§ 7426 — Integration Of Services Authorized

(a) An entity receiving funds under this subpart may submit a plan to the Secretary for the integration of education and related services provided to Indian students. (b) Upon the receipt of an acceptable plan under subsection (a), the Secretary, in cooperation with each Federal agency providing grants for the provision of education and related services to the entity, shall authorize the entity to consolidate, in accordance with such plan, the federally funded education and related services programs of the entity and the Federal programs, or portions of the programs, serving Indian students in a manner that integrates the program services involved into a single, coordinated, comprehensive program and reduces administrative costs by consolidating administrative functions. (c) The funds that may be consolidated in a demonstration project under any such plan referred to in subsection (a) shall include funds for any Federal program exclusively serving Indian children, or the funds reserved under any Federal program to exclusively serve Indian children, under which the entity is eligible for receipt of funds under a statutory or administrative formula for the purposes of providing education and related services that would be used to serve Indian students. (d) For a plan to be acceptable pursuant to subsection (b), the plan shall— (1) identify the programs or funding sources to be consolidated; (2) be consistent with the objectives of this section concerning authorizing the services to be integrated in a demonstration project; (3) describe a comprehensive strategy that identifies the full range of potential educational opportunities and related services to be provided to assist Indian students to achieve the objectives set forth in this subpart; (4) describe the way in which services are to be integrated and delivered and the results expected from the plan; (5) identify the projected expenditures under the plan in a single budget; (6) identify the State, tribal, or local agency or agencies to be involved in the delivery of the services integrated under the plan; (7) identify any statutory provisions, regulations, policies, or procedures that the entity believes need to be waived in order to implement the plan; (8) set forth measures for academic content and student academic achievement goals designed to be met within a specific period of time; and (9) be approved by a committee formed in accordance with section 7424(c)(4) of this title, if such a committee exists. (e) Upon receipt of the plan from an eligible entity, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of each Federal department providing funds to be used to implement the plan, and with the entity submitting the plan. The parties so consulting shall identify any waivers of statutory requirements or of Federal departmental regulations, policies, or procedures necessary to enable the entity to implement the plan. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the affected department shall have the authority to waive any regulation, policy, or procedure promulgated by that department that has been so identified by the entity or department, unless the Secretary of the affected department determines that such a waiver is inconsistent with the objectives of this subpart or those provisions of the statute from which the program involved derives authority that are specifically applicable to Indian students. (f) Within 90 days after the receipt of an entity’s plan by the Secretary, the Secretary shall inform the entity, in writing, of the Secretary’s approval or disapproval of the plan. If the plan is disapproved, the entity shall be informed, in writing, of the reasons for the disapproval and shall be given an opportunity to amend the plan or to petition the Secretary to reconsider such disapproval. (g) Not later than 180 days after December 10, 2015, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the head of any other Federal department or agency identified by the Secretary of Education, shall enter into an interdepartmental memorandum of agreement providing for the implementation and coordination of the demonstration projects authorized under this section. The lead agency head for a demonstration project under this section shall be— (1) the Secretary of the Interior, in the case of an entity meeting the definition of a contract or grant school under title XI of the Education Amendments of 1978 [25 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.]; or (2) the Secretary of Education, in the case of any other entity. (h) The responsibilities of the lead agency shall include— (1) the use of a single report format related to the plan for the individual project, which shall be used by an eligible entity to report on the activities undertaken under the project; (2) the use of a single report format related to the projected expenditures for the individual project which shall be used by an eligible entity to report on all project expenditures; (3) the development of a single system of Federal oversight for the project, which shall be implemented by the lead agency; and (4) the provision of technical assistance to an eligible entity appropriate to the project, except that an eligible entity shall have the authority to accept or reject the plan for providing such technical assistance and the technical assistance provider. (i) A single report format shall be developed by the Secretary, consistent with the requirements of this section. Such report format shall require that reports described in subsection (h), together with records maintained on the consolidated program at the local level, shall contain such information as will allow a determination that the eligible entity has complied with the requirements incorporated in its approved plan, including making a demonstration of student academic achievement, and will provide assurances to each Secretary that the eligible entity has complied with all directly applicable statutory requirements and with those directly applicable regulatory requirements that have not been waived. (j) In no case shall the amount of Federal funds available to an eligible entity involved in any demonstration project be reduced as a result of the enactment of this section. (k) The Secretary is authorized to take such action as may be necessary to provide for an interagency transfer of funds otherwise available to an eligible entity in order to further the objectives of this section. (1) Program funds for the consolidated programs shall be administered in such a manner as to allow for a determination that funds from a specific program are spent on allowable activities authorized under such program, except that the eligible entity shall determine the proportion of the funds granted that shall be allocated to such program. (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the eligible entity to maintain separate records tracing any services or activities conducted under the approved plan to the individual programs under which funds were authorized for the services or activities, nor shall the eligible entity be required to allocate expenditures among such individual programs. (m) The eligible entity may commingle all administrative funds from the consolidated programs and shall be entitled to the full amount of such funds (under each program’s or agency’s regulations). The overage (defined as the difference between the amount of the commingled funds and the actual administrative cost of the programs) shall be considered to be properly spent for Federal audit purposes, if the overage is used for the purposes provided for under this section. (n) Nothing in this part shall be construed so as to interfere with the ability of the Secretary or the lead agency to fulfill the responsibilities for the safeguarding of Federal funds pursuant to chapter 75 of title 31. (1) Not later than 2 years after December 10, 2015, the Secretary of Education shall submit a preliminary report to the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate on the status of the implementation of the demonstration projects authorized under this section. (2) Not later than 5 years after December 10, 2015, the Secretary of Education shall submit a report to the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate on the results of the implementation of the demonstration projects authorized under this section. (p) For the purposes of this section, the term “Secretary” means— (1) the Secretary of the Interior, in the case of an entity meeting the definition of a contract or grant school under title XI of the Education Amendments of 1978 [25 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.]; or (2) the Secretary of Education, in the case of any other entity.