E-rate Year 3: What Happens Next
Message Posted January 27, 2000
Congratulations on making it to the end of the Year 3 E-rate application
window. I thought it might be helpful for you to know what happens next,
and for a few gentle reminders from Year 2.
1) I have been asked to report to the SLD what applicants in Pennsylvania
liked and didn't like about the Year 3 filing, and so I'm asking for your
comments. Did you like the new forms? Did you like the evergreen 470? Did
you find the Client Service Bureau more or less helpful? Was the SLD web
site still slow for online filing? I'm open to all comments -- both good
and bad -- so let them come. I promise you that the SLD will read them all.
I would also be interested in feedback about how I did in terms of outreach.
Were the 5 regional workshops helpful? Was the teleconference useful?
Should we hold another E-rate for beginners workshop? Were the e-mails
concise and informational? Were the PEPPM 471 instructions useful? Were
they too short? Etc.... Again, your feedback would be gratefully
appreciated.
2) If you filed your form 471s electronically, make sure you send in your
block 6 signature pages and item 21 attachments in time for them to reach
the SLD by 11:59 PM on January 31 (see previous e-mail for extension
update).
3) In the next week, the SLD will make an estimated demand for Year 3 and
submit it to the FCC. The FCC will consider this, along with several other
criteria, and establish the Funding Level for year 3. We should know this
by the end of February. Because the FCC will be making their decision in
the next month concerning the funding amount, now is the time to present
your views to the 5 FCC commissioners via mail or e-mail....
http://www.fcc.gov/contact.html
4) The SLD will be sending Year 3 Receipt Acknowledgement Letters (RALs)
which basically regurgitates what you put on your 471 application.
Carefully review the information, mark any necessary corrections on the RAL,
sign and date it, make a copy for your records and send the marked up copy
back to the SLD return receipt requested. This is an important step to
ensure there are no data entry errors. See:
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/apply/5ral.asp
5) The SLD Problem Resolution/Program Integrity Assurance Staff will be
calling to ask for clarifications to your application, additional
documentation, etc. If you filed your 471 online, you likely won't get a
call from the Problem Resolution team, but you probably will from PIA.
*** If you get questioned from PIA concerning your discount and need any
third party verification, please call me ASAP. It is important to remember
that the SLD cannot change your discount simply because they have something
different (or older) in their database.
6) If all goes according to the current schedule, you should receive your
Funding Commitment Letters by the end of May, and therefore your discounts
should appear on bills with the July or August bill.
7) Remember that even though the Year 3 equal application window has
closed, you can still file forms 470 and 471 for Year 3. Applications
received after the window closed will be processed on a
first-come-first-served basis if funds remain after all of the applications
received within the window have been processed. If you want to purchase
from PEPPM, just file a 471.
LEFTOVER REMINDERS FROM YEARS 1 AND 2
1) Complete any remaining Year 1 BEAR forms and send them in to the SLD.
Hopefully there aren't very many organizations that still need to send in
Year 1 BEAR forms, but if you are in this situation send them in very soon.
They have said that although the deadline was Dec. 15, they are still
considering them if submitted soon.
2) Make sure that form 486s have been filed for all of your Year 2 funding
commitments.
3) Check to make sure your Year 2 and 3 service providers are properly
registered with the SLD and if they are not, contact the provider and
encourage them to file the required paperwork. A problem can arise when a
vendor has been assigned a SPIN number but has not followed through by
completing the requisite E-rate registration
filings (an initial Form 498 or an annual Form 473 certification). Unless a
vendor is currently registered with the SLD, the vendor's discount
reimbursement requests cannot be processed. As a result, the vendor's school
and library customers may not get the discounts to which they are entitled.
You can check to see if a provider is properly registered by checking on the
SLD web site in the Vendor Area
(http://www.sl.universalservice.org/service.asp) using the "Service Provider
Information by SPIN" button. Although meant to provide funding request data
to vendors, the information summarizes the certification status of the
associated provider showing either the date the vendor was certified or "Not
received" (referring either to the initial Form 498 registration or the
annual Form 473 certification).
4) Check with your providers to see if they prefer you to use the Form 472
(BEAR) for Year 2. If they do, you may begin filing those forms now, or wait
and file for all 12 months in June or July. I recommend that you file a
BEAR form now for the first 6 months' bills, and then one in June or July
for the last 6 months' bills.
5) Finally, the SLD has said that they are now beginning to consider Year 2
appeals and that everyone should know the result of their appeal by the end
of March.
Julie L. Tritt
Executive Policy Specialist
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market Street, 10th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126
(717) 705-4486
(717) 787-7222 - fax
jtritt@state.pa.us
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