The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) is offering the Small, Rural School Achievement Program grant to address the unique needs of rural school districts.

An LEA (including a public charter school that is considered an LEA under State law) is eligible for an award under the SRSA program if–
(a) The total number of students in average daily attendance at all of the schools served by the LEA is fewer than 600, or each county in which a school served by the LEA is located has a total population density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile; and
(b)(1) All of the schools served by the LEA are designated with a school locale code of 7 or 8 by the Department’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); or
(2) The Secretary has determined, based on a demonstration by the LEA and concurrence of the State educational agency, that the LEA is located in an area defined as rural by a governmental agency of the State.

Note: The school locale codes are the locale codes determined on the basis of the NCES school code methodology in place on the date of enactment of section 6211(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Which eligible LEAs must submit an application to receive an FY 2012 SRSA grant award?

An eligible LEA must submit an application to receive an FY 2012 SRSA grant award if that LEA has never submitted an application for SRSA funds in any prior year.
All eligible LEAs that need to submit an application to receive an SRSA grant award in a given year are highlighted in yellow on the SRSA eligibility spreadsheets, which are posted annually on the SRSA program Web site at www2.ed.gov/programs/reapsrsa/eligibility.html.
Under the regulations in 34 CFR 75.104(a), the Secretary makes a grant only to an eligible party that submits an application. Given the limited purpose served by the application under the SRSA program, the Secretary considers the application requirement to be met if an LEA submitted an SRSA application for any prior year. In this circumstance, unless an LEA advises the Secretary by the application deadline that it is withdrawing its application, the Secretary deems the application that an LEA previously submitted to remain in effect for FY 2012 funding, and the LEA does not have to submit an additional application.
We intend to provide, by April 12, 2012, a list of LEAs eligible for FY 2012 funds on the Department’s Web site at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/reapsrsa/eligibility.html. This Web site will indicate which
eligible LEAs must submit an electronic application to the Department to receive an FY 2012 SRSA grant award, and which eligible LEAs are considered already to have met the application requirement.
Eligible LEAs that need to submit an application in order to receive FY 2012 SRSA funds must do so electronically by the deadline established in this notice.

Please review the official application notice for pre-application and application requirements, application submission information, performance measures, priorities and program contact information.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.358A.

Under the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program, CFDA: Number: 84.358A, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) awards grants on a formula basis to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) to address the unique needs of rural school districts. In this
notice, we establish the deadline for submission of fiscal year (FY) 2012 SRSA grant applications.

An eligible LEA that is required to submit an application to receive FY 2012 SRSA funds must submit an electronic application by May 31, 2012, 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time. If it submits its application after this deadline, the LEA will receive a grant award only to the extent that funds are available after the Department awards grants to other eligible LEAs under the program.
Submission of an electronic application involves the use of the Department’s G5 System. You can access the electronic application for the SRSA Program at: http://www.g5.gov. When you access this site, you will receive specific instructions regarding the information to include in your application.