{"id":32317,"date":"2020-03-22T00:23:43","date_gmt":"2020-03-22T00:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-ratepaorg.local\/?p=32317"},"modified":"2020-03-23T00:25:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T00:25:48","slug":"cipaaircardgift-rule-faqs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=32317","title":{"rendered":"CIPA\/Aircard\/Gift Rule FAQs"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 22, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

Good morning, E-rate family,<\/p>\n

Based on the questions you\u2019re sending me, it\u2019s obvious and 100% understandable that you\u2019re focused on continuity of operations and not so much on your FY 2020 E-rate applications.\u00a0 Here are answers to your most common questions from last week (not FY 2020 Form 471 related).\u00a0 Please keep them coming, no matter what they are.<\/p>\n

Filtering School-Owned Devices:<\/strong>\u00a0 Currently, only school-owned devices, using school-provided internet, while on school campus, must be filtered.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re providing laptops and\/or aircards to students, the current E-rate rules do not require filtering.<\/p>\n

E-rate Eligibility of Aircards:<\/strong>\u00a0 Since FY 2015, aircards have very limited E-rate eligibility which is that they can only be used on school or library property, and only in the rare situation where a building cannot have a wireless network installed (such as a bookmobile or juvenile justice facility).\u00a0 In other words, the\u00a0current<\/em>\u00a0E-rate rules do not permit schools\/libraries to request E-rate funding for aircards that will be used in student\/patron homes.<\/p>\n

Parking Lot Wi-Fi:<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard of at least one PA library that is allowing\/encouraging the community to use their free Wi-Fi in the library parking lot, in the safety of their cars.\u00a0 As long as the Internet doesn\u2019t extend beyond the school or library\u2019s property boundary, I don\u2019t think there are any E-rate rules that would prohibit it.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s a fantastic idea.\u00a0 If you know of any schools or libraries that are making their Wi-Fi available to the public from their parking lots, please let me know (and share a picture if you can).<\/p>\n

School\/Library Internet Beyond Property Boundaries:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Under current FCC rules, allowing anyone to use E-rate-funded Internet beyond your property boundary is not permitted.\u00a0 However, to the extent that you can operationally allow Internet to wirelessly reach student homes, and are interested in providing this service, please let me know ASAP.<\/p>\n

Gift Rule Waiver FAQs:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Q1:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0When it mentions service providers, does that only refer to providers that schools and\/or libraries are currently using (e.g. on record with USAC as their current provider)? Or could it be a provider they are not currently using?<\/p>\n

A: \u00a0Any service provider can be asked for assistance and any provider can offer assistance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q2:<\/strong>\u00a0 Could E-rate service providers donate \u2018other things of value\u2019 such as end-user equipment?<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Any service or equipment that is related to continuity of services because of the pandemic is permitted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q3:<\/strong>\u00a0 What happens to the service or equipment after September 30?<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 No answers on this yet but don\u2019t worry about that right now.\u00a0 We\u2019ll figure out those details later.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q4:<\/strong>\u00a0 Can schools\/libraries request donations\/upgrades or must they wait for service providers to offer them?<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 It goes both ways; applicants can request donations\/upgrades or service providers can offer them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q5:<\/strong>\u00a0 Are service providers obligated to provide assistance?<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 No, service providers are under no obligation to help.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I know most of you are working really long days right now.\u00a0 Please let me know what other questions you have, and how I can help.<\/p>\n

— Julie<\/p>\n

Julie Tritt Schell
\nPennsylvania E-rate Coordinator
\n717-730-7133 – o
\njtschell@comcast.net<\/a>
\nwww.e-ratepa.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n

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March 22, 2020<\/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-32317","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\/32317","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=32317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}