20 U.S.C. § 7173: State application

Summary

To get federal money for this program each year, a State must send an application to the Secretary that names the State education agency to run the program and explains how the money will be used, including any State-level funds. The application must promise to give grants to groups that serve students in schools identified for improvement and other schools local districts say need help, and to those students’ families, with extra priority for applicants who plan to serve those students. The State must explain how it will choose winners in a competitive process, make awards large enough and within the rules, run grants for 3 to 5 years, require a plan for continuing activities after the grant ends, make sure grants use high-quality strategies (like training, technical help, evaluation, and sharing good practices), coordinate with other programs, require applicants to address transportation, prescreen outside groups that might help and share a list of approved providers, show it developed the application with appropriate State officials and stakeholders, report its needs and resources, and describe how it will measure and share program results (using things like test scores, attendance, grades, consistent program attendance, on-time grade promotion, and for high school students, possible career or work-readiness measures). The application must be publicly announced before filing and available for public review after filing. Amounts must follow section 7174(h), and funds must supplement, not replace, other public funds. If the Secretary does not say the application is not compliant within 120 days of receipt, the application is treated as approved. If the Secretary finds a problem, the State gets notice and a chance for a hearing and must be told which parts are not compliant and what extra information is needed. The State then has 45 days to send the needed information. If it does, the Secretary must approve or disapprove within either 45 days after resubmission or the original 120-day period, whichever is later. If the State does not respond in 45 days, the application is treated as disapproved. The Secretary may not favor States or applicants that want to use the funds to lengthen the regular school day.

Title 20, §7173

Education, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

In order to receive an allotment under section 7172 of this title for any fiscal year, a State shall submit to the Secretary, at such time as the Secretary may require, an application that—

(1)designates the State educational agency as the agency responsible for the administration and supervision of programs assisted under this part;

(2)describes how the State educational agency will use funds received under this part, including funds reserved for State-level activities;

(3)contains an assurance that the State educational agency—

(A)will make awards under this part to eligible entities that serve—

(i)students who primarily attend—

(I)schools implementing comprehensive support and improvement activities or targeted support and improvement activities under section 6311(d) of this title; and

(II)other schools determined by the local educational agency to be in need of intervention and support; and

(ii)the families of such students; and

(B)will further give priority to eligible entities that propose in the application to serve students described in subclauses (I) and (II) of section 7174(i)(1)(A)(i) of this title;

(4)describes the procedures and criteria the State educational agency will use for reviewing applications and awarding funds to eligible entities on a competitive basis, which shall include procedures and criteria that take into consideration the likelihood that a proposed community learning center will help participating students meet the challenging State academic standards and any local academic standards;

(5)describes how the State educational agency will ensure that awards made under this part are—

(A)of sufficient size and scope to support high-quality, effective programs that are consistent with the purpose of this part; and

(B)in amounts that are consistent with section 7174(h) of this title;

(6)describes the steps the State educational agency will take to ensure that programs implement effective strategies, including providing ongoing technical assistance and training, evaluation, dissemination of promising practices, and coordination of professional development for staff in specific content areas and youth development;

(7)describes how programs under this part will be coordinated with programs under this chapter, and other programs as appropriate;

(8)contains an assurance that the State educational agency—

(A)will make awards for programs for a period of not less than 3 years and not more than 5 years; and

(B)will require each eligible entity seeking such an award to submit a plan describing how the activities to be funded through the award will continue after funding under this part ends;

(9)contains an assurance that funds appropriated to carry out this part will be used to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, and local public funds expended to provide programs and activities authorized under this part and other similar programs;

(10)contains an assurance that the State educational agency will require eligible entities to describe in their applications under section 7174(b) of this title how the transportation needs of participating students will be addressed;

(11)describes how the State will—

(A)prescreen external organizations that could provide assistance in carrying out the activities under this part; and

(B)develop and make available to eligible entities a list of external organizations that successfully completed the prescreening process;

(12)provides—

(A)an assurance that the application was developed in consultation and coordination with appropriate State officials, including the chief State school officer, and other State agencies administering before and after school (or summer recess) programs and activities, the heads of the State health and mental health agencies or their designees, statewide after-school networks (where applicable) and representatives of teachers, local educational agencies, and community-based organizations; and

(B)a description of any other representatives of teachers, parents, students, or the business community that the State has selected to assist in the development of the application, if applicable;

(13)describes the results of the State’s needs and resources assessment for before and after school (or summer recess) programs and activities, which shall be based on the results of on-going State evaluation activities;

(14)describes how the State educational agency will evaluate the effectiveness of programs and activities carried out under this part, which shall include, at a minimum—

(A)a description of the performance indicators and performance measures that will be used to evaluate programs and activities with emphasis on alignment with the regular academic program of the school and the academic needs of participating students, including performance indicators and measures that—

(i)are able to track student success and improvement over time;

(ii)include State assessment results and other indicators of student success and improvement, such as improved attendance during the school day, better classroom grades, regular (or consistent) program attendance, and on-time advancement to the next grade level; and

(iii)for high school students, may include indicators such as career competencies, successful completion of internships or apprenticeships, or work-based learning opportunities;

(B)a description of how data collected for the purposes of subparagraph (A) will be collected; and

(C)public dissemination of the evaluations of programs and activities carried out under this part; and

(15)provides for timely public notice of intent to file an application and an assurance that the application will be available for public review after submission.

(b)Deemed approval

An application submitted by a State educational agency pursuant to subsection (a) shall be deemed to be approved by the Secretary unless the Secretary makes a written determination, prior to the expiration of the 120-day period beginning on the date on which the Secretary received the application, that the application is not in compliance with this part.

(c)Disapproval

The Secretary shall not finally disapprove the application, except after giving the State educational agency notice and an opportunity for a hearing.

(d)Notification

If the Secretary finds that the application is not in compliance, in whole or in part, with this part, the Secretary shall—

(1)give the State educational agency notice and an opportunity for a hearing; and

(2)notify the State educational agency of the finding of noncompliance and, in such notification—

(A)cite the specific provisions in the application that are not in compliance; and

(B)request additional information, only as to the noncompliant provisions, needed to make the application compliant.

(e)Response

If the State educational agency responds to the Secretary’s notification described in subsection (d)(2) during the 45-day period beginning on the date on which the agency received the notification, and resubmits the application with the requested information described in subsection (d)(2)(B), the Secretary shall approve or disapprove such application prior to the later of— (1)

(2)the expiration of the 120-day period described in subsection (b).

(f)Failure to respond

If the State educational agency does not respond to the Secretary’s notification described in subsection (d)(2) during the 45-day period beginning on the date on which the agency received the notification, such application shall be deemed to be disapproved.

(g)Limitation

The Secretary may not give a priority or a preference for States or eligible entities that seek to use funds made available under this part to extend the regular school day.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Pub. L. 114–95 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to State application, consisting of subsecs. (a) to (f).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2015 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–95 effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114–95, set out as a note under section 6301 of this title.

§7173 State Application