News of the Week

Internet Filtering Requirement

Under a new federal law, included as part of a large spending package passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in the closing days of 2000, schools and libraries will have to filter Internet access to be eligible for federal technology funding.

Any school or library that receives discounted rates for Internet-related services under the E-rate program, or receives funding through LSTA or Title III, must adopt and implement an "Internet Safety Policy" incorporating a "technology protection measure" that "blocks or filters Internet access to visual depictions that are" obscene, child pornography, harmful to minors, or any other locally determined material "inappropriate for minors." The Policy must also deal with the safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications (i.e. Instant Message services), with "hacking," and with unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal identification information regarding minors. Details of these requirements, and a timeframe for their implementation, are still unclear (and may be subject to various legal challenges). 

From an E-rate perspective, the FCC is charged with developing more detailed implementation rules. We expect the FCC to issue a rulemaking notice within the next few weeks. Under the law, final FCC rules are due by mid-April. More details will be available at that time.

For planning purposes, applicants should expect that the SLD will modify its Form 486 for PY4 funding, to require certifications indicating that applicants are undertaking actions to put Internet safety policies into affect. By the following year, subject to certain waivers, the certification must state that the applicants are in compliance with the filtering policy requirements.

Renewed NYSED Tech Plan Approvals for PY4

For E-rate purposes, technology plans can be approved for a period of up to three years. Since applications are now being prepared for program year four, this means that applicants, whose plans were approved by NYSED three years ago, must submit updated plans for renewed approval. Newly approved plans will be required by next spring or summer when applicants submit their Form 486s to confirm receipt of PY4 E-rate services.

Public school districts in New York recently received a memo, dated December 29th, from James Butterworth of the New York State Education Department, outlining a new channel for the approval of their plans. Under the new process, the Regional Information Centers ("RICs") are being given the authority to review and approve district plans. It is expected that this process will be in effect by early spring, well in advance of the districts' need to file Form 486s for PY4.

Private schools in New York will continue to have their plans reviewed through their authorized associations (e.g., NYSAIS) or E-Rate Central. Individual public library plans will be reviewed by their library systems.
Schools and libraries are encouraged to reference E-Rate Central's Tech Plan Primer (/Tech_Plan_Primer.htm) for a review of E-rate plan approval criteria and examples of plan sections.

Form 470 Certifications

Applicants who filed their Form 470s online are reminded that their signed certification pages must be mailed to the SLD by the Form 471 deadline. If no 470 certification is received, any Form 471 referencing that 470 will be deemed invalid. 

The SLD has indicated that a number of certifications have not yet been received on posted 470s. Every applicant who filed online should go to the "Apply Online!" section of the SLD Web site, search for their posted 470, and confirm that there is an entry in the Certification Received Date field. If not, a new certification should be sent immediately.

Form 471 Treatment of Expiring OGS Contracts

The New York State Office of General Services has negotiated a number of contracts that can be used by State agencies, municipalities, and many other NYS entities including schools and libraries. Generally, the prices negotiated in these contracts are excellent. OGS contracts are competitively bid and satisfy State procurement rules.

For NYS E-rate applicants, many OGS contracts have the added advantage of being E-rate eligible. General suggestions on the use OGS contracts for E-rate purposes can be found on the OGS Web site.

The biggest concern for an applicant is that any OGS contract be valid for the E-rate funding period. With the advent of E-rate, OGS has worked diligently to try to extend or renew all eligible contracts through the end of the next funding period. Expiration dates of specific OGS contracts, however, should be checked carefully. Two situations need to be considered:

1. The OGS contract may have a nominal expiration date before the end of the PY4 funding year (06/30/2002), but the agreement with OGS may provide for contract renewals beyond that date. For E-rate purposes, the SLD allows applicants to specify contract expiration dates based on the last renewal term. "E-rate Expiration" dates on OGS contracts can be found in the list of E-rate eligible contracts on the OGS Web site .
2. If the OGS contract truly expires too early, but is to be rebid later, an applicant can still reference the contract, but must adhere to a more complex Form 471 "State Replacement Contract" process. Detailed instructions on this process are available in the Reference Section of the SLD's Web site.

Here is a specific example of the way the State Replacement Contract process works. The OGS Cisco networking hardware and software contract, PT00313, expires June 30, 2001. Before that happens, but probably not before applicants must file their Form 471 for PY4, OGS will undoubtedly rebid the contract. To use this contract for E-rate filing purposes, the following information must be included in the Block 5 request:

1. Item 12 should show the State's Form 470 (that provides the basis for the contract rebid). For this year, the NYS Form 470 Application Number is 225740000297481. The State's Allowable Contract Date, to be entered in Item 17, is 11/10/2000.
2. Since the winning vendor(s) on the renewed contract is not known, an applicant must specify a "dummy" name and SPIN. (Ultimately, when the contract is renewed, the applicant can apply for a SPIN change to a winning vendor.) Enter "143999999" as the SPIN in Item 13, and "STATE REPLACEMENT CONTRACT" as the vendor name in Item 14.
3. Use a prefix of "SRC" for the expiring contract number in Item 15 (e.g., "SRCPT00313"). Item 18, the Contract Award Date, should be the day after the expiration (e.g., 07/01/2001). For this year's Form 471, the Service Start date in Item 19a should be 07/01/2001, and the Contract Expiration Date in Item 20 should be 06/30/2002.
4. Information on the expiring contract can be used as a part of the attachment required in Item 21.

Other Items - In Brief

1. The SLD has made one minor change to its recently posted Eligibility List to remove a confusing reference to "Video CODEC" on page 31. The remaining entry for "CODEC" on page 15 makes it clear that the device is eligible if it is a part of a broader eligible component.
2. Based on a review of New York State's education laws, the SLD has advised that pre-K students may be counted in the determination of a school's discount rate. Schools serving only pre-K students, however, remain ineligible for E-rate funding.
3. Look for the SLD to post instructions prior to the January 18 Form 471 filing deadline on use of "postmark" dates. We expect the instructions will cover the use of non-postal express mail delivery services. In the meantime, applicants planning to use express mail services to submit full Form 471 applications (or the certification and attachment pages of 471s entered on line), would be advised to make sure their filings are delivered on or before January 18.