Remaining Year 1 E-rate Issues
Message Posted July 8, 1999
The following messages (this is the first of three) are structured so that issues for the first funding year are in the first message, the second funding year in the second message, etc. I have tried to condense the issues so you'll have time to read them! They are designed to bring all PA applicants up to speed on E-rate, including proposed new filtering requirements, what forms should be submitted or received by when, and when will year 3 begin. Please let me know if you have any questions.
-- Julie
* END OF YEAR BEAR FORMS
If you plan to file a BEAR form for services received during this year up to June 30, you need to remember to have the form signed by the service provider and returned to you in time to be delivered to the SLD address by August 15. They say that they WILL NOT pay claims on forms delivered after that date unless they are for the one time extensions granted under the "grace period" (see next bullet).
Some of you submitted a BEAR form for bills received through Dec. 31, 1998, others waited and submitted a BEAR form for bills received through March 31, 1999, and a few others haven't submitted a BEAR form for any bill received to date. In any case, don't forget that all BEAR forms must be received at SLD by August 15.
* INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING INTERNAL CONNECTIONS DURING GRACE PERIOD http://www.sl.universalservice.org/announce.asp#grace
"Grace period" refers to ONE TIME charges for non-recurring contracts (things like equipment installation, etc.) which could not be accomplished before the June 30 deadline for services. The FCC agreed to allow an extra 90 days (until Sept. 30) to have such work done at a time when it would not impact students as much. Regular recurring charges, like phone or Internet bills, cannot be extended past the June 30 deadline.
If the customer pays the full amount of these services, a BEAR form should be used to request reimbursement. It must be filed with the SLD by December 15, 1999. Service providers also must submit their invoices to the SLD by no later than December 15, 1999.
Those entities intending to use the grace period are urged to undertake immediately these steps:
1. Extend your contract(s) as soon as possible with the relevant service provider(s) through September 30, 1999, or whichever date earlier will allow you to complete your installation.
2. As soon as possible, file Form 486 listing the affected FRNs (only those with one-time, non-recurring costs) and providing the correct service start date and new contract expiration date. Do note on Form 486 if you plan to use the BEAR Form for this service.
3. When SLD processes and approves your Form 486, we will notify your service provider(s), as per usual Form 486 notification procedures.
4. Be sure to complete all work by September 30, 1999.
* BE SURE TO SUBMIT 486 FORMS
If you have not filed a 486 for ALL services which are within the regular year (Jan. 1998 to June 30, 1999), please do so ASAP. The forms should be filed within 45 days of the beginning of the service, but for this first year, some leeway is being granted. And don't forget that you cannot receive discounts or reimbursements for any services until the Form 486 is filed.
* ACTION NEEDED FOR TELECOM AND INTERNET SERVICE CONTRACTS THAT EXPIRED BEFORE DEC. 31, 1998
There is a small group of applicants who had telecom and/or Internet access contracts expiring before Dec. 31, 1998. According to a previous ruling, those contracts could not be extended the extra six months to June 30. In a more recent ruling, the FCC decided that those contracts could be extended for a period of six months. An urgent fax was sent last week by the SLD to each of those applicants to which this new ruling affects, outlining the necessary steps an applicant must take to activate these funds. Basically a NEW 486 (with new contract expiration dates) must be received by the SLD in Lawrence, KS by midnight July 16, 1999. If this ruling pertains to you and you did not receive the urgent fax, please contact me and I will forward the information.
* SOME APPEALS STILL AWAITING DECISIONS
I have just learned from the SLD that all appeal letters will be mailed out by the end of this week, except for 32 appeals still in limbo (mostly larger, complex applications that are being handled by the Technical Client Service Bureau on a one-by-one basis). In all, more than $16.7 million will be granted in appeals. If you submitted an appeal letter to the SLD and haven't heard anything by next Friday, I will be posting instructions on who you contact to try to track down your appeal letter. The good news is that if your appeal has been denied, they said the applicant would have received that letter by now.
Also, several applicants have contacted me this week about routine changes they filed at the request of SLD only to receive a letter indicating that they didn't receive the request letter within 30 days of the funding commitment letter being mailed, and therefore the request was denied. If this has happened to you, please contact me. We can get this straightened out. Julie L. Tritt Executive Policy Specialist Office of Educational Technology Pennsylvania Department of Education 333 Market Street, 10th Floor Harrisburg, PA 17126 Tel: (717) 705-4486 Fax: (717) 787-7222 00jtritt@psupen.psu.edu www.L2L.org
Julie L. Tritt
Executive Policy Specialist
Office of Educational Technology 717/705-4486
Pennsylvania Department of Education 717/787-7222 (fax)
333 Market Street, 10th Floor 00jtritt@psupen.psu.edu
Harrisburg, PA 17126 http://www.l2l.org
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