FY 2023 Application Cycle Check-In
January 4, 2023
Happy New Year, E-raters!
I hope everyone had an awesome (and healthy) holiday break and are ready to continue the FY 2023 E-rate application process! Here’s a quick reminder of what you should be doing now:
FY 2023 PEPPM Mini-Bid Info Released – For entities that choose to use the PA State PEPPM Contract as the procurement option for their E-rate Category 2 applications, a mini-bid process must be conducted among all product lines that can provide that “category” of equipment. The 2023 PEPPM Mini-Bid Guide and Awarded Vendor Category List have been released so schools can begin to issue their mini-bids to vendors now. In order to understand the PEPPM mini-bid procurement process and ensure E-rate compliance, it’s important to review the PEPPM E-rate Bidding Guide 2023, and then follow the steps to complete the process.
FY 2023 Form 471 Filing Window Dates — The Form 471 Window will open on January 18 and will close on March 28. If you have an existing service in a multi-year contract (no 470 needed), or have already completed your bidding and signed a signed vendor contract, or if you’re using the CABIO Bidding Exemption Option, you can file your Form 471 as soon as the window opens on January 18!
Updating Discounts in EPC with Enrollment/NSLP Data – The period before the Form 471 window opens when schools and libraries make sure their EPC profiles are up to date is called the Admin Window. The Admin Window deadline for FY 2023 is January 16. Applicants generally are required to update their enrollment and NSLP (or CEP%) each year. Please see: https://e-ratepa.org/?p=34564 for information on updating this data. A few additional reminders based on recent questions:
— If your PDE data is lumped together for 2 schools but broken out in EPC, you should obtain the breakdown from your food service director and enter it by school building in EPC.
— The CEP Base Year in the PDE data shows a range such as “2022 – 2023” but the EPC intake field only permits a single year to be listed. Use the first year of the range in the EPC profile. For example, 2022 – 2023 would be entered as “2022.”
— There are 52 PA entities, including 23 school districts, that did not submit their enrollment/NSLP to PDE in October. If your organization’s data is missing from the spreadsheet, you should obtain your October 2022 enrollment/NSLP data directly from your food service director.
Updating Category 2 Enrollment Data — Applicants’ Category 2 Budgets are set in the first year in which a school or library applies for C2 within the “cycle” with the current cycle running FY 2021 – FY 2025. If an applicant has received C2 funding in FY 2021 or FY 2022, they can use their C2 enrollment (schools) or square footage (libraries) data for the remainder of the 5-year C2 budget cycle, or if enrollment (or square footage for libraries) increases, they may update their data and request a Category 2 Replacement Budget with USAC to obtain a higher Category 2 budget. For more information and instructions, see the Updating EPC Profiles Guide, starting on slide 7.
Category 2 Budgets: What’s Remaining for Your School/Library — C2 budgets are calculated based on the C2 multiplier ($167/student for schools and $4.50/sq ft for libraries – or a minimum of $25,000/building) and the Category 2 enrollment or library square footage that’s currently in EPC. To see what your remaining C2 budget is for FY 2023 – FY 2025, go to USAC’s C2 Budget Data Tool at: https://opendata.usac.org/E-rate/E-Rate-C2-Budget-Tool-FY2021-/8z69-hkn7. Simply use the filter on the right side of the page. If you update your C2 enrollment data in EPC, I believe the budget modification will be reflected the following day.
Posting Category 1 Form 470’s – If you need to competitively bid a recurring service, time is running out to post your Form 470. How do you know if you have to bid? Here’s a reminder:
1) If a service is covered on a Month-to-Month basis (meaning no contract exists – these are mostly cable modem-type services) AND your services do not qualify for the CABIO bidding exemption;
2) At the beginning of any new contract. Note: If you posted a Form 470 in a previous year, and then signed a multi-year contract that expires on or after June 30, 2024, you are not required to file a Form 470 for FY 2023.
3) If you’re upgrading service and the upgrades and associated prices are not included in the original contract.
A rebidding status list, based on the contract expiration dates you listed on the FY 2022 Form 471, is available at: https://e-ratepa.org/?p=34535.
Commenting on E-rate Eligibility of Cyber Security – In December, the FCC released a Public Notice, seeking stakeholder comments on what advanced security tools and services should be considered for E-rate eligible in future funding years. Comments are due February 13, 2023 and reply comments are due March 30, 2023. Comments can be filed online at http://www.fcc.gov/ecfs and should refer to the E-rate docket number of 13-184.
If you have any questions, please e-mail me!
— Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org