Supporting Statement

Page 3 - Supporting Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

STATE CHARTER SCHOOL FACILITIES INCENTIVE GRANTS PROGRAM

Justification:

1. An application is required to award the State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grants Program. These grants are made to States to provide them with an incentive to create new or enhance existing per-pupil facilities aid programs for charter schools.

These grants are authorized by Title V, Part B, Subpart 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

2. The application allows States to apply for Federal assistance. The applicants will provide a description of their proposed activities and provide information necessary to determine which grant applications should be funded. An additional part of the application consists of assurances regarding the applicant's compliance with applicable Federal laws and regulations.

The information provided in the application will allow field readers and the Department of Education to determine if applicants are eligible and identify which applications most merit funding.

3. Applicants will be required to submit a mandatory Grants.gov application to the U.S. Department of Education. We will insert the most recent Grants.gov language in the application package shortly prior to announcing any future grant competition. We are not including the Grants.gov now because it frequently changes.

3. The information supplied by the applicant is not in any other data collection, and is unique to this program and the particular grantee. The application is a single document intended to serve a specific authorized purpose, and is in keeping with statutory requirements.

3. Small businesses are not impacted by this data collection.

3. The Department cannot distribute these grant awards to recipients without an application requesting the funds. If no application information were collected, the Department would not know which organizations want or merit funding

3. There are no special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

3. The Department has consulted with potential applicants, other interested organizations and entities to obtain their views on the availability of possible requested information and potential application processes for these grants.

We will seek public comment via the appropriate Federal Register notices.

3. No gifts or payments will be made to application respondents other than the award to the grant recipient.

3. No assurance of confidentiality is provided.

3. There is no question of sensitive nature in this collection of information.

3. Estimated respondent cost for an application is based on 40 hours per application. The figure of 40 hours is based on our own experience and the comments the eligible applicants that we consulted.

We estimate respondent cost at an average of $25 per hour so that the average cost per application would be $25 x 40 hours = $1000.

We expect that a total of 12 applications will be received from eligible applicants. Total estimated cost: $2000 x 12 applications = $24,000.

Estimated data burden for grants:

Annual reporting burden per response (preparing and submitting application):

40 hours x 12 applicants = 480 hours

Total Burden for Grant = 480 hours

3. There are no startup costs to respondents.

3. Estimated annualized Federal cost:

Program Personnel:

1 person @ $53.05/hr. x 80 hours $4244.00

Printing and mailing applications

100 applications x $2.00 per application $200.00

3. There are no changes in the selection criteria from the previous application package.

3. There is no plan for publication.

3. The expiration date will be displayed on the information collection.

3. Items F & I are were not applicable on the Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission.

2. Statistical Methodology

This collection does not employ statistical methodology.