Funding Status: PY2
Applicants, who did not receive their Funding Commitment Decisions Letters ("FCDLs") in the large Wave 21 mailed on April 27 for the PY2 out-of-the-window applications, are beginning to report receipt of individual funding letters. The SLD is apparently awarding funds as it completes processing on individual PY2 applications rather than waiting to release FCDLs in waves.
Appeals on new PY2 decisions are, like all funding appeals, due within 30 days of the FCDL dates. By count, the 30th day for Wave 21 applicants is Sunday, May 27th. Because the 30th day falls on Sunday, and next Monday is also a holiday (Memorial Day), Wave 21 appeals must be received at the SLD (or FCC) no later than Tuesday, May 29, 2001.
Schools and libraries receiving PY2 out-of-the-window funding for non-recurring (i.e., installation) requests will have at least until September 30, 2001, to utilize these services. An additional year will be available if, as expected, the FCC approves a current proposal to extend the deadline to September 30th of 2002.
Assuming the deadline is extended through the summer of 2002, a non-recurring PY2 funding award is a valuable asset. Within reason, subject to the SLD's vendor and service substitution rules, the funding can be used to support a comparable project not initially contemplated in the original application filed over a year ago. An applicant should not be too quick to cancel a PY2 out-of-the-window funding award simply because the original project is no longer being contemplated as initially designed.
The SLD has begun sending FCDLs to applicants who had successfully appealed earlier PY3 application decisions. These letters serve to formalize the appeal decisions announced earlier. Applicants just receiving PY3 FCDLs for non-recurring services will be in the same deadline position as discussed above. They will have at least until this September, and probably until the following September, to utilize the services.
No additional information is available on when the funding waves will begin for PY4 awards. As has been discussed for several weeks, the outstanding issues remain: (a) FCC confirmation of the PY4 funding level; (b) approval of a revised Form 486 and a new Form 479; and (c) a FCC ruling on funding priorities for limited internal connection discounts.