Year 12 (2009-2010) Wave 5 E-rate Funding Committed!
Message Posted May 26, 2009

Congratulations to the following 71 Pennsylvania schools and libraries that will be receiving Year 12, Wave 5 E-rate Funding Commitment Letters, totaling $2,103,766.55. A summary of each commitment is listed below. All Year 12 correspondence will be sent in YELLOW.
A wave will be arriving every week until the Year 12 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 1-5 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 2009 is available at http://www.slforms.universalservice.org/Form486exp/SearchEntity.aspx and applicants listed below may file the form early as long as your technology plan has been approved and your recurring services will begin on or before July 31, 2009. For tips on filing the 486 and an example of a completed form, see: http://www.e-ratepa.org/Listserve-Archive/2009/05-11-09.htm.

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

E-rate Year 12, Wave 5

Applicant Amount
Abington Heights School Dist $ 33,051.55
Allentown Center Learning & Adjust. Sch $ 13,500.00
Allentown Public Library $ 3,713.38
Altoona Area School District $ 92,645.04
Austin Area School District $ 6,563.00
Bellefonte Area School Dist $ 20,597.40
Berks CTS Campus West $ 19,440.00
Berwick Area School District $ 56,649.95
Blacklick Valley School Dist $ 19,209.40
Central Columbia School Dist $ 19,220.78
Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit $ 68,632.51
Chartiers Valley School Dist $ 17,766.00
Clearfield Area School Dist $ 135,498.67
Cocalico School District $ 53,042.88
Columbia Borough School Dist $ 21,147.84
Columbia-Montour Avts District $ 11,466.00
Cranberry Area School District $ 17,786.88
Delaware Valley School Dist $ 14,022.51
Diocese of Allentown Schools $ 2,876.40
Dunmore School District $ 7,352.88
East Pennsboro Area Sch Dist $ 18,760.14
Eastern Lancaster Co Sch Dist $ 216.00
EInetwork $ 128,169.60
Erie City School District $ 78,773.64
Fairfield Area School District $ 14,263.86
Forest City Reg School Dist $ 21,461.02
Franklin County AVTS District $ 10,099.52
Hempfield School District $ 134,364.83
Holy Family Day School $ 1,563.05
Holy Family Learning Ambler Day School $ 1,826.16
Jim Thorpe Area School Dist $ 1,199.74
Kane Area School District $ 23,908.79
Kipp Philadelphia Charter School $ 25,753.57
Lehigh Valley Charter HS for the Perf Arts $ 2,663.76
Lewisburg Area School District $ 40,807.24
Midwestern Intermediate Unit 4 $ 50,115.22
Mifflinburg Area School Dist $ 24,054.34
Millville Area School District $ 22,492.40
Nazareth Area School District $ 35,069.28
North Hills School District $ 32,262.90
Northern Westmoreland AVTS $ 7,799.98
Northside Urban Pathways Charter School $ 16,492.68
Notre Dame Middle School $ 2,949.84
Pennsbury School District $ 17,170.80
Penn-Trafford School District $ 10,578.00
Pleasant Valley School Dist $ 131,427.18
Pope John Paul II Regional Cath Elem Sch $ 7,773.41
Ringgold School District $ 69,608.43
Riverside School District $ 21,692.29
Salisbury-Elk Lick School Dist $ 10,348.80
Selinsgrove Area School Dist $ 26,990.88
Sharon City School District $ 53,040.00
South Butler County Sch Dist $ 31,802.37
Southern Columbia Ar Sch Dist $ 336.72
Southern Tioga School District $ 438.00
St Margaret School $ 1,600.13
St. Mary's Villa For Children $ 20,304.00
Stratford Friends School $ 2,966.88
Sun AVTS District $ 2,750.40
Upper Adams School District $ 22,576.32
Upper Dublin School District $ 10,133.33
Urban League of Pittsburgh $ 74,780.61
Warrior Run School District $ 4,836.00
Warwick School District $ 33,347.76
Washington School District $ 53,746.16
Waynesboro Area School Dist $ 3,423.17
Wesley Highland Services $ 16,819.20
Wilkes-Barre Area School District $ 7,609.90
Wyalusing Area School District $ 7,113.21
Wyomissing Area School Dist $ 63,630.36
Young Scholars Charter School $ 67,671.61
Year 12, Wave 5 Total $2,103,766.55

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 $3.986 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.

Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator

Julie Tritt Schell