During the course of the Subcommittee hearings on
impact aid, you were notified that we would be submitting
additional questions to be answered for the record.
Given the restraints of time, we were not able to pur-
sue all of these questions at the hearings.

Therefore, we would appreciate your responding to these questions as soon as possible, and no later than July 15th, so that we can include them in our hearing record. The questions are attached to the letter.

Questions to Stormer:

The uncertainty of the amount and timing of impact aid payments appears to be one of the greatest problems of the program. What steps are being taken to correct this situation?

2.

To what extent do LEAS carry over impact aid funds? 3. What percentage of districts receiving impact aid funds use the various methods of determining payments, e.g. comparable districts, groupings, and State and national averages?

4. What is the role of the HEW regional offices regarding the impact aid program? Are they able to provide assistance in applications, questions of pupil eligibility, and computation of rates? Do you feel there is adequate staff in the regional offices working on this program?

As I understand it, the supplemental appropriations bill earmarks 17 new positions for the division administering the impact aid laws. Have you hired the 17 individuals yet and to what responsibilities will you assign them?

6. what percentage of impact aid funds are retained by LEAS to cover administrative costs? How much is retained for administration at the State and Federal level?

7. What coordination is there between your division and the O.E. Title I people for administration of the low rent public housing program?

8. Do you feel it would be feasible to structure the low rent public housing section of the law like the handicapped provision, where districts would receive a base payment for all LRH children and an additional percentage for cases where they are providing Title I type services for these children?

9. Since the law does not permit funds to private non-profit educational institutions, handicapped in private facilities could not be counted for handicapped funds. Does this create any problems?

Stormer

10. what is the current per pupil expenditure at each of the Section 6 schools, and what is the average per pupil expenditures for all these schools?

11. What would be the estimated savings, if the responsibility for the education of all dependents of the Department of Defense employees and persons employed on property administered by the Department of Defense were turned over to the Department of Defense?

12. What are the procedures used to determine whether or not a school will come under Section 6? In the past five years, how many have sought that classification, and how many have been approved?

13. What is the physical plant like in Section 6 schools other than Ft. Buchanan?

14. How much has been used under each authority for disaster assistance for the last five years? Where did the funds come from: direct appropriation, supplemental appropriation, or from another program?

15. Have any impact funds been used recently under P.L. 815 for construction of Section 6 schools?

16. What is the current estimated total appropriation which would be needed to completely clear the backlog of unfunded construction applications? How many districts in how many States are affected by this backlog?

17. Do districts which are on the waiting list for construction funds usually get school construction money elsewhere, or do the school facilities generally not get built?

Thank you for your letter of July 5 submitting additional questions to

We have provided answers in the enclosures.

unable to respond by July 15 as you requested.

Question: The uncertainty of the amount and timing of impact aid payments appears to be one of the greatest problems of the program. What steps are being taken to correct this situation?

Answer: The uncertainty of the amount of the payment has existed since the beginning of the program but has become more of a problem in recent years because so many more school districts are suffering financial difficulties. Similarly, the timing has become more of a problem in recent years for the same reason. For a number of years, applications were not due to be filed in the Office of Education until March 31.

As

now, some applications were filed steadily from the beginning of the school year with most being filed on the deadline date then wanting an immediate payment. We moved the deadline date up to January 31 several years ago to allow for some earlier payments and more time for processing all initial payments before the close of the school year. But because of increasing local school district financial difficulties, more and more districts have been requesting earlier payments. We have met our June 30 deadline for processing initial payments each year. When the percentage that our payment represents of total budgets is so small in many school districts, it is difficult to understand the increasing number of requests for earlier and earlier SAFA payments.

Although some discussions have taken place, we need to devote more time in the area of developing and evaluating possible alternatives to present procedures. To date, the following possibilities have been mentioned: