{"id":32133,"date":"2020-01-06T02:41:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T02:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-ratepaorg.local\/?p=32133"},"modified":"2020-01-07T02:43:16","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T02:43:16","slug":"january-2020-e-rate-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=32133","title":{"rendered":"January 2020 E-rate Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 6, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy New Year, E-raters!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and you\u2019ve returned to your school or library with your mind and body refreshed and ready to tackle the FY 2020 E-rate application process!\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t started yet \u2013 NOW IS THE TIME.\u00a0 Below are a few important updates.<\/p>\n

FY 2020 Form 471 Filing Window Dates<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Form 471 Window will open on January 15 and will close on March 25.\u00a0 Please try not to wait to take new contracts to your boards in March \u2013 do whatever you can to post your 470s now and take new contracts to your boards for approval in February.\u00a0 If you have an existing service in a multi-year contract or have already closed your competitive bid and obtained a signed vendor contract, you can file your Form 471 as soon as the window opens on January 15.\u00a0 File early!<\/p>\n

Update Enrollment\/NSLP Data in EPC<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t done so already, be sure to update each school\u2019s enrollment and NSLP data in your EPC portal by January 10.\u00a0 USAC hasn\u2019t yet given us the exact Admin Window deadline yet, but it should be open until at least that date.\u00a0 The draft data and helpful guide are available at:\u00a0https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=32075<\/a>. \u00a0The data in your EPC portal will determine your FY 2020 E-rate discount and serve as the basis for each school or library\u2019s Category 2 budgets.\u00a0 It\u2019s important that you update this data if you haven\u2019t done so already.<\/p>\n

Post FY 2020 Form 470\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have any existing services that are MTM or have contracts expiring June 30, 2021, be sure to file a Form 470 to competitively bid those services as soon as possible if you haven\u2019t done so already. \u00a0When filing for Internet, be sure to refer to this guide as the 470 drop downs are confusing again this year:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=31977<\/a>.\u00a0 If you\u2019re using the PEPPM Mini-bid procurement option for your Category 2 requests, be sure to review and follow the detailed PEPPM Guide and templates available at:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?page_id=6121<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PEPPM Mini-Bids \u2013 Use Updated Category\/Vendor List<\/strong><\/p>\n

For schools that have chosen to use the PA State PEPPM Contract as the procurement option for their E-rate Category 2 applications, be sure to always download and use the most recent version of the PEPPM Category\/Vendor List on the Master Contracts page of the PA E-rate website:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?page_id=6121<\/a>.\u00a0 Some vendors are making changes to their contact data, so it\u2019s important you always have the most updated data when issuing the mini-bids to awarded vendors.<\/p>\n

Calculating Remaining\u00a0 Category 2 Budgets for FY 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

We now know that FY 2020 has become the 6th<\/sup>\u00a0year of the first Category 2 budget cycle, giving applicants one final year to access \u201cunspent\u201d C2 funds, as well as providing a (very sweet) 20% bump in the multiplier to account for the extra year.\u00a0 The C2 funding allocation will remain BY SCHOOL\/LIBRARY for FY 2020, and will not transition to the district-wide budgets until FY 2021.\u00a0 To calculate the available C2 budget for FY 2020, three pieces of data are needed:<\/p>\n