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Year 4 E-rate Update
Message Posted July 17, 2001
Year 4 Funding Letters
* The SLD expects to begin mailing Year 4 FCDLs by the very end of July for telecom and internet access requests, and the first wave is expected to be quite large. The waves will then continue every other week for the next several months. What's the hold-up? The SLD is not releasing Year 4 FCDLs until the revised Form 486 is available. You will recall that it needed to be revised to add the new filtering certifications. As soon as the form is approved by OMB, the SLD will release the funding letters.
Year 4 Priority 2 Requests
* The FCC made its decision on how to allocate any remaining funds for priority 2 (internal connections) requests -- they will NOT be changing the current system to only fund applicants that did not receive funding in year 3. Instead, the funding will be prorated to the 90% applicants, assuming that there is not enough money to fund the entire discount band. And based on the estimates provided by the SLD, as of June, they estimate funding approximately 73% of the 90% applicants' priority 2 requests. The FCC's Order is available at: http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/2001/fcc01195.doc
What does this mean for everyone below the 90% discount level? It likely means that you will not be receiving any internal connections funding. The good news is that there is plenty of funding for all priority 1 requests (telecom and internet access).
Year 4 Form 479 for Internet Consortia
* For consortia applying for internet access, the lead member of the consortia is required to collect a new form -- Form 479 -- from each member of the internet consortia, in order to show the status of its compliance with CIPA, the federal filtering law. All 479s must be collected before the lead member of the consortia submits the Form 486.
This form is NOT required to be submitted to the SLD, but instead must be retained by the lead member of the consortia for 5 years for audit purposes. The 479 is only required for Year 4 and beyond (not for previous years) and is not necessary if the consortia is for telecommunications services only. The Form 470 and instructions are NOW available on the SLD website at:
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/default.asp#071301
Permanent Implementation Extension for Non-Recurring Services
The FCC also has just issued a decision permanently extending the program year for non-recurring service installations. Previously, the FCC issued an Order each year telling applicants that they could have the extra 3 months (through September 30) to install their non-recurring services. The program year for recurring services is still July 1 - June 30, but for non-recurring services, the program year is now July 1 - September 30. Applicants with contract expiration dates of June 30 on non-recurring services will still need to file a Form 500 to extend their contract -- which is why it is very important to remember when signing contracts and completing your Form 471s to always list September 30 as your contract expiration date for non-recurring services (thus eliminating the need to file a Form 500).
Julie Tritt Schell
Director
Office of Educational Technology
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17126
(717) 705-4486
(717) 787-7222 - fax
jtritt@state.pa.us
www.L2L.org
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