Wrongly Denied Year 3 E-rate Requests
Message Posted April 27, 2000
Over the past two weeks, I have received several calls from schools and
libraries that were receiving E-rate denial letters on telephone service,
cellular service, and calling card service. I also understand from
counterparts in other states that in waves 1 and 2 that all Cisco 2500
routers and Smartnet maintenance also have been denied. If you have been
denied for any of these services, I strongly encourage you to submit a
letter of appeal to the SLD before the end of your 30-day appeal window.
Below is listed detailed information about exactly what is eligible, what is
ineligible, what the common reasons for denials have been, and what you
should cite in your appeal letters.
These inaccuracies have been brought to the attention of the SLD and PIA
staff and future instances of these types of denials should be rare. If
requests are denied based on the reasons outlined below in any of the
subsequent waves, please bring them to my attention immediately.
30% INELIGIBILITY DENIALS
Many of the denial of services state, "30% or more of the request is
ineligible". And while the SLD rules state that if 30% or more of a single
request is not E-rate eligible, then the whole request is ineligible, there
is a certain way the 30% is to be calculated. To be ineligible, 30% or more
of the dollar amount requested (in that single FRN) must be ineligible --
not 30% of the number of ineligible telephone numbers. Therefore, if you
have received a denial for this reason, and the request was either not based
on dollars figures or did not equal 30% of the request, you should appeal.
Please also note that if 29% or less of an FRN is ineligible, the SLD will
not deny the entire FRN, but instead will attempt to remove the 30%
ineligible items and recalculate the request to reflect only the eligible
portion.
CALLING CARD SERVICE
Several applicants have received denials for calling card services stating,
"30% or more of the request was for calling card services, which are
ineligible." And many of these denials were based on the number of
telephone numbers that are calling card numbers vs. the number of phone
numbers that are regular phone lines (not dollar amounts). Two things are
wrong with these denials. First, the SLD has confirmed that calling card
services and costs ARE eligible! Second, even if they had not been
eligible, the denials were not using the proper 30% calculations (30% should
be based on dollars and not on number of phone numbers).
In your appeal, I would state both of these facts, if they both apply.
CELLULAR PHONE SERVICE
Several applicants have received denials on cellular telephone service based
on the 30% ineligibility rule and based on the titles of who is using the
cell phones. The SLD has just confirmed that, in general, and when being
used for an educational purpose, cell phone service for ALL superintendents,
principals, guidance counselors, teachers, teachers aids, curriculum
directors, business managers and athletic directors IS eligible. Cell
service for maintenance staff, school buses, cafeteria staff and when used
for security IS NOT eligible.
Therefore, if you received a denial on cellular service, go back and
calculate if 30% or more of the requested funds were to support the
ineligible staff. If less than 30% of the cost is found to be ineligible,
you should appeal.
TELEPHONE SERVICE
If your application for basic or long distance telephone service has been
denied for the 30% rule, stating that 30% or more of the service is going to
administrators, you should appeal. The SLD rule states that as long as the
services are part of a shared network for learning, then administrative uses
are eligible. Basically, the services cannot just be delivered to the
administative offices and no where else in the schools.
CISCO 2500 ROUTER AND SMARTNET MAINTENANCE
Although I have not heard of this issue in Pennsylvania yet, apparently PIA
was denying all applications for Cisco 2500 Routers and Smartnet Maintenance
on the 2500 series of routers because they found out that these routers also
have remote access capabilities. This situation was discussed with the SLD
at length yesterday and the conclusion is that from now on, PIA will call
affected applicants and ask what the purpose of the router will be in that
school or library. If they state that it will not be used for remote
access, then it will be approved. For applicants that were denied in the
first 2 waves, you should submit an appeal to the SLD stating that it was
wrongly denied because it will not be used for remote access.
LANGUAGE FOR APPEAL LETTERS
Your appeal letter must be received by the SLD within 30 days of the date on
your denial letter or else it will not be reviewed. Please make sure you
file your appeal as soon as possible, as most appeals are denied because
they are filed late.
Include in your letter why you think your request has been wrongly denied,
and show any supporting documentation, such as telephone bills, etc. that
will illustrate that 30% or more of the amount requested is NOT ineligible.
It might not hurt to state at the onset that you believe your application
was wrongly denied, and that information provided to the PA Department of
Education on April 26, 2000 by George McDonald and Kate Moore of the Schools
and Libraries Division confirm this belief.
If you have any questions about your appeal, please don't hesitate to
contact me. The only way I know to help fix these problems is if applicants
call or write me.
Although it takes a while for appeals to be considered, I strongly believe
that all possible appeals should be filed. And in the cases stated above,
there is little doubt in my mind that they will be funded.
-- Julie
Official SLD guidance on submitting appeals:
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/apply/10procpost.asp
Mail to: Letter of Appeal
Schools and Libraries Division
Box 125 - Correspondence Unit
80 South Jefferson Rd.
Whippany, NJ 07981
* Provide your contact information, including your name, address, telephone
number, fax number and e-mail address.
* Identify which Funding Commitment Letter you are appealing. Your letter
of appeal must include the applicant name, the Form 471 Application Number
and the Billed Entity Number from the top of your funding letter.
* Identify the particular Funding Request Number that is the subject of your
appeal. In your funding letter, the SLD responded to each request for
service that you included on a separate line of your Form 471, and assigned
each of these services an FRN. The FRN is featured in the synopsis of SLD's
decision on that funding request in your funding letter.
* Explain your appeal to the SLD. Be sure to include the precise language
or text from the funding letter that is at the heart of your appeal. By
pointing the SLD to the exact words that give rise to your appeal, they will
be able to more readily understand and respond appropriately to your appeal.
Provide documentation to support your appeal.
Julie L. Tritt
Executive Policy Specialist
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market Street, 10th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126
(717) 705-4486
(717) 787-7222 - fax
jtritt@state.pa.us
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