SLD Clamps Down on Certifications
Message Posted April 16, 2001
SLD Clamps Down on "Item 25 Necessary Resources" Certifications
Before you submit the Form 471, you are required to certify to a number of
items, including Item 25 which says that you have, " ... secured access to
all of the resources, including computers, training, software, maintenance,
and electrical connections necessary to make effective use of the services
purchased as well as to pay the discounted charges for eligible services."
Although most applicants don't spend much time looking over the
certifications on the final page, the SLD is taking them very seriously, and
are doing Item 25 Reviews of both random and large funding commitment
recipients. If you cannot show evidence that you have met or can meet the
requirements of Item 25, your application will be denied and it appears that
the FCC is upholding these denials. There are two issues all E-rate
applications should be aware of.
1) You should be prepared to show the SLD evidence that you have the
computers, training, software, maintenance and electrical connections to be
able to use the E-rate discounted services requested, including the funds to
pay for the non-discounted portion of your bill.
2) If you are the lead entity of a consortium, you are responsible for
knowing that each member of your consortium has computers, training,
software, maintenance and electrical connections to make effective use of
the E-rate eligible service. The SLD advises that the consortium lead
obtains "letters of agency" from each member, which is basically a form
letter signed by each member stating that they have the items described in
Item 25.
Please take a minute and review the summary of two high-profile denials for
Item 25 reasons, as prepared by New York's eRate Central. Following the
denial summaries is a sample Letter of Agency that may be used by consortia.
The FCC has recently released several appeal decisions that uphold the SLD's
right to deny funding to applicants who fail to demonstrate that they have
the necessary resources to make effective use of requested funding.
Applicants are required to certify that they have these resources in their
Form 471 applications (at Item 22 for Years 1 and 2, and at Item 25 for
Years 3 and 4). The SLD has special review procedures that are undertaken
when certain funding request thresholds are triggered.
The FCC appeals provide examples of possible application review problems. In
one case, the SLD had denied funding to a small school (60 students) that
had requested $205,000 in funding for 3 servers and 48 lines, a much larger
network configuration than would be needed to support the 14 computers it
had planned to install by year end. The school could not, or did not,
explain "that its technology plan provided adequate levels of budgeted funds
to obtain necessary resources and to train staff, acquire software, retrofit
buildings, and maintain the services..." for a network of this size
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/2001/da010853.doc).
In another case, at the other end of the spectrum, the SLD denied a state
education department request for statewide Internet funding when the
department could not, or did not, demonstrate that the department's
consortium members had secured access to the necessary resources. Since the
actual request was for dial-up Internet services, which would not seem to
require many resources from individual applicants, we suspect that the SLD
was more concerned with the overall scope of the consortium program and the
lack of formal commitments by the potential members
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/2001/da010855.doc).
At least two timely lessons can be learned from these two cases.
(a) Applicants receiving Item 25 Reviews on their Year 4 applications should
treat the information requests seriously, providing thorough and timely
responses. We suggest working closely with the SLD reviewer to determine
exactly what information is required and, once submitted, whether the
information is complete. If requests have been made for services that, in
hindsight, will not be needed, it may be possible to reduce the requests, in
line with documentation submitted, to avoid determinations that adequate
supporting resources are not available.
(b) Consortium applicants bear additional responsibilities when they certify
that all their members have secured all necessary resources (and have
technology plans) to utilize consortium services. The best way to do this
is for the consortium leaders to obtain letters of agency from all - and we
stress "all" - their members. The letters should indicate not only that the
members are authorizing the consortium leaders to request discounts on their
behalf, but that they certify that they meet all E-rate conditions. A sample
letter of agency is as follows:
Sample language:
This is to confirm our participation in the [name of IU or
Consortium] E-rate Consortium and its procurement of [list services]. I
hereby authorize [name of Consortium] to submit FCC Form 470, FCC Form 471,
and other E-rate forms to the Schools and Library Division on behalf of the
undersigned entities.
I understand that in submitting these forms on our behalf, you are
making certifications for our school district. By signing this letter of
agency, I make the following certifications:
I certify that the schools in our district are all schools
under the statutory definitions of elementary and secondary schools found in
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1956, do operate as for-profit
businesses, and do not have endowments exceeding $50 million.
I certify that the schools in our district have secured
access to all of the resources, including computers, training, software,
maintenance, and electrical connections necessary to make effective use of
the services purchased as well as to pay the discounted charges for eligible
services.
I certify that the schools in our district are all covered,
or will be covered at the time funding is granted, by E-rate approved
technology plans (unless discounts are only being requested for basic local
and long distance telephone service).
I certify that the services that our school district
purchases at E-rate discounts (as described in the law 47 U.S.C. Sec. 254)
will be used solely for educational purposes and will not be sold, resold,
or transferred in consideration for money or any other thing of value.
I certify that the entities eligible for support that I am
representing have complied with all applicable and state and local laws
regarding procurement of services for which support is being sought.
I certify that our school district has complied with all
E-rate program rules and I acknowledge that failure to do so may result in
denial of discount funding and/or cancellation of funding commitments.
I understand that the discount level used for shared
services is conditional, for future years, upon ensuring that the most
disadvantaged schools and libraries that are treated as sharing in the
service, receive an appropriate share of the benefits from those services.
I certify that I am authorized to sign this letter of agency
and, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, all information
provided to [name of Consortium] for E-rate submission is true.
I understand that persons willfully make false statements on E-rate forms or
through this letter of agency can be punished by fine or forfeiture under
the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. Secs. 502, 503(b), or fine or imprisonment
under Title 18 of the United States Code, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1001.
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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