Year 11 (2008-09) Wave 2 E-rate Funding Committed!
Message Posted May 7, 2008

Congratulations to the following 45 Pennsylvania schools and libraries that will be receiving Year 11, Wave 2 E-rate Funding Commitment Letters, totaling $1,035,719.60. A summary of each commitment is listed below.  If you find that your funding commitment letter does not arrive in a timely manner, please call the SLD ASAP to get a replacement (888-203-8100). All Year 11 correspondence will be sent in BLUE.

A wave will be arriving every week until the Year 11 funding is exhausted. This wave consists of requests for Priority 1 services (telecom and Internet).  There are many, many more waves coming, and your commitment will be in one of the upcoming waves.  To assist you in understanding the funding waves, there is a Q & A posted at the end of this message.

The next step for those entities funded in Waves 1 and 2 will be to file the Form 486 which tells the SLD it's OK to pay invoices, who approved your technology plan, and that you are CIPA compliant.  The Online Form 486 for FY 2008 is now available.  Please be certain not to file the 486 unless your technology plan has been approved covering FY 2008!

If you have any questions, please contact me at jtschell@comcast.net.

E-rate Year 11, Wave 2

Applicant	Amount
Benton Area School District	$        18,702.00
Bethlehem Center School Dist	$        27,200.02
Boyertown Area School District	$      128,254.31
Bradford County Library System	$          9,000.00
Brentwood Boro School District	$        21,255.12
Butler Area School District	$        40,428.96
California Area School Dist	$        23,255.64
Central Greene School District	$          4,479.97
City Charter High School	$          5,136.00
Claysburg Elementary School	$          6,998.40
Conewago Valley School Dist	$          6,182.92
Eastern Lebanon Co Sch Dist	$        26,973.00
Ellwood City Area School Dist	$        31,336.06
Eva K Bowlby Public Library	$          3,980.93
Fleetwood Area Public Library	$              672.00
Harbor Creek School District	$        16,551.00
Hazleton Area School District	$        46,241.82
John R Kauffman Jr Public Lib	$          1,290.49
Juniata Valley School District	$        18,867.74
Keystone Oaks School District	$          6,732.00
Loyalsock Twp School District	$        19,681.27
Marion Center Area School Dist	$        13,758.09
Monessen Public Library	$        12,422.40
Montgomery Area Public Library	$              450.00
Mt Pleasant Area Sch Dist	$        57,308.51
Norwin School District	$        68,293.05
Our Lady of The Angels Academy	$          2,411.28
Phila. Montgomery Christian Academy	$          1,680.00
Pottsville Free Public Library	$          6,552.00
Preparatory Charter School	$        18,497.28
Queen Of Peace School	$          1,080.00
Roberto Clemente Charter School	$        24,580.80
South Western School District	$        13,104.00
Spring Grove Area Sch District	$        43,089.60
Springdale Free Public Library	$          1,800.00
St Elizabeth Regional School	$              612.00
Strasburg-Heisler Library	$              297.60
The Academy	$      141,621.94
Tri Valley School District	$          5,157.26
Valley Community Library	$          1,140.00
Wayne County Public Library	$          1,470.00
Waynesboro Area School Dist	$        93,647.28
Weatherly Area School District	$        22,052.48
West Perry School District	$        35,860.80
Williams Valley School Dist	$          5,613.58
Year 11, Wave 2	$  1,035,719.60

FAQ's on Waves

* This wave only contains funding for priority one services -- telecommunications services and Internet access. There is sufficient funding for all approved Priority 1 requests, however, given total demand of nearly $4.307 billion with funds available of $2.25 billion, it is too early to determine how much funding will be available for internal connections. 

* If you disagree with a funding commitment decision, an appeal letter MUST be received at the SLD within 60 days of the date that is on the decision letter (not the letter's postmark date).

1. How will I be notified of my E-rate Funding Commitment?
The SLD will be sending out Funding Commitment Decision Letters to inform applicants of their E-rate discounts. These letters will be mailed in waves, rather than waiting for all applications to be fully processed before issuing any letters. Only those applicants who submitted complete requests within the "application window" will be receiving Funding Commitment Decision letters.

2. When will the first wave of letters be sent and how frequently will the waves of letters be sent?
A wave of letters will be mailed every week.  As each wave is sent, the SLD will announce its size and post state-by-state information on their Web Site.

3. How will I know which wave my letter is in?
There is no definitive way to know in advance which wave a particular Funding Commitment Decision Letter might be in. The SLD will post information about each wave on their public Web Site the first business day after it has been mailed.

4. Will I receive only one Funding Commitment Decision Letter?
No, not necessarily. The SLD will issue Funding Commitment Decision Letters according to the FCC's rules of priority (See questions 5 -6 for details) when answers are known about any of the requests made in your application(s). If you submitted multiple Form 471 applications for services, you will receive more than one Funding Commitment Decision Letter.

5. How is each wave formed?
There are three factors that determine how each wave is formed:

a) The FCC Rules of Priority: There are two rules of priority.
"Priority One" requests are for discounts on telecommunications services and Internet access and "Priority Two" requests are for discounts on internal connections. If "Priority One" services can be fully funded, discount requests for internal connections, or "Priority Two" services, are funded beginning with the highest need at the 90% discount level.

b) Successful Data Entry: The date when the application was successfully entered into the SLD database will also determine when a Funding Commitment Decision Letter may be sent.

c) Complete Processing: Before a funding commitment can be made, the SLD must complete processing of your application, including the Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review process. The SLD has set aside funds to cover all telecommunications and Internet access requests received inside the filing window. They will consider priority two" requests - Internal connections requests - if there are remaining funds available.

6. If funds are available for internal connections requests below the 90% discount level, how will SLD make these funding decisions?

Consistent with FCC rules, the SLD will consider Internal Connections requests below the 90% discount level, by discount level - 89%, 88%, 87%, etc.