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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 130 / Monday, July 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
enrollment. Moreover, the use of urban or rural priorities would not preclude applications from, or awards to, eligible applicants proposing to serve non-urban and non-rural areas.
Changes: None.
Comment: Fourteen commenters offered remarks regarding Proposed Priority 4, Supporting Students from Low-Income Families. Of the three commenters expressing support for the proposed priority, one recommended that eligibility for participation in Part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended ESEA, be used as a secondary tool to demonstrate that the proposed project would serve students from low-income households.
Ten commenters suggested this proposed priority signals the Departments intent to no longer prioritize rural LEAs and high-need communities. Another commenter recommended that the Department reserve a substantial portion of available funds under this program for LEAs serving 50 percent or more of students from families with an income below the poverty line regardless of whether they apply for an IAL grant.
Discussion: The purpose of the IAL
program is to develop and improve literacy skills for students in high-need LEAs and schools. Priority 4 addresses supporting students from low-income families and does not in any way prioritize students in urban communities over students in rural communities.
The Department does not agree that Title I eligibility would be an appropriate measure of poverty for the IAL program because the poverty thresholds applicable to Title I are not consistent with the statutory requirements of the IAL program. More specifically, only an LEA in which 20
percent or more of the students served by the LEA are from families with an income below the poverty line as defined in section 810141 of the ESEA
is eligible for an IAL award; the LEA
poverty thresholds for receiving Title I
funds range from just 2 percent for Basic Grants to a maximum of 15 percent for Concentration Grants.
Additionally, as stated previously, the 2021 Appropriations Explanatory Statement directs the Department to ensure that grants are distributed among eligible entities that will serve geographically diverse areas, including rural areas and underserved communities in urban school districts, in which students from low-income families make up at least 50 percent of enrollment. Finally, the statute requires that IAL awards be made through a
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competitive process rather than by formula to all eligible entities.
Changes: None.
Comment: Two commenters supported the proposed requirement.
One of these commenters noted that the use of the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates SAIPE data may provide better opportunities for economically challenged urban LEAs to increase school library capabilities. The other commenter stated the proposed requirement reflects the intent of the IAL program and its language reflects the definitions in 20 U.S.C. 6646.
Discussion: We agree the proposed requirement is essential for supporting school libraries and literacy, particularly for LEAs in which 20
percent or more of students served are from families with an income below the poverty line as defined in section 810141 of the ESEA.
Changes: None.
Final Priorities:
Priority 1Projects, Carried Out in Coordination With School Libraries, for Book Distribution, Childhood Literacy Activities, or Both.
Projects that propose to coordinate with school libraries to carry out grant activities, such as book distributions, childhood literacy activities, or both, for the proposed project.
Priority 2Projects, Carried Out in Coordination With School Libraries, That Provide a Learning Environment That Is Racially, Ethnically, Culturally, Disability Status and Linguistically Responsive and Inclusive, Supportive, and Identity-Safe.
Projects coordinated with school libraries and designed to be responsive to racial, ethnic, cultural, disability, and linguistic differences in a manner that creates inclusive, supportive, and identity-safe learning environments.
In its application, the applicant must a Describe the types of racially, ethnically, culturally, disability status, and linguistically responsive program design elements that the applicant proposes to include in its project;
b Explain how its program design will create inclusive, supportive, and identity-safe environments; and c Describe how its project will be carried out in coordination with school libraries.
Priority 3Supporting Students in Urban Areas.
Projects that are designed to serve one or more urban LEAs. In its application, an applicant must demonstrate one of the following:
a The applicant is an eligible LEA or consortium of eligible LEAs with a locale code of 11, 12, or 13.

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b The applicant is a national nonprofit that proposes to serve schools within eligible LEAs all of which have a locale code of 11, 12, or 13.
Note: Applicants are encouraged to retrieve locale codes from the National Center for Education Statistics NCES
School District search tool https
nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/, searching by LEA.
Priority 4Supporting Students From Low-Income Families.
Projects that serve LEAs serving students from low-income families. In its application, an applicant must demonstrate, based on Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates SAIPE
data from the U.S. Census Bureau or, for an LEA for which SAIPE data are not available, the same State-derived equivalent of SAIPE data that the State uses to make allocations under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended ESEA, one of the following:
a At least 25 percent of the students enrolled in each of the LEAs to be served by the proposed project are from families with an income below the poverty line.
b At least 30 percent of the students enrolled in each of the LEAs to be served by the proposed project are from families with an income below the poverty line.
c At least 35 percent of the students enrolled in each of the LEAs to be served by the proposed project are from families with an income below the poverty line.
d At least 40 percent of the students enrolled in each of the LEAs to be served by the proposed project are from families with an income below the poverty line.
e At least 45 percent of the students enrolled in each of the LEAs to be served by the proposed project are from families with an income below the poverty line.
f At least 50 percent of the students enrolled in each of the LEAs to be served by the proposed project are from families with an income below the poverty line.
Types of Priorities:
When inviting applications for a competition using one or more priorities, we designate the type of each priority as absolute, competitive preference, or invitational through a notice in the Federal Register. The effect of each type of priority follows:
Absolute priority: Under an absolute priority, we consider only applications that meet the priority 34 CFR
75.105c3.
Competitive preference priority:
Under a competitive preference priority,
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