Year 2: Wave 3 E-rate Funding Commitments Listed
Message Posted July 22, 1999
Congratulations to the following schools and libraries that are receiving E-rate Funding Commitment Letters for Wave 3. The actual letters will be mailed tomorrow and should be arriving next week. A more detailed description of this list will be posted on the SLD web site at: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/SLC/Reference/fcyear2/2fcd.asp.
As in wave 2, the great news in this wave is that that have begun funding requests for internal connections down to the 70% level. This means that ALL funding requests for internal connections at 70% and above (providing the applications are approved by SLD) will be funded. Also, it is highly likely that some discounts below 70% will be funded in future waves.
At the bottom of this message I have included 14 questions and answers that should help explain the waves, why you may or may not be in each wave, and how many letters you can expect to receive. And finally, a few quick notes and reminders:
This wave represents funding for a mixture of services, including internet access, telecom services, and internal connections and is being issued to applicants who filed online, early, and had nearly flawless applications. The two applicants that are receiving funds for internal connections are marked (*). There will probably be at least 10 waves.
If you would like to view a sample funding commitment letter, go to: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/SLC/Reference/fcyear2/2fcd.asp. Service Providers also will be receiving a copy of the applicants' funding commitment letters.
The next step is to file a Form 486 to indicate to the SLD that service has begun. Unlike the first two waves, the revised 486s ARE included in the Wave 3 Funding Commitment Letter packets. If you would prefer to download the slightly revised 486, go to: ftp://ftp.sl.universalservice.org/486form.pdf . All Year 2 funding recipients must use the new 486. Year 1 funding recipients that are still filing 486's may use the old 486, but are stronly encouraged to proceed with using the new 486.
All Saints School 2,100.00
Bangor Area School District 4,865.88
Bedford County Fed Library System 592.80
Bellefonte Area School District 19,453.32
Bellwood-Antis Public Library 2,227.80
Borough of New Cumberland 1,440.00
Brandywine Hts Area School District 11,587.20
Cathedral Preparatory School 6,745.20
Columbia Borough School District 11,970.00
Croton Kindergarten 20,062.40
Dauphin County Library System 53,654.40
East Berlin Community Library 1,260.96
Ford City Public Library 744.00
Franklin Area School District 14,103.60
Haverford Twp School District 40,824.00
Helen K Furness Free Library 373.82
Jenkintown Library 849.60
Kennedy Elementary School 2,803.20
Lebanon Community Library 1,588.38
Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 37,800.00
McCord Memorial Library 1,374.00
Memorial Library of Radnor Twp 1,532.54
Mifflin County Library 17,719.20
Muncy Public Library 561.60
New Florence Community Library 480.00
New Hope Solebury Library 388.04
Newport Public Library 599.04
Norristown Area School District 5,184.00
North East School District 4,410.00
Northampton Area School District 2,400.00
Oil City Area School District 32,054.40
Our Lady of Grace School 960.00
Pace School 7,128.00
Penncrest School District 40,847.03
Pennridge School District 42,960.00
Peters Elementary School 1,920.00
Redbank Valley School District 10,797.72
Samuel W. Smith Memorial Library 1,005.84
Saxton Community Library 806.40
Shenandoah Valley School District 10,432.00
Solanco School District 840.00
Springfield Township Library 1,136.00
St. Anastasia School 1,758.24
St. Gregory School 783.24
St. Stanislaus School 2,551.49
St. Timothy School 4,933.44
Summerville Public Library 540.00
Towanda Public Library 957.60
Tri Valley School District 9,396.00
Upper Merion Area School District 18,329.71
Visitation School 1,026.00
Washington Intermediate School 7,315.20
West Branch Area School District 6,594.00
West Chester Friends Community School 3,402.00
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit 36,322.00
Sum for State 514,491.29
1. What are the Waves?
The "waves" are actually groups of Funding Commitment Decisions Letters sent by the SLD to applicants and service providers informing them of E-rate discounts. Every Friday, a wave of letters is issued and information about that wave is posted to this Web Site the following Monday. The Schools and Libraries Division generates the waves of letters by processing applications based on the Federal Communications Commission's rules of priority and the timing of when the application was filed within the filing window. To learn more about how the waves are formed, please read through the questions and answers below.
2. How will I be notified of my E-rate Funding Commitment?
The SLD will be sending out Funding Commitment Decisions Letters to inform applicants of their approved E-rate discounts. These letters will be mailed in waves, as decisions are made, rather than waiting for all applications to be fully processed before issuing any letters. You may, therefore, receive more than one letter if your application requested discounts on internal connections. Only those applicants who submitted requests within the "application window" will receive Funding Commitment Decisions Letters during this process. If you filed your application after the window closed, you will be notified after all applications filed within the window have been fully processed. To the extent funds remain, applicants that filed outside of the application filing window will be funded on a first-come, first-serve basis.
3. When will the first wave of letters be sent and how frequently will the waves of letters be sent?
A wave of letters will be mailed to applicants every Friday and a list of recipients in each wave will be posted to the Web Site the following Monday. This process will continue through August and into September. As each wave is sent, we will announce its size (both in funds committed and number of letters) on our Web Site on the day the wave is mailed.
4. How will I know which wave my letter is in?
There is no definitive way to know in advance which wave a particular funding commitment letter might be in. We will post information about each wave on our Web Site the following Monday after it has been mailed and will announce the size of each wave in a Newsflash to our list serv. To obtain a general sense of the timing of your funding commitment, please see questions 7 - 11.
5. How is each wave formed?
There are several criteria that determine how each wave is formed:
The FCC rules of priority: There are two basic levels of priority. "Priority one" requests are all approved requests for discounts for telecommunications services and Internet access; "priority two" requests are for internal connections discounts. The FCC rules state that all "priority one" requests should be funded for all school and library applicants at every discount level. If funds are sufficient to fully fund "priority one" services, discount requests for internal connections, or "priority two" services, are funded beginning with applicants at a 90% discount level. For information about how funding decisions are made on "priority two" services below 90%, see Questions 5 and 6.
Successful Data Entry: The date when the application was successfully entered into the SLD database will also determine when a funding commitment letter may be sent.
Complete Processing: Before a funding commitment can be made, the SLD must have completed processing of your application, including the Program Integrity Review process.
6. If funds are available for internal connections requests below the 90% discount level, how will SLD make these funding decisions?
Consistent with FCC rules, we will allocate funds to internal connections requests beginning at the 90% discount level and to the extent funds remain, continue to allocate funds by descending discount percentage (for example, 89%, 88%, 87%).
7. Will I get only one funding commitment letter?
No, not necessarily. We will issue funding commitment letters according to the FCC's rules of priority (see Questions 4 & 5 for details) and when decisions have been made on any of the requests made in your application(s). Your discount level and the services you requested will determine if you receive just one letter or more than one letter in response to each application you filed. For example, if you requested only "priority one" services, you will receive one letter with our decision on all of your "priority one" services. If your application included both "priority one" requests and "priority two" (internal connections) requests, and your request is below the 90% discount level, you may get two letters: one with a decision on your priority one services, and a later letter responding to your internal connections requests. If you filed multiple applications, you will receive at least one funding commitment letter in response to each application.
8. My state telecommunications network filed one application covering Internet access for every school in the state. It was a very large and complex application, and seemed to generate a lot of follow-up requests for information from your processing and review staff. When can we expect to hear SLD's funding decision?
As a request for Internet access, this application is top priority in terms of the FCC rules. However, the timing of a Funding Commitment Decisions Letter will also depend on how effectively the state network was able to respond to our follow-up requests, and how quickly the application moved through data entry and Program Integrity Assurance review. If all of those procedures went smoothly, we should be able to make our funding commitment decision and issue a letter in an early wave. Otherwise, the state network may hear from us in a subsequent wave.
9. I sent my Form 471 in to SLD electronically on the earliest possible date--December 29, 1998. How will that affect the timing of my letter?
The timing will depend on the service for which you were seeking discounts and how much time your application spends in Problem Resolution and Program Integrity Assurance review. If there were no questions about eligibility or discount level or if you answered such inquires promptly, AND if your requests were for "priority one" services, then your letter may be in the first waves. Otherwise, you will hear in one of the later waves.
10. I filed my Form 471 on paper and it spent a long time in Problem Resolution. I received a number of phone calls and faxes from SLD offices in Kansas. How will that affect when I get my letter?
The date of successful entry into the data system is one of the three key criteria for forming the waves. The Problem Resolution process was focused completely on readying applications for data entry, so a lengthy Problem Resolution process would mean a later data entry date and therefore later start for review by the Program Integrity Assurance team. If your application does not require lengthy Program Integrity Assurance review, you may still receive your letter in one of the earlier waves.
11. I have some issues still outstanding with your Program Integrity Assurance team based in New Jersey. The extra documentation they're looking for might take me several more days to complete. How will that affect when I receive my letter?
To receive a funding commitment, applications must have completed Program Integrity Assurance Review, so you will not get your letter until we have resolved any outstanding Program Integrity Assurance issues with you. A delay in Program Integrity Assurance Review won't affect your actual funding, only the timing of your commitment decisions letter.
12. Will my Funding Commitment Decisions Letter reflect the corrections I made on my Receipt Acknowledgement Letter?
If you requested allowable corrections and we received them within the two week timeframe, those corrections should be reflected in your Funding Commitment Decisions Letter.
13. What if I have not even received a 471 Receipt Acknowledgement Letter, but Year Two Funding Commitment Decisions Letters have begun to be mailed?
As Funding Commitment Letters begin to flow, there are a small number of applications that are still in the data entry process. We anticipate completing the data entry process soon and many of you have been contacted by our Client Service Bureau about your application. All applicants can be assured that sufficient funds are being set aside for each and every applications received within the window for "priority one" services. Furthermore, if your request for internal connections is at the same discount level request as those in previous wave, you also can be assured that there is sufficient funding for your internal connections requests on your application.
14. Should I expect to see my discount on the next bill from my service provider?
Your service provider will be notified of your funding commitment at the same time you are, and will begin working at that point to implement discounts on your bill. However, service providers cannot put discounts on bills until a Form 486 has been processed for a funding commitment on services. Realistically, discounts will not appear on bills any sooner than the month following the receipt of a Funding Commitment Decision Letter. The SLD will be working with service providers and applicants regarding any reimbursements that might result from funding commitments received after the service start date.
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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