December 2019 E-rate Update

December 20, 2018

Happy Holidays, E-raters!  Before you leave for break, I wanted to just send a few quick E-rate updates so you have something to look forward to when you return.

Form 471 Filing Window Dates

– USAC has not yet announced the official dates, but we now expect it to open on or after January 15, 2019 and close on or about March 25.  Hopefully the window dates will be announced soon.

What You Should Be Doing Now

  1. Update Enrollment/NSLP Data in EPC:  If you haven’t done so already, be sure to update each school’s enrollment and NSLP data in your EPC portal.  The draft data and helpful guide are available at: http://e-ratepa.org/?p=28241.   Although we don’t have an exact “Admin Window” deadline yet, expect that this data should be updated by January 10.
  2. Post Form 470’s:  For any new services or contracts, be sure to file your Form 470’s to bid those services before you leave for the holidays if you haven’t done so already.  That way your bids can be due in late January and you can take the contracts to your February board meetings for approval.  When filing for Internet, be sure to refer to this guide as the 470 drop downs are confusing again this year:  http://e-ratepa.org/?p=27921.
  • If you’re using the PEPPM Mini-bid procurement option for your Category 2 requests, don’t forget that mini-bids cannot be issued before January 2.  A detailed PEPPM Guide and templates are available at:  http://e-ratepa.org/?p=28411.

FCC Category 2 Report Expected Soon

As you know, Category 2 budgets are still available for FY 2019, but the FCC has not yet decided their fate for FY 2020 and beyond.  A report is expected to be released before the Form 471 window opens that should give us a roadmap of where the Category 2 funding mechanism is headed.

Calculating Remaining Category 2 Budgets

To determine how much Category 2 funding remains for your school, use this formula$156.23/student/school minus pre-discount amounts that were approved for each school since FY 2015.  Where can you find the C2 amounts that have already been used for each school?  Use this USAC tool:  https://sltools.universalservice.org/portal-external/budgetLookup/ and enter the E-rate entity numbers for each school in the text box (screenshot shown below).   Note:  The “C2 Budgets” figure use your old FY 2018 approved enrollments (not any updates you’ve made during the FY 2019 Admin Window), and therefore the “Remaining Balance” figure is not accurate.  So do your own calculations using updated enrollments/building to determine accurate remaining C2 budgets for each building.

category-2-entity

If you have any questions, please contact me at jtschell@comcast.net.

Happy Holidays!

– Julie

Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
717-730-9060 – f
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org

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