This program provides financial assistance to operate regional Equity Assistance Centers (EACs), to enable them to provide technical assistance (including training) at the request of school boards and other responsible governmental agencies in the preparation, adoption, and implementation of plans for the desegregation of public schools, and in the development of effective methods of coping with special educational problems occasioned by desegregation.
A public agency (other than a State educational agency or a school board) or private, nonprofit organization is eligible to receive a grant under this program.
(a) The recipient of a grant under this part may provide assistance only if requested by school boards or other responsible governmental agencies located in its geographic region.
(b) The recipient may provide assistance only to the following persons:
(1) Public school personnel.
(2) Students enrolled in public schools, parents of those students, community organizations and other community members.
(a) The Secretary may award funds to EACs for projects offering technical assistance (including training) to school boards and other responsible governmental agencies, at their request, for assistance in the preparation, adoption, and implementation of plans for the desegregation of public schools.
(b) A project must provide technical assistance in all four of the desegregation assistance areas, as defined in 34 CFR 270.7.
(c) Desegregation assistance may include, among other activities:
(1) Dissemination of information regarding effective methods of coping with special educational problems occasioned by desegregation;
(2) Assistance and advice in coping with these problems; and
(3) Training designed to improve the ability of teachers, supervisors, counselors, parents, community members, community organizations, and other elementary or secondary school personnel to deal effectively with special educational problems occasioned by desegregation.
(a) The Secretary awards a grant to provide race, sex, national origin, and religion desegregation assistance under this program to regional EACs serving designated geographic regions.
(b) The Secretary announces in the Federal Register the number of centers and geographic regions for each competition.
(c) The Secretary determines the number and boundaries of each geographic region for each competition on the basis of one or more of the following:
(1) Size and diversity of the student population;
(2) The number of LEAs;
(3) The composition of urban, city, and rural LEAs;
(4) The history and frequency of the EAC and other Department technical assistance activities;
(5) Geographic proximity of the States within each region; and
(6) The amount of funding available for the competition.
The following regulations apply to this program:
(a) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR part 75 (Direct Grant Programs), part 77 (Definitions That Apply to Department Regulations), part 79 (Intergovernmental Review of Department of Education Programs and Activities), and part 81 (General Education Provisions Act—Enforcement), except that 34 CFR 75.232 (relating to the cost analysis) does not apply to grants under this program.
(b) The regulations in this part.
(c) The Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards in 2 CFR part 200, as adopted in 2 CFR part 3474 and the OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) in 2 CFR part 180, as adopted in 2 CFR part 3485.
In addition to the definitions in 34 CFR 77.1, the following definitions apply to the regulations in this part:
Desegregation assistance means the provision of technical assistance (including training) in the areas of race, sex, national origin, and religion desegregation of public elementary and secondary schools.
Desegregation assistance areas means the areas of race, sex, national origin, and religion desegregation.
English learner has the same meaning under this part as the same term defined in section 8101(20) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended.
(Authority: Section 8101(20) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L. 114-95 (2015) (ESSA))
Equity Assistance Center means a regional desegregation technical assistance and training center funded under this part.
National origin desegregation means the assignment of students to public schools and within those schools without regard to their national origin, including providing students such as those who are English learners with a full opportunity for participation in all educational programs regardless of their national origin.
Public school means any elementary or secondary educational institution operated by a State, subdivision of a State, or governmental agency within a State, or operated wholly or predominantly from or through the use of governmental funds or property, or funds or property derived from governmental sources.
Public school personnel means school board members and persons who are employed by or who work in the schools of a responsible governmental agency, as that term is defined in this section.
Race desegregation means the assignment of students to public schools and within those schools without regard to their race, including providing students with a full opportunity for participation in all educational programs regardless of their race. “Race desegregation” does not mean the assignment of students to public schools to correct conditions of racial separation that are not the result of State or local law or official action.
Religion desegregation means the assignment of students to public schools and within those schools without regard to their religion, including providing students with a full opportunity for participation in all educational programs regardless of their religion.
Responsible governmental agency means any school board, State, municipality, LEA, or other governmental unit legally responsible for operating a public school or schools.
School board means any agency or agencies that administer a system of one or more public schools and any other agency that is responsible for the assignment of students to or within that system.
Sex desegregation means the assignment of students to public schools and within those schools without regard to their sex (including transgender status; gender identity; sex stereotypes, such as treating a person differently because he or she does not conform to sex-role expectations because he or she is attracted to or is in a relationship with a person of the same sex; and pregnancy and related conditions), including providing students with a full opportunity for participation in all educational programs regardless of their sex.
Special educational problems occasioned by desegregation means those issues that arise in classrooms, schools, and communities in the course of desegregation efforts based on race, national origin, sex, or religion. The phrase does not refer to the provision of special education and related services for students with disabilities as defined under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.)