Section 8521(a) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student
Succeeds Act (ESEA) provides that a local educational agency (LEA)
may receive funds under Title I, Part A and other ESEA “covered
programs” for any fiscal year only if the State educational agency
(SEA) finds that either the combined fiscal effort per student or
the aggregate expenditures of the LEA and the State with respect to
the provision of free public education by the LEA for the preceding
fiscal year was not less than 90 percent of the combined fiscal
effort or aggregate expenditures for the second preceding fiscal
year. This provision is the maintenance of effort (MOE)
requirements for LEAs under the ESEA. If an LEA fails to meet the
MOE requirement, under section 8521(b) of the ESEA, the SEA must
reduce the amount of funds allocated under the programs covered by
the MOE requirement in any fiscal year in the exact proportion by
which the LEA fails to maintain effort by falling below 90 percent
of either the combined fiscal effort per student or aggregate
expenditures, if the LEA has also failed to maintain effort for 1
or more of the 5 immediately preceding fiscal years. In reducing an
LEA’s allocation because it failed to meet the MOE requirement, the
SEA uses the measure most favorable to the LEA. Section 8521(c)
gives the U.S. Department of Education (ED) the authority to waive
the ESEA's MOE requirement for an LEA if it would be equitable to
grant the waiver due to an exceptional or uncontrollable
circumstance such as a natural disaster or a change in the
organizational structure of the LEA or a precipitous decline in the
LEA's financial resources. If an MOE waiver is granted, the
reduction required by section 8521(b) does not occur for that year.
A request for a waiver of the MOE requirement is discretionary.
Only an LEA that has failed to maintain effort and that believes
its failure justifies a waiver would request one. To review an MOE
waiver request, ED relies primarily on expenditure, revenue, and
other data relevant to an LEA’s request provided by the SEA. To
assist an SEA with submitting this information, ED developed an MOE
waiver form as part of the 2009 Title I, Part A Waiver Guidance,
which covered a range of waivers that ED invited at that time. The
purpose of this collection is to renew approval for the MOE waiver
form. This MOE waiver form has been updated to reflect the
statutory changes in the ESEA, as amended by the Every Student
Succeeds Act. ED believes that the proposed form, which is slightly
modified from the currently approved version, will enable an SEA to
provide the information needed in an efficient manner. This
collection includes burden at the SEA level.
US Code:
20
USC 8521 Name of Law: Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.