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E-rate - Get those dollars back to Arizona! Process overview

Brett Hinton AZ Dept. of Education Mala Muralidharan AZ State Library Archives and Public Records Modified from Train-the-Trainer Workshops. E-rate - Get those dollars back to Arizona! Process overview. Video Tutorials at http://usac.blip.tv/. Overview.

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E-rate - Get those dollars back to Arizona! Process overview

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  1. Brett HintonAZ Dept. of EducationMala MuralidharanAZ State Library Archives and Public Records Modified from Train-the-Trainer Workshops E-rate - Get those dollars back to Arizona! Process overview Video Tutorials at http://usac.blip.tv/

  2. Overview • General information about E-rate • Technology planning • Request services (Form 470) • Competitive bidding • Choose/contract for services (Form 471) • Application review & funding commitments • Start services (Form 486) • Invoice USAC (Form 472 or Form 474)

  3. General information • Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent U.S. government agency, oversees the E-rate program • Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), a not-for-profit, administers E-rate along with three other programs • Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) is the part of USAC with responsibility for E-rate

  4. General information • FCC sets rules and policies through orders • Rules are compiled in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) • Policies are defined in the text of orders • USAC/SLD sets procedures for specific actions, such as how to process applications • USAC sends its procedures to the FCC for approval each year

  5. E-rate? What is it? • E-rate Program provides reimbursements to eligible schools and libraries for • Telecommunications Services • Internet Access, • Internal Connections • Basic Maintenance • Applicants must apply each year • Reimbursements are based on the poverty level and the maximum one can get back is 90% of your billed amount • Funding cap each year is $2.25 billion 5

  6. Telecomm Internet Internal connections IC Maintenance FCC $2.25 Billion USAC Funding Waves Submitted each Quarter Schools Library Vendors

  7. Timetable • Form 470: File from April before the Window to 28 days before the Window closes • Form 471: Must be filed during the Window, generally mid-November to early February before the start of the funding year • Funding waves: Groups of funding decisions issued after USAC review – waves generally start in April before the start of the funding year • Invoices: Can file after services are received for the funding year.

  8. General information • Who can apply? • Schools and school districts • Libraries and library systems • Consortia – groups of eligible entities that band together to aggregate demand and negotiate lower prices

  9. General information • How large are the discounts on eligible products and services? • Discounts: 20% to 90% of eligible costs • Discount for a school or library depends on: • Percentage of eligibility of students for National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in: • (for a school) the school • (for a library) the school district in which the library is located • Urban or rural location of the school or library

  10. General information What services are eligible? • Priority 1 (funded first) • Telecommunications Services • Internet Access • Priority 2 (funded beginning with neediest applicants first) • Internal Connections • Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections

  11. General information • How do I file a program form? • In general, you have three options: • File online, certify online • File online, certify on paper • File and certify on paper • USAC encourages you to file online • Online filing speeds processing and reduces errors

  12. What is sent ……and received Applicant to USAC -> Letters received from USAC • Technology plan created but not sent • Receipt Notification Letter (RNL) • Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL) • Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) • Form 486 Notification Letter (486NL) • BEAR Notification Letter — Form 472 only • Form 470 • Form 471 • Form 486 • Form 472 12

  13. 1. Technology planning • You must write a technology plan that contains the following elements: • Goals and strategies for using technology to improve education or library services • Staff training/ Professional Development • Needs assessment • Budget • Evaluation plan • Note: if you are only requesting basic telephone service, a technology plan is not required

  14. Necessary Resources • Does the applicant have the resources needed to provide the service • Are there end user computers? • Must have reasonable plans to fully utilize all internal connections for which you are requesting discounts • Do you have software to run on the computers? • Staff trained on how to use the technology? • Electrical capacity? • Can you maintain the eligible and ineligible equipment?

  15. Budget • This is an important part of the Tech plan and the purpose is to show USAC that the applicant can fund their share • Operating budget (or draft) has dates that cover the funding year (July – June) • Budget documentation should have clear expense line items not all bundled together • If budgets are not passed at that time, can provide letter for reasonable expectation that funds will be secured by 7/1

  16. Non-Discounted portion • Obligation to Pay Non-discount Share • Applicants are required to pay their share of the cost (the “non-discount” portion or share) — this share cannot be donated, forgiven or ignored. • Service providers cannot waive or credit the applicant’s share. • Service provider must bill the applicant for non-discount share of services. If applicant can’t show proof of payment during invoice review; invoice may be denied. • Deferred payment plans that allow the applicant to pay after USAC has paid will jeopardize a funding request. 16

  17. Free Goods and Services • Applicants and service providers are prohibited from using E-rate to subsidize the procurement of ineligible or unrequested products and services • E-rate cannot be used to get free stuff or kick-backs. The value of ineligible products that are needed to run the service have to be backed out in your vendor selection process. • Cost of eligible goods and services cannot be inflated to cover the“free” ineligible stuff

  18. Technology plan approval • Technology Plan Approver (TPA) – the agency certified by USAC that approves your technology plan • It has to be written (drafted) before the filing of the Form 470, finalized and approved before the start of services. • Can be multi-year but major changes have to be re-approved

  19. Tech Plan Validity Tech plan submitted for approval Tech plan drafted No longer valid for E-Rate Approved Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Must submit another plan Major change occurs between approved years 1 & 2 Year 1 Year2 Approved

  20. Technology Planning: Do’s and Don’ts DO • draft your technology plan before Form 470. • verify that it contains all five required elements. • make sure your technology plan covers at least 12 months • make sure that your technology plan approver is certified by USAC. • verify that plan is approved before services begin and before your Form 486 is filed. • PRINT A COPY of your Tech Plan for your records. • PRINT A COPY of your approval for your records. DO NOT ask the service provider direct advice on technology planning. 20

  21. Questions? 21

  22. 2. Request services (470) • You post a Form 470 to: • Open a competitive bidding process • Notify potential bidders (service providers) of the types and quantities of services that you need • Define the scope of your needs (e.g., a school building, a library system, a state network)

  23. 2. Request services (470) • Acronyms and terms • Billed Entity Number (BEN) – an identification number assigned by USAC to each school or library building • Personal Identification Number (PIN) – a code assigned by USAC to applicants for use in certifying program forms online • USAC issues a PIN to every new authorized person filing a paper Form 470, 471, or 486 • Request for Proposals (RFP) – a bidding document (not required by E-rate) that provides detailed information about your services, locations, bid submission requirements, etc. • Allowable vendor selection/contract date (ACD) – the date 28 days after the Form 470 is posted to the USAC website

  24. 3. Competitive bidding • When you open a competitive bidding process for your services: • Potential bidders have the information from your Form 470 and RFP and can respond to your requests • You must ensure that the competitive bidding process is open and fair • You must be prepared to evaluate bids

  25. 3. Competitive bidding • After you close the competitive bidding process for your services (on or after the ACD): • You can evaluate the bids received • You can choose your service provider(s) • You can sign a contract • You can post a Form 471 Price as the primary factor – In evaluating bids, the price of the eligible products and services must be the most heavily-weighted factor in your evaluation of bids

  26. Calculate the discounts • Reimbursements are based on Discounts calculated using • Percentage of students eligible for National School Lunch Program (NSLP) • Urban or rural status of county in which school or library is located (see USAC web site) • http://www.usac.org/sl/applicants/step05/urban-rural/default.aspx • These two pieces of information are carried into the Discount Matrix

  27. 4. Choose services (471) • You post a Form 471 to: • Report information on the service providers and services you have chosen • Provide a list of the schools and libraries that will receive services • Include discount calculation information including student NSLP counts • Certify your compliance with program rules

  28. 4. Choose services (471) • Acronyms and terms • Funding Request Number (FRN) – the identification number assigned to a Form 471 Block 5 funding request • Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) – the identification number assigned by USAC to a service provider • Service providers may have more than one SPIN in order to identify separate business units, different states in which they operate, etc. • Non-instructional facility (NIF) – a school building with no classrooms or a library building with no public areas • NIFs are eligible for Priority 1 services • NIFs are eligible for Priority 2 services only if necessary to provide effective transport of information to classrooms or public areas of libraries

  29. 4. Choose services (471) • Item 21 Attachment (Item 21) – the description of services associated with a funding request (Item 21 on Form 471) • Item 21 attachments can be submitted online or on paper • USAC encourages online filing, especially for simpler applications • Form 471 Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL) – a letter issued by USAC to the applicant and the service provider that summarizes the information provided in the Form 471 • Many of the entries on the form can be corrected after submission by using the RAL

  30. 5. Application review • USAC reviews your Form(s) 471 to: • Check the eligibility of the schools and libraries and their discount levels • Verify that the services you requested are eligible for discounts • Give you an opportunity to make allowable corrections to your form • In some cases, ask for additional verification of your compliance with program rules • Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) – the USAC group that reviews and makes funding decisions on program applications • Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) – a letter issued by USAC to the applicant and the service provider that contains commitment decisions on funding requests

  31. 6. Start services (486) • You post a Form 486 to: • Notify USAC that services have started and invoices for those services can be processed and paid • Provide the name of the TPA that approved your technology plan • Report your status of compliance with CIPA • Acronyms and terms • Form 486 Notification Letter – a letter issued by USAC to the applicant and service provider after a Form 486 has been processed • Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) – a law with specific requirements on Internet safety policies and filtering • TPA Tech plan approver

  32. 7. Invoicing USAC (472/474) • Applicants have a choice of two invoicing methods to receive discounts on eligible services: • Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form 472 • Service Provider Invoice (SPI) Form 474 • BEAR Form is filed by the applicant and approved by the service provider after the applicant has paid for the services in full • SPI Form is filed by the service provider after the applicant has been billed for the non-discount portion of the cost of eligible services • Acronyms and terms • BEAR Notification Letter – a letter issued by USAC to the applicant and service provider after a BEAR has been processed • Quarterly Disbursement Report – a report issued to the applicant detailing all invoicing activity (BEARs and SPIs) during the previous quarter

  33. Questions? Break- Time!

  34. Eligibility and Eligible Services List

  35. Eligibility - Schools • Must meet the statutory definition of elementary or secondary school found in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. • Must be a non-profit institutional day or residential school, including a public charter school, that provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under state law eg Pre-kindergarten( Sp Ed. Only), Adult Education, Juvenile Justice students facilities may be eligible. • Must not have an endowment exceeding $50million. • USAC requests updated eligibility information from state departments of education every two years. 35

  36. Eligibility - Libraries • Must meet the statutory definition of library or library consortium in the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) of 1996. • Must be eligible for assistance from a state library administrative agency under LSTA. • If they are a joint use facility (school + public library)each can apply separately for their portionsprovided budgets are completely separate. • Must not operate as for-profit business. 36

  37. Eligibility - Consortia • Eligible schools and/or libraries may form consortia with • Other eligible schools and/or libraries • Certain health care providers • Public sector (governmental) entities • Helps bring the prices down • May even help bring higher band-width or better service • May bring more competition to your area BUT – • Only eligible entities can receive discounts • Be careful about consortial applications – • not easy to administer • there are consequences and responsibilities. 37

  38. Eligible Services - Priority 1 Priority 1 – funded first • Telecommunications Services • Basic telephone service — wireline or wireless phone service (local, cellular/PCS, and/or long distance); Voice over IP- PBX and Centrex; Radio loop • Internet Access • Basic conduit access to the Internet including but not limited to: Broadband over Power Lines (BPL), Cable Modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Satellite • T-x, DS-x, OC-x . E-mail service, and web hosting 38

  39. Eligible Services – Priority 2 • Priority 2 • Internal Connections (switches, hubs, routers, wiring, cabling) • Basic Maintenance on Internal Connections NOTE: End user equipment - such as computers, monitors, or phone sets - is NOT eligible • Priority 1 funded first, then Priority 2 begins with neediest applicants (90% first, then 89%, 88%, etc.). • Internal Connections funded in only two out of five funding years. 39

  40. Special Eligibility Conditions

  41. Internal Connections Example 1

  42. Internal Connections Example 2

  43. Classroom Internal Connections

  44. Classroom Internal Connections Ex. 2

  45. On-Premise Equipment 1 • This leased router may be eligible for P1 funding if all conditions are met. • Single demarcation – If the router is removed, the LAN would continue to function.

  46. On-Premise Equipment 2 • This leased router is NOT eligible for P1 funding. • Multiple demarcations – If the router is removed, the LAN would cease to function which violates program rules for Priority One eligibility. Router may be eligible in IC.

  47. Internal Connections Maintenance • Ensures the necessary and continued operation of eligible internal connection components at eligible locations. • Ex: Repair and upkeep of eligible hardware, wire and cable maintenance, and configuration changes. • Basic technical support of eligible hardware is Eligible but end-user support such as a student calling a help desk for technical assistance is NOT Eligible. • BMIC is a Recurring service - Delivery must be within July 1st – June 30th • BMIC is exempt from the Two-in-Five rule

  48. Purpose • Must be for Educational Purpose only • Activities that occur on library or school property are presumed to be integral, immediate, and proximate to the education of students or the provision of library services to library patrons and therefore qualify as educational purposes. • Customary work activities of employees of a school or library are presumed to fall under the definition of education purposes. 48

  49. Non-instructional Facilities • Non-instructional facilities are school buildings with (few or) no classrooms or library buildings with no public areas Non-instructional Facilities • Eligible for Priority 1 services • Telecommunications • Internet Access • Eligible for Priority 2 services only if the services are essential for the effective transport of data to classrooms or public areas of a library • School examples: • Administration buildings • Bus barns • Athletic stadiums • Library examples: • Administration buildings • Bookmobile garages • Technology centers

  50. SCHOOLS: Administrative buildings School bus barns and garages Cafeteria offices Facilities associated with athletic activities Teachers accompanying students on a field trip LIBRARIES: Administrative buildings Bookmobile garages Interlibrary loan facilities Library technology centers Non-instructional Facilities (NIFs) NIFs can receive Priority 1 services. Examples are • NIFs – Priority 2 • NOT eligible unless it is essential for the effective transportof information to an instructional building of a school or to the patrons of a library. 50

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