Project GRAD

The purposes of this section are— In this section: The term “low-income student” means a student who is determined by a local educational agency to be from a low-income family using the measures described in section 6313(a)(5) of this title. The term “feeder pattern” means a secondary school and the elementary schools and middle schools that channel students into that secondary school. From the amount appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary is authorized to award a five-year contract to Project GRAD USA (referred to in this section as the “contractor”), a nonprofit education organization that has as its primary purpose the improvement of secondary school graduation and postsecondary attendance and completion rates for low-income students. Such contract shall be used to carry out the requirements of subsection (d) and to implement and sustain integrated education reform services through subcontractor activities described in subsection (e)(3) at existing Project GRAD program sites and to promote the expansion to new sites. The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the contractor that requires that the contractor shall— directly carry out— activities for the purpose of improving and expanding the programs, including activities— use contract funds available under this section to pay— The subcontractor programs referred to in this subsection shall be known as Project GRAD programs. Each subcontractor shall implement a Project GRAD program and shall, with the agreement of the contractor— The services provided through a Project GRAD program may include— a postsecondary access program that includes— Of the funds made available to carry out this section, not more than five percent of such funds, or $4,000,000, whichever is less, shall be used by the contractor to pay for administration of the contract. The contractor shall provide to each subcontractor an average of $200 for each student served by the subcontractor in the Project GRAD program, adjusted to take into consideration— Each subcontractor shall provide funds for the Project GRAD program in an amount that is equal to the amount received by the subcontractor from the contractor. Such matching funds may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated. The contractor may waive, in whole or in part, the requirement of paragraph (2) for a subcontractor, if the subcontractor— The Secretary shall select an independent entity to evaluate, every three years, the performance of students who participate in a Project GRAD program under this section. The evaluation shall— The contractor shall require each subcontractor to prepare an in-depth report of the results and the use of funds of each Project GRAD program funded under this section that includes— Copies of any evaluation or report prepared under this subsection shall be made available to— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009 and each of the five succeeding fiscal years.