{"id":27251,"date":"2018-09-14T02:02:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T02:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-ratepaorg.local\/?p=27251"},"modified":"2018-09-21T02:03:52","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T02:03:52","slug":"funding-year-2019-lets-get-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=27251","title":{"rendered":"Funding Year 2019 &#8211; Let&#8217;s Get Started!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>September 14, 2018<\/p>\n<p>~ Veterans Training on Sept 27 ~<\/p>\n<p>Funding Year 2019 begins July 1, 2019, but the application process starts now!\u00a0 Below are some important updates to get the season started\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>FY 2019 E-rate Window Filing Dates <\/strong>\u2013Although not yet \u201cofficial,\u201d I expect the Form 471 Application Window to be open from <strong>January 10 &#8211; March 20<\/strong>.\u00a0 <strong>March 20 is an incredibly early Form 471 filing deadline<\/strong>; therefore, plan to have all of your 470s posted by late November, so contracts can get board approval in January or February.\u00a0 This year PEPPM mini-bids can\u2019t be released until January 2, so these contracts likely will all have to go on February board agendas (or perhaps late January agendas).\u00a0 As soon as the formal announcement is made, I\u2019ll send a more detailed message to the listserve.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Form 471 (annual request for discounts):\u00a0 January 10, 2019<strong> &#8211; March 20, 2019 <\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Last date to update entity profiles in EPC: \u00a0January 7, 2019<\/li>\n<li>Last date to file Form 470\u2019s: \u00a0February 20, 2019<\/li>\n<li>Earliest applicants can issue PEPPM mini-bids to vendors: January 2, 2019<\/li>\n<li>Earliest applicants can purchase Category 2 equipment:\u00a0 April 1, 2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>FCDLs Issued:\u00a0 April 19, 2019 \u2013 September 1, 2019 (goal)<\/li>\n<li>BEARs\/SPIs Due for FY 2019 Recurring Services:\u00a0 October 28, 2020 (always 120 days after the last date to receive service)<\/li>\n<li>BEARs\/SPIs Due for FY 2019 Non-Recurring Services:\u00a0 January 28, 2021 (always 120 days after the last date to receive service)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Big *Big* Year for Category 2<\/strong>\u2013 FY 2019 is the final year to apply for Category 2 funding for applicants who first received Category 2 funding in FY 2015.\u00a0 Under the current program, applicants should have a 5-year cycle to apply for their Category 2 funding, with Year 1 being the first year the applicant is committed C2 funding, beginning with FY 2015.\u00a0 If an applicant has not yet utilized <em>any<\/em> of their C2 budget, FY 2019 is the last year they can \u201copt-in\u201d to the C2 funding initiative and still be apply for the funding over a 5-year cycle.\u00a0 However\u2026 the FCC has not said \u2013 definitively \u2013 whether the Category 2 initiative will extend beyond FY 2019 (that announcement is expected to be known by January 2019).\u00a0 Therefore, <strong>my advice for PA applicants is to utilize as much of their Category 2 budgets as possible in Funding Year 2019, while we know with 100% certainty that the Category 2 budgets are in effect and will be funded at the current levels.<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PA E-rate Beginners\u2019 Trainings<\/strong>\u2013 Because so much Category 2 funding is at stake in FY 2019 ($27 million) and will therefore be a major focus of Funding Year 2019, I\u2019ve changed the <em>framework<\/em> and <em>locations<\/em> of this year\u2019s in-person beginners\u2019 trainings.\u00a0 The <em>locations<\/em> were selected based on the number of districts within a 1-hour drive who have not used any of their Category 2 funding.\u00a0 I realize the locations are not in metropolitan areas, but I hope you will still attend if you need E-rate training.\u00a0 The <em>framework<\/em> for the day has been modified from previous years to have the step-by-step process, eligibility and Category 1 issues be the focus of the morning, and Category 2 be the focus of the afternoon.\u00a0 That way applicants who aren\u2019t interested in the beginners training, but want to gear-up for Category 2, can just attend the afternoon session. \u00a0You are welcome to attend both!\u00a0 Register now at:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=27091\">https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=27091<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PA Veterans\u2019 Training <\/strong>\u2013 Mark your calendars!<strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>On Thursday, <strong>September 27, from 1:00 \u2013 2:30<\/strong>, I will hold a webinar for returning applicants (our E-rate \u2018Veterans\u2019) to kick off the new year.\u00a0 Please save this date and I will send the formal announcement\/registration link in the next few days.\u00a0 Additional webinars will be scheduled and announced in the coming days as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>FY 2019 Form 470 Available<\/strong>\u2013 The FY 2019 Form 470 is now available to use if you need to start your procurements early.\u00a0 The Category 1 drop down options are *barely* improved from last year, unfortunately.\u00a0 I will be sending a complete breakdown of the changes shortly, but if you need to post a 470 in the next 2 weeks and need assistance, please let me know.\u00a0 If possible, wait until you receive my 470 guidance before filing for FY 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Important \u2013 Timing of FY 2019 PEPPM Mini-Bids<\/strong>\u2013 If you intend to use the PEPPM Mini-bid system as the procurement vehicle for your FY 2019 Category 2 equipment purchases<strong>, NOTE THAT YOU CANNOT RELEASE A PEPPM MINI-BID TO VENDORS UNTIL AT LEAST JANUARY 2, 2019<\/strong>.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 The current PEPPM contract expires at the end of 2018 and the next contract will not become available for use until January 2, 2019.\u00a0 Thus, no mini-bids can be issued to the new awarded vendors until at least that date.\u00a0 The Form 471 filing deadline is expected to be March 20, which means that, assuming your PEPPM procurement is conducted in early January, your C2 contracts will have to go to your school boards in late January or February. \u00a0Yes, it\u2019s going to be a very compacted bidding\/contract approval\/contract signing window this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you have any questions, please don\u2019t hesitate to contact me at <a href=\"mailto:jtschell@comcast.net\">jtschell@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Julie<\/p>\n<p>Julie Tritt Schell<br \/>\nPA E-rate Coordinator<br \/>\n717-730-7133 &#8211; o<br \/>\n717-730-9060 &#8211; f<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:jtschell@comcast.net\">jtschell@comcast.net<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.e-ratepaorg.local\">www.e-ratepa.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=eratepenn\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-size=\"large\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 14, 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listserve_archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}