23008 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 88 / Monday, May 7, 2001 / Notices

This document provides early

notification of our specific plans and

actions for this program.

Applicable Program Regulations: (a)

The Education Department General

Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR

parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 97,

98, and 99. (b) The regulations in 34

CFR part 299.

Electronic Access to This Document

You may view this document, as well

as all other Department of Education

documents published in the Federal

Register, in text or Adobe Portable

Document Format (PDF) on the Internet

at the following site: www.ed.gov/

legislation/FedRegister

To use PDF, you must have Adobe

Acrobat Reader, which is available free

at the previous site. If you have

questions about using PDF, call the U.S.

Government Printing Office (GPO) toll

free at 1–888–293–6498; or in the

Washington, DC area at (202) 512–1530.

Note: The official version of this document

is the document published in the Federal

Register. Free Internet access to the official

edition of the Federal Register and the Code

of Federal Regulations is available on GPO

Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/

index.html

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number 84.215F, Physical Education for

Progress Grant Program)

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 8351.

Dated: April 27, 2001.

Thomas M. Corwin,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Elementary and Secondary Education.

[FR Doc. 01–11441 Filed 5–4–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.310A]

Parental Assistance Program;Notice

Inviting Applications for New Awards

for Fiscal Year (FY) 2001

Purpose of Program: The purpose of

the Parental Assistance Program, 20

U.S.C. 5911, et seq., is to (1) increase

parents’ knowledge of and confidence in

child-rearing activities, such as teaching

and nurturing their young children; (2)

strengthen partnerships between parents

and professionals in meeting the

educational needs of children aged birth

through five years and the working

relationship between home and school;

and (3) enhance the developmental

progress of the children assisted under

the program.

Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit

organizations, and nonprofit

organizations in consortia with local

educational agencies (LEAs).

From the available funds, awards will

initially be made to successful

applicants from States in which the

current Parental Assistance Program

grants are expiring. Thus, in this

competition, a grant will first be

awarded to a successful applicant from

each of the following twelve

jurisdictions: Alabama, Arkansas,

Guam, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana,

Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota,

Oregon, Rhode Island, and South

Carolina. The remaining funds will be

used to award grants to successful

applicants from any of the States, the

District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and

the outlying areas. As a result, all states

will have at least one parental

information and resource center; some

States will have a second center funded.

An LEA, by itself, is not eligible for

an award. However, an LEA may be part

of a consortium with a nonprofit

organization that applies. In those

instances, the award would be made to

the nonprofit organization, which

would serve as the fiscal agent.

For purposes of this competition,

nonprofit organizations do not include

institutions of higher education, State

educational agencies, LEAs,

intermediate school districts, schools,

government entities, or hospitals.

Applications Available: May 7, 2001.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications: June 21, 2001.

Deadline for Intergovernmental

Review: August 7, 2001.

Available Funds: $12,000,000. Of this

amount, approximately $5.5 million

will be used to award a grant to

successful applicants from each of the

twelve jurisdictions specifically

identified above. The remaining amount

will be used to award grants to

successful applicants from any State,

the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or

the outlying areas. The Department will

fund no more than two parent centers in

any jurisdiction.

Estimated Range of Awards: $200,000

to $700,000.

Note: Due to anticipated variances in the

scope of proposed activities and the number

of program beneficiaries, the estimated range

is very broad.

Estimated Number of Awards: 25. Of

this number, a grant will be awarded to

a successful applicant from each of the

twelve jurisdictions identified above.

The remaining thirteen awards will be

made to successful applicants from any

State, the District of Columbia, Puerto

Rico, or the outlying areas.

Note: These estimates are projections for

the guidance of potential applicants. The

Department of Education is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 12 months.

Applicable Regulations: The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 82, and

85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 80

(Uniform Administrative Requirements for

Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State

and Local Governments) apply to an LEA that

is part of a consortium receiving assistance.

(1) Competitive Preference: The

Secretary has published elsewhere in

this issue of the Federal Register a

notice of final priorities, which

establishes a competitive preference of

up to 10 additional points in this

competition.

Invitational Priority: Schools must

provide a safe, disciplined environment

conducive to learning. Projects funded

under this program are in a unique

position to incorporate in their services

activities that assist parents, schools,

and the community in implementing

strategies to reduce youth violence. The

Secretary invites applicants to include

as part of their proposals activities to

help parents recognize early warning

signs that relate to violence and other

troubling behaviors. However, under 34

CFR 75.105(c)(1), an applicant that

meets this invitational priority receives

no competitive or absolute preference

over applications that do not meet the

priority.

Description of Program: The Parental

Assistance Program supports parental

information and resource centers that

are designed to meet the unique

training, information, and support needs

of parents of children from birth

through five years of age and of parents

of children enrolled in elementary and

secondary schools, particularly parents

who are economically or educationally

disadvantaged. Funded centers must

serve both urban and rural areas, and

use at least half of their grant award to

serve areas with high concentrations of

low-income families. Activities of the

center must focus on serving parents of

low-income, minority, and limitedEnglish proficient parents. Each center

must use part of its funds to support

Parents as Teachers Programs or Home

Instruction Programs for Preschool

Youngsters. (Descriptions of these

programs are in the application

package.)

Applicants should be aware that the

legislation at 20 U.S.C. 5912 establishes

specific requirements for the

organizational structure, operation, and

activities of the parent centers. To be

eligible for funding, an applicant must

meet these statutory requirements. (A

copy of the program legislation is

included in the application package.)

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 88 / Monday, May 7, 2001 / Notices 23009

In instances in which more than one

parent center is funded in a jurisdiction,

the centers should collaborate with each

other as part of their networking

responsibilities. (A list of current

grantees is included in the application

package.)

Applicants should be aware that

section 1118(g) of the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965, as

amended by the Improving America’s

Schools Act of 1994, requires schools

and districts receiving Title I funds to

assist parents and parent organizations

by informing them of the existence and

purpose of the parent information and

resource center in their State, providing

them with a description of the services

and programs provided by the center,

advising parents on how to use the

center, and helping them contact the

center. Consequently, applicants should

be prepared to address the demand for

their services created by this

requirement.

Selection Criteria: The Secretary will

use selection criteria and factors from 34

CFR 75.210 to evaluate applications

under this competition. The specific

selection criteria and factors that will be

used in evaluating applications are

detailed in the application package.

The maximum score for all of the

selection criteria is 100 points. The total

maximum score of an application is 110

points (100 points under the selection

criteria and a maximum of 10 points

under the competitive preference

referenced elsewhere in this notice and

published separately in this issue of the

Federal Register.)

The maximum points for each

criterion are as follows:

(1) Need for project—20 points.

(2) Quality of the project design—22

points.

(3) Quality of project services—20

points.

(4) Quality of project personnel—9

points.

(5) Adequacy of resources—7 points.

(6) Quality of the project evaluation—

22 points.

Intergovernmental Review: This

program is subject to the requirements

of Executive Order 12372

(Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs) and the regulations in 34 CFR

part 79. (Intergovernmental Review

instructions are contained in the

application package.)

For Applications and Information

Contact: Rachael Couch, (202) 401–

0039, U.S. Department of Education,

400 Maryland Avenue, SW, FOB 6,

Room 3E243, Mail Stop 6400,

Washington, DC 20202. The e-mail

address for Ms. Couch is: rachael

couch@ed.gov.

Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–888–877–

8339.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alterntive

format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) on

request to the contact person listed

above.

Individuals with disabilities may also

obtain a copy of the application package

in an alternative format on request to

the contact person listed. However, the

Department is not able to reproduce in

an alternative format the standard forms

included in the application package.

Electronic Access To This Document:

You may view this document, as well as

other Department of Education

documents published in the Federal

Register, in text or Adobe Portable

Document Format (PDF) on the Internet

at the following site: www.ed.gov/

legislation/FedRegister

To use PDF you must have Adobe

Acrobat Reader, which is available free

at the preceding site. If you have

questions about using PDF, call the U.S.

Government Printing Office (GPO), toll

free, at 1–888–293–6498, or in the

Washington, DC area at (202) 512–1530.

Note: The official version of this document

is the document published in the Federal

Register. Free Internet access to the official

edition of the Federal Register and the Code

of Federal Regulations is available on GPO

Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/

index.html

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 5911 et seq.

Dated: May 1, 2001.

Thomas M. Corwin,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for

Elementary and Secondary Education.

[FR Doc. 01–11438 Filed 5–4–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.310A]

Parental Assistance Program

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and

Secondary Education, Department of

Education.

ACTION: Notice of Final Priority for

Fiscal Year (FY) 2001.

SUMMARY: The Secretary announces a

final funding priority for the FY 2001

grant competition under Parental

Assistance Program (20 U.S.C. 5911 et

seq.). This program provides grants to

eligible non-profit organizations, and

eligible non-profit organizations in

consortium with local educational

agencies (LEAs), to establish parental

information and resource centers. Under

the funding priority, the Secretary gives

competitive preference to eligible nonprofit organizations that apply in

consortium with one or more LEAs with

low-performing schools and propose to

implement comprehensive strategies

designed to strengthen school-familycommunity partnerships in order to

help children in low-performing schools

reach challenging academic standards.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

January 12, 2001, we published in the

Federal Register a notice of proposed

priority (NPP) for the FY 2001 grant

competition under the Parental

Assistance Program. In the NPP we

announced our intent to give applicants

that meet the preference up to 10

additional points in the competition

with the number of points awarded to

be determined on the basis of how well

the applicant addressed the competitive

preference. This notice of final funding

priority announces the final competitive

preference for the competition.

Note: This notice of final priority does not

solicit applications. A notice inviting

applications under this competition is

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register.

Analysis of Comments and Changes

Four parties submitted comments in

response to the proposed priority. Two

of the parties supported the priority, one

party requested that the Department

specify the percentage of grant funds

that should be focused on the priority,

and another party indicated that a

parent center-LEA consortium priority

would eliminate the autonomy and

effectiveness of the centers. The

comments of the latter two parties are

summarized below.

Comment: One commenter

recommended that the Department

indicate the amount of staff and funds

that should be focused on the priority.

Discussion: The Secretary believes

that applicants should be given as much

flexibility as possible in designing

proposals that best address the funding

priority. The number of points that an

applicant receives under the priority

should be based on how well the

applicant addresses the priority, and not

on the amount of resources that the

applicant proposes to spend on the

priority.

Changes: None.

Comment: One commenter indicated

that requiring parent centers to work

more formally with school districts in a

consortium would eliminate the

autonomy and effectiveness of the