80 FR 31898 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 107 (June 4, 2015)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31898-31899]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-13644]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2015-ICCD-0074]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection

AGENCY: Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a revision of an existing 
information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
August 3, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice should be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2015-ICCD-
0074 or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the 
regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, ED 
will temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please note 
that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the 
comment period will not be accepted; ED will ONLY accept comments 
during the comment period in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site 
is not available. Written requests for information or comments 
submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Mailstop L-OM-2-
2E319, Room 2E105, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Rosa Olmeda, (202) 453-5968.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with 
an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact 
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The 
Department of Education is especially interested in public comment 
addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to 
the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be 
processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden 
accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the 
Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, 
including through the use of information technology. Please note that 
written comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
public records.
    Title of Collection: Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 1870-0504.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 17,620.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,520,260.
    Abstract: The collection, use, and reporting of education data is 
an integral component of the mission of the U.S. Department of 
Education (ED). EDFacts, an ED initiative to put performance data at 
the center of ED's policy, management, and budget decision-making 
processes for all K-12 education programs, has transformed the way in 
which ED collects and uses data. For school years 2009-10 and 2011-12, 
the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) was approved by OMB as part of 
the EDFacts information collection (1875-0240). For school years 2013-
14 and 2015-16, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) cleared the CRDC as a 
separate collection from EDFacts. OCR used the most current EDFacts 
information collection approved by OMB (1875-0240) as a model for the 
2013-14 and 2015-16 CRDC information collection that was approved by 
OMB (1870-0504) in February 2014. Similarly, the currently proposed 
revised CRDC information collection for school year 2015-16 is modeled 
after the most recent OMB-approved EDFacts information collection. 
Except for a few data elements that were revised based on 
recommendations received from various school districts and advice 
received from experts across ED, the currently proposed CRDC 
information collection for school year 2015-16 is identical to the 
information collection for school year 2015-16 that was approved by OMB 
in February 2014. As with previous CRDC collections, the purpose of the 
2015-16 CRDC is to obtain vital data related to the civil rights laws'

[[Page 31899]]

requirement that public local educational agencies and elementary and 
secondary schools provide equal educational opportunity. ED seeks OMB 
approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act to collect from school 
districts, the elementary and secondary education data described in the 
sections of Attachment A.

    Dated: June 1, 2015.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2015-13644 Filed 6-3-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P