Year 5 E-rate Window Closes in 6 Days
Message Posted January 10, 2002
Year 5 Form 471 Filing Window Closes January 17
~ Reminders Listed Below, please read ~
1) The following materials associated with Funding Year 5 Form 471s must be postmarked by 11:59 p.m. EST on January 17, 2002 in order for the request to receive consideration as inside the window. These materials are:
* The Form 471 itself (whether electronic or paper)
* The Block 6 certification of the Form 471 with the signature of the authorized person (whether electronic or paper)
* The Block 5 certification of any Form 470 cited in a Funding Year 5 Form 471 with the signature of the authorized person (whether electronic or paper).
2) Item 21 Attachment Labeling (required)
Beginning with Year 5, Form 471, Item 21 attachments are allowed to be postmarked OUTSIDE the 471 window. The SLD, however, cannot review your application until they are received, so it is in your best interest to submit them ASAP. If you choose to submit your Item 21 attachments separately from your 471 or 471 certification, you MUST label your attachment as "Item 21 Attachment," and include the application number of the Form 471 it supports, or use the Applicant Form Identifier if you file manually. Be sure to label the attachment to correspond with each Block 5, Item (21) of your application.
3) Form 470 certification (required)
A completed Form 470 certification is a Block 5 certification with the signature of the authorized person. Forms 470 with completed certifications submitted in a previous year meet this requirement, as do those filed for Year 5 and submitted to the SLD with a postmark date on or before January 17, 2002. Any Year 5 Form 471 Block 5 funding request based on a Form 470 whose certification has not been received by 11:59 p.m. EST on January 17, 2002 or postmarked on or before January 17, 2002 will be rejected.
4) Signatures
Although an authorized signature is still required, an ORIGINAL signature is not. The SLD will now accept stamped signatures, photocopies, black ink, etc. But please make sure not to leave this item and the date blank... some type of signature is required to be there.
5) PIN Numbers
It is too late to request a PIN number from the SLD for online certification. If you have already applied for and received your PIN, please use it when certifying your forms. However, if you haven't requested a PIN yet -- it's too late, and when you get to the final page of the 471 where it asks if you want to certify online or on paper, you MUST click on the "paper certification" option. To do otherwise would take you to an option where it asks for your PIN, which you don't have.
6) SLD Client Service Bureau Hours
The SLD has extended the hours of their Client Service Bureau in Lawrence, KS this weekend to continue to help applicants. Their hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST on both Saturday January 12 and Sunday January 13. Their number is 1-888-203-8100.
7) Please don't wait until next Wednesday or Thursday to file your application, as traffic is usually extremely heavy and there are likely to be server crashes. Early or late day or weekend filings are your best bet. Important ** If you were one of the applicants who filed a Form 470 close to December 20 (the last date to file), and you will be submitting your 471 on January 16 or 17, my advice to you is to begin your application NOW, completing all sections but the contract signing dates, vendor selected, and amounts. Then save and exit your application and simply complete it after your contract is signed, but before midnight on January 17, 2002.
Good luck!
-- Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
Director, Office of Educational Technology
Pennsylvania Department of Education
(717) 705-4486
(717) 787-7222 - fax
www.L2L.org
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