2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998

Back to 2010 Archives Main

FCC Approves Community Use of School Internet
Message Posted February 22, 2010

While most you were busy submitting your FY 2010 Form 471s, the FCC granted a very welcome and much-overdue change to the E-rate rules, allowing schools that receive E-rate funding to permit the general public to use the schools’ Internet access during non-operating hours. Until now, such Internet access was only permitted to be used by K-12 students and staff for educational purposes only, putting many schools and most vocational technical schools in a difficult position.

In its new Order (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-33A1.pdf), the FCC made the rules effective immediately and tentatively expire June 30, 2011. They also have asked for public comments on whether to make this new rule permanent (which I expect they will).

The FCC established the following three conditions for community use of school facilities:

1. Usage is permitted only during a school’s “non-operating” hours, meaning after a school’s normal closing hour, on weekends and school holidays, and during summer months when the school is not in session. Importantly, a school is not required to open its facilities for community use, and schools that do allow community use may establish their own policies for such use. Internet filtering rules must remain intact during such use, however.

2. A school may not request E-rate funding for a higher level of service than would be required for educational purposes. In other words, schools may not inflate their E-rate request in anticipation of additional bandwidth needs for community use.

3. Schools may not charge for the use of the Internet access, but may charge reasonable fees to cover overhead costs from individuals that use the schools' services and facilities. Additionally, organizations using a schools' services during non-operating hours are permitted to recover related costs (e.g., “curriculum development and presentation costs”) from participants.

Note: This FCC decision in no way permits schools to share their bandwidth with other ineligible entities, such as an after-school program at the YMCA. Further, it does not permit partially eligible entities, such as a Diocesan office that provides services to both schools and the church, to stop cost allocating the ineligible portion of Internet use.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at jtschell@comcast.net

- Julie