Year 4 Item 22 and Other E-rate Rejections
Message Posted February 22, 2001
Appeal Item 22 and Other E-rate Rejections
We have received several calls from E-rate applicants that have had their Year 4 applications rejected because they left Item 22 blank. Item 22 is where applicants are asked which discount calculation worksheet corresponds to that particular funding request, and for most applicants, the answer is A-1 (B-1 for libraries). The only applicants affected by this rejection will be those that filed manually, as the online form does not allow you to leave this item blank.
Technically, the SLD's minimum processing standards do list this as one of the Items that must be completed before they will data-enter your application. In reality, there is no reason the application cannot be data-entered without this information, or any reason why the SLD could not just call the applicant for the information.
After several discussions with officials at SLD world headquarters (D.C.), they encouraged us to have all affected applicants appeal these rejections to the SLD within the 30 day time limit, as the FCC is poised to rule on a similar appeal. If the FCC rules favorably toward the applicant, the SLD will have grounds to approve Item 22 appeals. Further, the SLD is no longer denying Year 4 manually filed applications for Item 22 errors, but instead is holding them pending the FCC's decision.
If you have had your application rejected for other reasons, including not submitting an original signature, we strongly encourage you to appeal to the FCC. The FCC has been making many applicant-friendly decisions in the last 6 months, and there is every reason to believe that if a good case is made why your application should be reinstated for approval, your application may find a similar positive fate.
There are explicit directions on how to appeal to both the FCC and the SLD on the PA E-rate website at: http://www.pde.psu.edu/usf/00appeals.htm. Please don't forget that the FCC or the SLD must receive your appeal letter within 30 days of the date on the top of your denial letter (not the postmark date). Yes, it only leaves you with about 2 weeks to write and send your letter, but if it's late, it won't be considered at all.
-- Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
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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