[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 245 (Friday, December 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88599-88600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28259]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Charter Online Management and Performance System (COMPS) 
Charter School Programs (CSP) Credit Enhancement Annual Performance 
Report (APR)

AGENCY: Office of the 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).

[[Page 88600]]


DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for proposed 
information collection requests should be submitted within 30 days of 
publication of this notice. Click on this link www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain to access the site. Find this information collection request 
(ICR) by selecting ``Department of Education'' under ``Currently Under 
Review,'' then check the ``Only Show ICR for Public Comment'' checkbox. 
Reginfo.gov provides two links to view documents related to this 
information collection request. Information collection forms and 
instructions may be found by clicking on the ``View Information 
Collection (IC) List'' link. Supporting statements and other supporting 
documentation may be found by clicking on the ``View Supporting 
Statement and Other Documents'' link.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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: A 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 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: December 19, 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. 2023-28259 Filed 12-21-23; 8:45 am]
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