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, 69566-69567 [2020-24271]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• U.s. Census Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 213 (Tuesday, November 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69566-69567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24271]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

U.S. 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

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite 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. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on August 25, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Annual Survey of School System Finances.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0700.
    Form Number(s): F-33, F-33(L1), F-33(L2), F-33(L3).
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for a Revision of a 
Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 3.681.
    Average Hours per Response: 1.12 hours.
    Burden Hours: 4,130.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau, on behalf of the U.S. 
Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics 
(NCES), requests an extension with revisions of approval for the Annual 
Survey of School System Finances. The Census Bureau's collection of 
school district finance data and associated publications are the most 
comprehensive sources for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 finance 
data.
    These data are collected from the universe of school districts 
using uniform definitions and concepts of revenue, expenditure, debt, 
and assets as defined by Financial Accounting for Local and State 
School Systems: 2014 Edition. This survey and the Annual Surveys of 
State and Local Government Finances (OMB No. 0607-0585) are conducted 
as part of the Census Bureau's State and Local Government Finance 
program. Data collected from cities, counties, states, and special 
district governments are combined with data collected from local school 
systems to produce state and national totals of government spending. 
Local school system spending comprises a significant portion of total 
government spending. In 2018, public elementary-secondary expenditures 
accounted for 40 percent of local government spending.
    This comprehensive and ongoing time series collection of local 
education agency finances maintains historical continuity in the state 
and local government statistics community. 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 and spend funds. Increased focus on education 
has led to a demand for data reflecting student performance, graduation 
rates, and school finance policy--all of which are related to the 
collection of this local education finance data. State

[[Page 69567]]

legislatures, local leaders, university researchers, and parents 
increasingly rely on data to make substantive decisions about 
education. School district finance is a vital sector of the education 
data spectrum used by stakeholders to form policy and to develop new 
education strategies.
    The revisions, which will be incorporated in the FY20 collection 
scheduled for mailing in January 2021, will include the following: 
Expanding the federal revenue section to reflect recent changes in 
legislation, the demand for information on other federal grants and 
renaming existing federal revenue data items to better match the 
federal grants that each are tied to. We will be adding new data items 
for special education expenditures in response to increasing demand by 
policymakers, researchers, and the general public for more detailed 
special education statistics.
    We also plan to add new data items in response to the COVID-19 
pandemic and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) 
Act. The CARES Act provides $30.75 billion to public PK-12 and higher 
education school systems through a number of learning, including 
technological improvements, in connection with school closings to 
enable compliance with COVID-19 precautions. In some cases, the funding 
public school systems receive from the Coronavirus Relief Fund can 
potentially be substantially higher than the education-specific funding 
school systems receive from the Education Stabilization Fund. Revenues 
would be separately itemized and reported at the local education agency 
(LEA) level under the CARES Act funds and all expenditures must be paid 
from CARES Act revenues. In addition, the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief 
Fund is funded at $150 billion for FY2020. The Coronavirus Relief Fund 
Guidance for State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments provides 
that nonexclusive examples of eligible expenditures include ``Expenses 
to facilitate distance learning, including technological improvements, 
in connection with school closings to enable compliance with COVID-19 
precautions.''
    The education finance data collected and processed by the Census 
Bureau are an essential component of the agency's state and local 
government finance collection and provide unique products for users of 
education finance data.
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses data from the survey to 
develop figures for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). F-33 data items 
specifically contribute to the estimates for National Income and 
Product Accounts (NIPA), Input-Output accounts (I-O), and gross 
domestic investments. BEA also uses the data to assess other public 
fiscal spending trends and events.
    The Census Bureau's Government Finances program has disseminated 
comprehensive and comparable public fiscal data since 1902. School 
finance data, which comprised 40 percent of all local government 
spending in 2018, are currently incorporated into the local government 
statistics reported on the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government 
Finances. The report contains benchmark statistics on public revenue, 
expenditure, debt, and assets. They are widely used by economists, 
legislators, social and political scientists, and government 
administrators.
    The Census Bureau makes available detailed files for all school 
systems from its internet website, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances.html. This website currently contains data 
files and statistical tables for the 1992 through 2018 fiscal year 
surveys. Historical files and publications prior to 1992 are also 
available upon request for data users engaged in longitudinal studies. 
In addition to numerous academic researchers who use F-33 products, 
staff receive inquiries from state government officials, legislatures, 
public policy analysts, local school officials, non-profit 
organizations, and various Federal agencies.
    The NCES use these annual data as part of the Common Core of Data 
(CCD) program. The education finance data collected by the Census 
Bureau are the sole source of school district fiscal information for 
the CCD. NCES data users utilize electronic tools to search CCD 
databases for detailed fiscal and non-fiscal variables. Additionally, 
NCES uses F-33 education finance files to publish annual reports on the 
fiscal state of education.
    Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal government.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 8(b), 161 and 182; Title 
20 U.S.C., Sections 9543-44.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0607-0700.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-24271 Filed 11-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P