1. (a) To use the procedures in this section, the applicant LEA, for the year of application, must either—

   1. (1)

      1. (i) Be located entirely on Federal land; and
      2. (ii) Be raising either no local revenues or an amount of local revenues the Secretary determines to be minimal; or

   2. (2)

      1. (i) Be located in a State where State aid makes up no more than 40 percent of the State average per pupil expenditure in the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the LCR is being computed;
      2. (ii) In its application, have federally connected children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)-(C) equal to at least 20 percent of its total ADA; and
      3. (iii) In its application, have federally connected children identified under section 8003(a)(1)(A)-(G) who were eligible to be counted as the basis for payment under section 8003 equal to at least 50 percent of its total ADA.
2. (b) If requested by an applicant LEA described in paragraph (a) of this section, the SEA follows the procedures in this section, in consultation with the LEA, to determine generally comparable LEAs using additional factors for the purpose of calculating and certifying an LCR for that LEA.

3. (c) The SEA identifies—

   1. (1) The subgroup of generally comparable LEAs from the group identified under § 222.39(a)(2) (grouping by grade span/legal classification and size) that includes the applicant LEA; or
   2. (2) For an LEA described in paragraph (a) of this section that serves a different span of grades from all other LEAs in its State (and therefore cannot match any group of generally comparable LEAs under § 222.39(a)(2)), for purposes of this section only, a group using only legal classification and size as measured by ADA.

4. (d) From the subgroup described in paragraph (c) of this section, the SEA then identifies 10 or more generally comparable LEAs that share one or more additional common factors of general comparability with the applicant LEA described in paragraph (a) of this section, as follows:

   1. (1)

      1. (i) The SEA must consider one or more generally accepted, objectively defined factors that affect the applicant's cost of educating its children. Examples of such cost-related factors include location inside or outside an MSA, an unusually large geographical area or an economically depressed area, sparsity or density of population, and the percentage of its students who are from low-income families or who are children with disabilities, neglected or delinquent children, low-achieving children, or children with limited English proficiency.
      2. (ii) The SEA may not consider cost-related factors that can be varied at the discretion of the applicant LEA or its generally comparable LEAs or factors dependent on the wealth of the applicant LEA or its generally comparable LEAs. Examples of factors that may not be considered include special alternative curricular programs, pupil-teacher ratio, and per pupil expenditures.
      3. (iii) If an SEA proposes to use one or more special additional factors to determine generally comparable LEAs, the SEA must submit, with its annual submission of generally comparable data to the Department, its rationale for selecting the additional factor or factors and describe how they affect the cost of education in the LEA.

   2. (2) The SEA applies the factor or factors of general comparability identified under paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section in one of the following ways in order to identify 10 or more generally comparable LEAs for the eligible applicant LEA, none of which may be significantly impacted LEAs:

      1. (i) The SEA identifies all of the LEAs in the group to which the eligible applicant LEA belongs under § 222.39(a)(2) that share the factor or factors. If the subgroup containing the eligible applicant LEA includes at least 10 other LEAs (excluding significantly impacted LEAs), it will be the eligible applicant LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs. The SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA using the data for all of the LEAs in the subgroup except the eligible applicant LEA.

         Example 1.An eligible applicant LEA contains a designated economically depressed area, and the SEA, in consultation with the LEA, identifies “economically depressed area” as an additional factor of general comparability. From the group of LEAs under § 222.39(a)(2) that includes the eligible applicant LEA, the SEA identifies two subgroups, those LEAs that contain a designated economically depressed area and those that do not. The entire subgroup identified by the SEA that includes the eligible applicant LEA is that LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs if it contains at least 10 LEAs.

      2. (ii) After the SEA identifies all of the LEAs in the group to which the eligible applicant LEA belongs under § 222.39(a)(2) that share the factor or factors, the SEA then systematically orders by ADA all of the LEAs in the group that includes the eligible applicant LEA. The SEA may further divide the ordered LEAs into subgroups by using logical division points (e.g., the median, quartiles, or standard deviations) or a continuous interval of the ordered LEAs (e.g., a percentage or a numerical range). If the subgroup containing the eligible applicant LEA includes at least 10 other LEAs (excluding significantly impacted LEAs), it will be the eligible applicant LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs. The SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA using the data for all of the LEAs in the subgroup except the eligible applicant LEA.

         Example 2.An eligible applicant LEA serves an unusually high percentage of children with disabilities, and the SEA, in consultation with the LEA, identifies “proportion of children with disabilities” as an additional comparability factor. From the group of LEAs under § 222.39(a)(2) that includes the eligible applicant LEA, the SEA lists the LEAs in descending order according to the percentage of children with disabilities enrolled in each of the LEAs. The SEA divides the list of LEAs into four groups containing equal numbers of LEAs. The group containing the eligible applicant LEA is that LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs if it contains at least 10 LEAs.

      3. (iii) The SEA may apply more than one factor of general comparability in identifying a new group of 10 or more generally comparable LEAs for the eligible applicant LEA. If the subgroup containing the eligible applicant LEA includes at least 10 other LEAs (excluding significantly impacted LEAs), it will be the eligible applicant LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs. The SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA using the data from all of the LEAs in the subgroup except the eligible applicant LEA.

         Example 3.An eligible applicant LEA is very sparsely populated and serves an unusually high percentage of children with limited English proficiency. The SEA, in consultation with the LEA, identifies “sparsity of population” and “proportion of children with limited English proficiency” as additional comparability factors. From the group of LEAs under § 222.39(a)(2) that includes the eligible applicant LEA, the SEA identifies all LEAs that are sparsely populated. The SEA further subdivides the sparsely populated LEAs into two groups, those that serve an unusually high percentage of children with limited English proficiency and those that do not. The subgroup of at least 10 sparsely populated LEAs that serve a high percentage of children with limited English proficiency is the eligible applicant LEA's new group of generally comparable LEAs.

5. (e)

   1. (1) Using the new group of generally comparable LEAs selected under paragraph (d) of this section, the SEA computes the LCR for the eligible applicant LEA according to the provisions of § 222.41.
   2. (2) The SEA certifies the resulting LCR by submitting that LCR to the Secretary and providing the Secretary a description of the additional factor or factors of general comparability and the data used to identify the new group of generally comparable LEAs.

   3. (3) The Secretary reviews the data submitted by the SEA, and accepts the LCR for the purpose of use under section 8003(b)(1)(C)(iii) in determining the LEA's maximum payment under section 8003 if the Secretary determines that it meets the purposes and requirements of the Act and this part.

      (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7703(b)(1)(C)(iii))

[80 FR 33164, June 11, 2015, as amended at 81 FR 64743, Sept. 20, 2016]