The goal of this grant competition is to provide funds to develop and implement or expand school-based, student drug testing programs as a means to deter student drug use.

1. Before preparing your application, read the application package carefully and completely.
2. Follow all of the instructions exactly.
3. The Absolute Priority and Other Application Requirements establish the parameters for applications under a grant competition. If your application does not meet the absolute priority and other application requirements for this grant competition, it will not be considered for funding.
4. A panel of three non-federal independent reviewers from the drug abuse and violence prevention fields will review your application. Be sure to organize your application clearly, provide requested information in a comprehensive manner, and respond to each selection criterion thoroughly. Reviewers are not allowed to give you “the benefit of the doubt”; therefore, if information is not in your application, reviewers cannot award points for it.
5. Be sure that your application includes a budget request (ED Form 524) and complete narrative justification for each project year.
6. Be sure to transmit your application on or before the deadline date May 8, 2007.

Eligible applicants for these grants are local educational agencies (LEAs) and public and private entities.

An application submitted by an individual school will not be considered unless it meets the definition of a local educational agency.

Yes.

Some common reasons applications are rejected include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Failure to address the absolute priority.
• Failure to address the other application requirements for this competition.
• A preponderance of the activities proposed in the application is unallowable under the requirements of the competition.
• The applicant is currently a U.S. Department of Education student drug-testing demonstration grantee.
  

The project period will be for up to 36 months. Projects will be funded for one year with an option for two additional years, contingent upon substantial progress by the grantee and the availability of funds.

May 8, 2007.

Waivers for individual applications failing to meet the deadline will not be granted, regardless of the circumstances. Under very extraordinary circumstances, the Department may change the closing date for this grant competition. When this occurs, the Department announces such a change in a notice published in the Federal Register.

An indirect cost is an expense that you incur that is necessary to implementing the grant, but may be difficult to identify with your grant. For example, indirect costs may include money spent for heat, light, rent, telephone, security, accounting, and Internet use.

If your organization prefers to use all of its grant funds for direct project costs, you are not required to charge the grant for indirect costs. If you wish to charge indirect costs, however, you must use a negotiated restricted indirect cost rate for this competition. If you do not have a negotiated rate, you may request a provisional rate. You will then have 90 days to submit the necessary paperwork to the Department to receive a negotiated indirect cost. For more information, please see: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocfo/fipao/icgindex.html.

Your organization may already have a negotiated, restricted indirect cost rate with a Federal government agency. If your organization has not negotiated this rate in the past, please contact Katrina McDonald with the Department of Education's Indirect Cost Group at 202-377-3838 or Katrina.Mcdonald@ed.gov.

Yes, ED will accept either a state rate or a rate negotiated with another federal agency. You must include a copy of your current rate agreement in your application package.

If you do not know your negotiated, restricted indirect cost rate, please contact your business office. Please note you will need to submit proof of this cost rate, such as a signed letter or a page from a state agency web site.

No.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information. All agencies of the U.S. Government are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for them, except for those records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions listed in the FOIA. All applications submitted for funding consideration under this grant competition are subject to the FOIA. To read the text of the Freedom of Information Act, visit www.usdoj.gov/04foia/foiastat.htm.

Yes. Before you can apply for a grant through Grants.gov, your organization must obtain a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number and register with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). Go to the CCR Website and select the "Start New Registration" option to begin the registration process. Please allow 1-2 business days for processing of your registration including the IRS validating your Employer Identification Number (Social Security Number - also known as your Taxpayer Identification Number). If you have the information ready, online registration will take about 30 minutes, depending on the complexity of your organization. Once you finish this process, you are able to move on to the next step of the Grants.gov registration the very next business day.

If you are submitting an electronic application, you are required to fax the signed face page and the required assurances to the Department of Education in accordance with the instructions listed elsewhere in this application package. After reviewing the instructions, please fax assurances to 202-205-5722.

No. All electronic applications must be submitted through www.grants.gov.

Approximately $1.6 million is available to fund new grants under this competition in fiscal year 2007. This figure is only an estimate and does not bind the Department to any specific level of funding.

It is estimated that 11 new awards will be made.

Grant funds may be used to hire an external evaluator, although it is not required. There is a ten percent cap on the site based evaluation activities for this competition.

A medical review officer (MRO) is a licensed physician who is also an expert in drug and alcohol testing and the Federal regulations governing such testing. It is the job of the MRO to ensure the integrity of the drug test. If a test is positive, the medical review officer consults with the student and/or the student's family and gives them an opportunity to supply evidence that there was a justifiable reason for the positive test, such as a properly prescribed legal medication. If the MRO determines that the positive test was not the result of illegal drug use, the test is reported as negative. Having an MRO on board helps protect the rights of students and can have the added benefit of strengthening the school's position if the test results are ever challenged.

Most laboratories can provide a list of available MROs. To verify the certification status of MROs, see the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Web site at http://www.asam.org. For more information about certified labs, visit the Web site for SAMHSA's Division of Workplace Programs.

Applicants have flexibility to propose drug-testing programs that take into consideration the special needs and circumstances in the LEA; are consistent with their adopted policies; and are in accordance with the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646 (1995), and Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822 (2002) and advice of the LEA's legal counsel. Therefore, we do not require that students remain in the testing pool when they are not participating in a covered activity, but leave the length of time students are subject to testing to the discretion and policies of each district.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy published two booklets providing information about student drug testing in schools. Those publications are titled, "What You Need to Know About Drug Testing in Schools" and "What You Need to Know about Starting a Student Drug-Testing Program" and can be found online at:
"What You Need to Know About Drug Testing In Schools"
- and -
"What You Need To Know About Starting A Student Drug Testing Program"

No. This program has been carefully designed in accordance with decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. To date, the Court has not ruled on whether students who park on campus may be subject to drug testing.

No. ED funds may be used only to test students who participate in athletics, students who participate in competitive, extra-curricular, school-sponsored activities, or students who volunteer to be tested.

Only to the extent the extra-curricular activities are competitive. If the activities are not competitive, that is, students do not compete against students in another district, you may not use these funds to drug test those students.

Grant funds may be used to pay for staff to implement and carry out the drug-testing program. When a student tests positive for alcohol or other drug use, staff may be paid for time spent counseling the student, conducting an alcohol/drug abuse assessment, and for referring a student to alcohol or other drug treatment services. Generally, however, the number of students who test positive does not warrant the addition of a full time staff person devoted exclusively to counseling. Funds may not be used for alcohol or other drug abuse treatment services.

No, grant funds may not be used to provide incentives for students to participate in the drug-testing program. We encourage programs to partner with businesses and other community organizations to obtain donations for incentives.

No. Funds may not be used for the following purposes:

• Student drug tests administered under suspicion of drug use;
• Incentives for students to participate in programs;
• Drug treatment;
• Drug prevention curricula or other prevention programs.
  

My district would like to implement a research-based program to help students stay drug free.

No, funds may not be used to purchase prevention curricula, materials, or training.

Yes, activities that are directly related to implementing the drug-testing program, including parent and community outreach, may be charged to the grant.

Who may I contact for more information about the Grants for School-Based Student Drug-Testing Programs?

You may contact either Sigrid Melus at 202/260-2673 or Kandice.Kostic@ed.gov at 202/260-7836.