Notice2022-09104
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Annual Survey of School System Finances
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 28, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Abstract
The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the proposed revision of the Annual Survey of School System Finances, prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 82 (Thursday, April 28, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 82 (Thursday, April 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25219-25220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09104]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Annual Survey of School System Finances
AGENCY: Census Bureau, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites the general public and other
Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the
proposed revision of the Annual Survey of School System Finances, prior
to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB
for approval.
DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed
information collection must be received on or before June 27, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bce8d4d3d1ddcf92f692efd1d5c8d4fcdfd9d2cfc9cf92dbd3ca"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4b1f2324262a386501651826223f230b282e25383e38652c243d">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference Annual Survey of
School System Finances in the subject line of your comments. You may
also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2022-0007, to
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. All
comments received are part of the public record. No comments will be
posted to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> for public viewing until after the
comment period has closed. Comments will generally be posted without
change. All Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information. You may submit
attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe
PDF file formats.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed
to Stephen Wheeler, Survey Statistician, Education Finance Branch, 301-
763-9950, and <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f2a18697829a979cdca59a97979e9780b291979c818781dc959d84"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6e3d1a0b1e060b004039060b0b020b1c2e0d0b001d1b1d40090118">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The U.S. Census Bureau plans to continue the current Office of
Management and Budget clearance for the Annual Survey of School System
Finances with revisions. The Annual Survey of School System Finances is
the only comprehensive source of pre-kindergarten through 12th grade
public elementary-secondary school system finance data collected on a
nationwide scale using uniform definitions, concepts, and procedures.
The collection covers the revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets of
all public elementary-secondary school systems. This data collection
has been cosponsored by and coordinated with the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES uses this collection to satisfy
its need for school finance data.
Fiscal data provided by respondents' aid data users in measuring
the effectiveness of resource allocation. The products of this data
collection make it possible for data users to search a single database
to obtain information on such things as per pupil expenditures and the
percent of state, local, and federal funding for each school system.
Elementary-secondary education related spending is the single largest
financial activity of state and local governments. Education finance
statistics provided by the Census Bureau allow for analyses of how
public elementary-secondary school systems receive their funding and
how they are spending their funds.
The Annual Survey of School System Finances was revised for the
fiscal year (FY) 2020 collection to include 12 new data items in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six revenue data items and six
expenditure items were added to the survey to collect financial
information from school systems concerning the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. The survey was then revised
again for the FY 2021 collection in response to new legislation passed
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Coronavirus Response and
Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) and the American Rescue
Plan (ARP). Four new revenue items were added to the survey to collect
financial data based on these two new legislative acts and two obsolete
revenue items added in FY 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
were removed from the survey. Two new expenditure items were also added
to expand the scope of financial data collected concerning COVID-19
federal assistance funds.
This proposed revision to the Annual Survey of School System
Finances is to further expand the collection of expenditure data for
COVID-19 federal assistance funds. The CARES Act of 2020 established
several relief funds that would be made available to school systems,
including the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER)
Fund, the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund, and the
Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). Subsequent legislation such as the CRRSA
and the ARP further funded these sources and established additional
funds made available to school systems, including the ARP Act
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. In response to these
various funds being established and utilized by school systems, 21 new
data items will be added to the survey to collect data on expenditures
from these funding sources. Three data items collecting data for
current expenditures, instructional expenditures, and capital outlay
expenditures will be added for seven different sources of funds for a
total of 21 new data items.
As a result of these 21 new data items being added to the survey,
an increase in the total burden hours and estimated time per response
for the primary survey form (F-33) is expected compared to prior survey
collections. A slight decrease in the number of supplemental
respondents is also expected in future collections due to school system
consolidations, mergers, and other factors affecting the composition of
school systems in states where supplemental debt and asset data is
collected. This will partially offset some of the increase in total
burden hours as a result of the 21 new items collected on the survey;
however, an overall increase in total burden hours is still expected.
II. Method of Collection
A letter is mailed electronically at the beginning of each survey
period to solicit the assistance of the state
[[Page 25220]]
education agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This
letter officially announces the opening of the data collection period
and requests some administrative data, such as their estimated date of
submission, any change to the reporting format from prior year, and
updated contact information for the state coordinator for the survey.
The survey form (F-33) contains item descriptions and definitions
of the elementary-secondary education finance items collected jointly
by the Census Bureau and NCES. It is used primarily as a worksheet and
instruction guide by the state education agencies providing school
finance data centrally for the school systems in their respective
states. The Census Bureau collects almost all the finance data for
local school systems from state education agency databases through
central collection arrangements with the state education agencies. The
states transfer this information in electronic format over the internet
via file transfer protocol. The Census Bureau has also facilitated
central collection of school system finance data by accepting data in
multiple formats.
Supplemental forms are sent to local school systems in states where
the state education agency cannot centrally provide information on
assets (F-33-L1), indebtedness (F-33-L2), or both (F-33-L3). School
systems have the option of completing a paper form to mail back to the
Census Bureau or completing the survey using an online web application.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0607-0700.
Form Number(s): F-33, Supplemental forms: F-33-L1, F-33-L2 and F-
33-L3.
Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for a Revision of a
Currently Approved Collection.
Affected Public: State and local governments.
Estimated Number of Respondents: F-33: 51, Supplemental: 3426.
Estimated Time per Response: F-33: 70 hours, 45 minutes,
Supplemental: 15 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4465.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. (This is not the cost of
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services
required specifically by the collection.)
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Census: Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 8(b), 161, and
182. NCES: Title 20 U.S.C. Sections 9543-44.
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-09104 Filed 4-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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