. It is available 
on the web and as a standalone application that can be installed by a 
user and contains all functionality necessary for mapping coordinators 
to make and validate their spatial school district updates. Once 
mapping coordinators have reviewed and updated the school district 
information for their state, the mapping coordinator sends it to the 
Census Bureau, using the Secure Web Incoming Module, the Census 
Bureau's online application for uploading SDRP submissions. The Census 
Bureau will update the MAF/TIGER System with the updates sent by the 
mapping coordinator.

Schedule

     The SDRP Annotation Phase begins in September of each 
year.
     The SDRP Annotation Phase submission deadline is the last 
workday in December of each year.

Verification Phase

    In the Verification Phase, the Census Bureau sends mapping 
coordinators newly created listings and digital files, and mapping 
coordinators use the SDRP verification module in GUPS to review these 
files and verify that the Census Bureau correctly captured their 
submitted information. The mapping coordinator can tag the area of 
issue and send the information to the Census Bureau to make corrections 
if the Census Bureau did not incorporate their boundary changes or 
other updates correctly. The Census Bureau does not accept new changes 
during the Verification Phase.

Schedule

     The SDRP Verification Phase begins and ends in April of 
each year.

Feedback

    The Census Bureau may solicit feedback from respondents to improve 
the administration of the program and potentially reduce the future 
burden. Respondents may be asked to provide feedback on materials, 
manner of data collection, manner of respondent communications, and the 
usability of our program applications and tools.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0987.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, request for a revision of a 
currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: All fifty States, the District of Columbia, and 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
    Estimated Number of Respondents:
     Annotation Phase: 52.
     Verification Phase: 52.
     Feedback: 52.
    Estimated Time Per Response:
     Annotation Phase: 30 hours.
     Verification Phase: 10 hours.
     Feedback: 1 hour.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,132.
     Annotation Phase: 1,560 hours.
     Verification Phase: 520 hours.
     Feedback: 52 hours.
    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: Title 13 U.S.C. 16, 141, and 193.
    NCES Legal Authority: Title I, part A of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act of 
2015, Public Law (Pub. L.) 114-95.

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

[[Page 84777]]

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 Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-26732 Filed 12-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P