New Rules on Tech Plan Requirements and eTechPlanner Update
Message Posted October 3, 2004
(Note: As I mentioned in a previous e-mail, the FCC recently released the
5th Order on Consideration. One of the topics included in the 5th Order
dealt with new technology plan requirements and clarifications to previous
requirements. This message serves to provide you with what the new language
says, and to also bring information to public schools regarding the
submission of their technology plans that expire on or before June 30,
2005.)
Since the beginning of the E-rate program, all applicants have been required
to have approved technology plans to receive discounts on anything except
the most basic of telephone services. Rules and procedures governing the
timing and content of technology plans, however, have sometimes been vague
or contradictory. Therefore the FCC has neatly spelled out what the rules
are and what they're not.
TECH PLAN TIMING
An applicant must have a technology plan written which covers all services
(except local and long distance) for the next funding year. The plan must
be written before filing a Form 470 for that year’s services. The plan must
be approved by an SLD approver before discounted services start that year.
Before filing a Form 470 for Year 8 (FY 2005), for example, the applicant
must have a technology plan that indeed covers the 2005-2006 year. By July
1, 2005, the normal start of services for FY 2005, the plan must be
approved, instead of it being approved by the Form 486 filing, as has been
many applicants' understanding in previous years.
The other new tech plan certification is one which says that the services
being sought are the most cost effective means of meeting the technology
plan goals. For example, they don't want you applying for Gigabit Ethernet
if a T-1 will provide you with enough bandwidth.
TECH PLAN CONTENT
The basic requirement for technology plan content has long been that it must
address five key elements: goals and objectives, staff development, current
assessment, budget, and evaluation. The new Order retains these five
elements, but also codifies — with one exception — a stated SLD practice of
alternatively accepting EETT plans required by the U.S. Department of
Education under the No Child Left Behind Act, Title II, Part D (Enhancing
Education Through Technology). The one exception for E-rate approval is
that an EETT plan supplement (typically a budget) be provided indicating
that the applicant will be able to secure the so-called Item 25 resources
needed to achieve its technology aims. For public school using the
eTechPlanner, this will not be a new requirement.
The Order also addresses a problem the SLD thrust on applicants last year
which is, 'how detailed do tech plans need to be?' The FCC said that the
plan should focus on “research and planning for technology needs,” rather
than on specific lists of products and services that might serve as
“preliminary RFPs.” However, at the recent E-rate training I attended, it
was stated several times that although they do not require you to list
"Centrex" or "PBX System" for example, they would require that the plan
contain some category of service which discusses telephone communication.
You may want to consider reviewing your current technology plan before you
submit your Form 470 just be sure that all of the services you will be
requesting on your application are specifically or generally covered. If
you find that they are not, PDE is releasing within the next few days an
eTechPlanner online amendment process that will allow you to update your
current plans.
TECH PLAN APPROVAL PROCESS FOR LEA's in PA
Over the past year, PDE has been collaborating with various education
stakeholders across the Commonwealth to develop a comprehensive framework to
allow for streamlined strategic planning. In addition to these efforts,
work has begun on an on-line tool that would permit school districts,
charter schools, area vocational technical schools, and intermediate units
to create and manage a single strategic plan for -
* Educational Technology, Chapter 4 Education, Profession Development,
Teacher Induction, Special Education, Career and Vocational Technical, and
District Improvement.
The anticipated availability of the new strategic planning tool is Summer
2005, at which time every LEA due to submit a plan for any of the above
program areas in 2006 will begin to use the new framework and on-line tool
to create a single district strategic plan, which will include the
technology plan. As a result of this development and in an effort to reduce
administrative burden prior to the adoption of the consolidated framework,
changes have been made to the current technology plan process as outline
below.
FOR TECH PLANS THAT EXPIRE JUNE 30, 2005...
PDE will not require any LEA with a technology plan that expires June 30,
2005, to create and submit a NEW 3-year technology plan. However, to ensure
that LEA's have current strategies to meet educational technology challenges
and to ensure compliance with all federal technology funding initiatives,
all LEA's will be required to complete a simple, one-year, online eTechPlan
Extension application. The application is due to be released in the next
week or so and should be written before the applicant submits the Form 470
to the SLD. The online tool will be covered in the upcoming E-rate Training
workshops being offered in Harrisburg, the Philadelphia area, and Greensburg
(Pittsburgh area).
FOR ENTITIES THAT WANT TO AMEND THEIR CURRENT TECH PLANS...
Those entities with a currently-approved technology plan that will NOT
expire June 30, 2005, but who want to amend their plans to meet SLD
requirements for E-Rate funding purposes, there will be an online eTechPlan
Amendment Application also available in the next few days.
Both the amendment application and extension application will be available
on the www.etechplanner.org website.
-- Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
jtschell@comcast.net
(717) 730.7133 (voice)
(717) 730.9060 (fax)
| 
Back to 2004 Archives Main