Back-to-School E-rate Update
August 15, 2012
Happy Back-To-School, E-raters! I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an E-rate update on several pending issues:
E-rate Beginners and Advanced Training in PA - Watch for training dates and locations to be announced in the next week!
FY 2011 P2 Funding Threshold Set at 88% - The FCC has announced that P2 funding will only be available for requests at the 88% discount level and above for FY 2011. All P2 requests at 87% and below will be denied due to lack of funding.
FY 2012 P2 Funding Threshold Set at 90% - The FCC also announced that P2 funding will only be available for requests at the 90% discount level for FY 2012. Although we were fearful that no P2 funding would be available at all for FY 2012 or that the 90% requests would have to be prorated somehow because of the significant growth in P1 demand, USAC reached into their coffers and found $1.05 billion in unused money from previous years to pay for the 90% discount requests. But unfortunately, all P2 requests at the 89% discount level and below will be denied for FY 2012.
FY 2010 Was Record Year for PA E-rate Funding - In FY 2010, PA schools and libraries were committed $97,828,200 -- a record!
FY 2013 Form 470 Available for Use - Although the Form 471 application window dates have not yet been set, it's not too early to begin the competitive bidding process for your E-rate eligible services by posting a Form 470. A separate, detailed message will be sent about how to file the Form 470 (and if you're unsure how to complete this form, I encourage you to file after you've been to Beginners' Training). Don't forget, if you are applying for E-rate on Priority 2 services/equipment, you must have a written, dated technology plan prepared before you can file the Form 470 (the plan does not need to be approved until July 1).
SPIN Change Restrictions Reminder - E-rate rules for allowable SPIN changes have become much, much more restrictive. Applicants may only switch E-rate vendors for one of these three reasons: breach of contract, a vendor unable to perform service, or vendor bankruptcy. Lower price is no longer an allowable reason to switch vendors. And the replacement vendor that must be selected must be the vendor that scored the second highest in the bid evaluation process (and you must provide your bid evaluation matrix with your SPIN change request to USAC). It is extremely important that you keep this new rule in mind from now on. If you switch vendors for any reason other than these three (breach of contract, bankruptcy or inability to perform service), you will lose your E-rate funding for the year. Should you have special circumstances that require you to change vendors that don't fit into one of these three reasons, please let me know and I can help draft your explanation to USAC.
FY 2011 BEAR Deadline: October 28, 2012 - For those applicants that did NOT receive discounted bills during FY 2011, the deadline to submit the Form 472 BEAR to collect reimbursement funding is October 28, 2012. Information on filing the BEAR is available at:
http://e-ratepa.org/Listserve-Archive/2012/07-25-12_2.html. Specific information for filing the Online BEAR is available at: http://e-ratepa.org/Listserve-Archive/2012/07-26-12.html. A message will be sent to the listserve in October listing those entities that still have funding remaining.
FY 2012 E-rate Funding Cap Increased - In 2010, the FCC adopted a rule to annually adjust the E-rate cap for inflation. The FY 2012 increase is 2.1%, increasing the cap to $2,338,786,577.
SECA Files Comments on ESL - The State E-Rate Coordinators’ Alliance (SECA) filed comments with the FCC, urging them to reorganize and simplify the FY 2013 Eligible Services List by combining the two Priority 1 'buckets' into a single Priority 1 bucket. The filing argues that the current category structure, particularly Telecommunications Services and Internet Access in Priority 1, is confusing to applicants, is a source of unnecessary funding denials, and is no longer needed. http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7021986108.
New CIPA Training Required This School Year: As you know, schools were required to update their Internet Safety Policies by July 2, 2012, to include provisions to educate minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response. The actual online safety/cyberbullying education of students must be in place for the 2012 school year, so if you haven't adopted these new requirements into your curriculum or training, please do so as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about any of these issues, please don't hesitate to contact me at jtschell@comcast.net.
-- Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 - o
717-730-9060 - f
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org
Penn*link
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