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Year 5 E-rate Window Has Closed -- Now What?
Message Posted January 25, 2002
The application window for Year 5 (2002-2003) closed at midnight, January 17. Applicants, whose Form 470s were properly posted and certified and whose Form 471s were filed on time, can now relax for a short while.
The next phase in the funding process is for the SLD to review the 30,000 or more expected applications that were filed. Several steps are involved that may require an applicant's attention.
(a) Problem Resolution. Form 471s, that were submitted by mail, are data entered by the SLD in Lawrence, Kansas. Incomplete or inconsistent Form 471 entries may generate calls, faxes, or e-mails from SLD Problem Resolution reviewers for clarification. Typically, these are straightforward questions that can be easily answered. If you need to call a reviewer back, you have to call the SLD's general Client Service Bureau ("CSB") at 888-203-8100 and leave a message for the reviewer to return your call. Problem Resolution reviewers do not have direct telephone numbers.
To avoid telephone tag, we recommend leaving a message that includes an indication of the best time to reach you. Applications that were completed online normally require few Problem Resolution inquiries since the online process automatically contains a number of consistency checks. There are exceptions.
Note: The Problem Resolution process is also used by the SLD during the data entry phase for applicant Form 486s, Form 500s and BEARs.
(b) Receipt Acknowledgment Letter ("RAL"). Once an application has cleared the online or data entry process, a RAL is sent to the applicant acknowledging receipt of the application and summarizing the funding requests. An applicant should review this data promptly. If the summarized data mirrors the applicant's application, no applicant action is required. If errors are found, it may be possible to make a correction before the application is forwarded for detailed review. Correction instructions are included in the RAL.
(c) Program Integrity Assurance ("PIA"). Detailed application review is handled by PIA in Whippany, New Jersey. Inquires from PIA reviewers (identified by direct telephone numbers with a 973 area code) generally involve requests for clarification and/or additional documentation
on product or applicant eligibility, discount rate calculations, contract status, etc. These are serious inquires that must be addressed in a timely fashion. PIA inquiries typically provide 7-day deadlines for response. Although extensions may be granted upon request, inquiries that
are ignored will likely lead to unilateral PIA resolution (denials or reductions) on specific funding requests. An applicant requiring more time to respond should provide whatever information is available immediately and negotiate a schedule for completion. PIA review is often a multi-step process. A reviewer may request additional data once he (or a higher-level review team) has reviewed an initial response, or may initiate a second request on an entirely different application issue.
(d) Selective or Item 25 Review. Special reviews are conducted by PIA under certain circumstances deemed questionable by the SLD. In our experience, such reviews are most often triggered by unusually large requests (relative to an applicant's size) or the use of certain service
providers. Selective reviews typically begin with a faxed request (4-5 pages for a "mini-Item 25" or 13-14 pages for a full Item 25 review) for additional information on an applicant's procurement, planning, or budgetary situation. The "Item 25" designation refers to the Form 471 certification
that the applicant has "...secured access to all the resources....necessary to make effective use of the services purchased as well as to pay the undiscounted charges for eligible services."
Any applicant subject to a special review should assume that the SLD is seeking more than a simple clarification of a funding request. Failure to respond appropriately may lead to an extended funding delay and/or full denial of an application. As a first step in responding to such a review,
it is worth discussing the request with the PIA reviewer; often it is possible to focus the response to specific issues of concern to the SLD.
After your application has gone through all of these reviews, you'll receive your Funding Commitment Decision Letter! Although we have no idea when they will begin to send these letters, a good guess would be late March. They usually come in waves that are issued every other week throughout the spring and summer. Notice will come from the listserve each time a funding commitment wave is mailed.. and we'll then provide instructions on what to
do at that time.
-- 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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