News of the Week

Funding Status

The SLD is expected to process the first wave for FY 2012 later this week; actual Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) would then be issued next week. The online Form 486 should be available when Wave 1 is issued. As discussed in our newsletter of April 30th, USAC's preliminary estimate of FY 2012 demand showed a total increase of 21.5% over the comparable figure for FY 2011. At this level, funding for Priority 2 may not be fully available even at 90% — a decision on this matter is unlikely to be made for several months.

Wave 50 for FY 2011 will be released on Tuesday, June 26th, for $5.7 million. Cumulative funding for FY 2011 is $2.24 billion. As of the last wave, Priority 2 funding for FY 2011 is being approved at 89% and above, and is now being denied at 80% and below.

(Note: Both this week's and last week's SLD News Briefs indicate that Priority 2 funding for FY 2011 is only being provided at 90%, but the SLD's Funding Commitment Tool and Data Retrieval Tool both show some Priority 2 funding at 89% for applicants in at least four states.)

No wave for FY 2010 is scheduled this week.

FCC Seeks Comment on VPN Remote Access

The FCC issued a Public Notice last week seeking comment on a petition for clarification filed last month by the State Educational Technology Directors Association ("SETDA"). SETDA's petition asks for clarification on the "educational purpose" criterion as it applies to remote VPN access to school computer systems by students and teachers.

Currently, VPN equipment is eligible for Priority 2 support if used for specific purposes such as IP connections between eligible sites (e.g., schools), but remote access from ineligible sites (e.g., homes) is not. Such ineligible use has to be allocated out. Although we believe this would require an actual rule change, SETDA is asking the FCC to "clarify" that remote student/teacher access is eligible. It notes that "Such a rule clarification would provide flexibility in implementing technology in schools, educational benefits to students, and new enterprise management capabilities, primarily by:

• "Providing the flexibility to allow students to access digital content, services, and school-related files hosted within the walled garden of a school network, including digital textbooks …
• "Providing school network filtering on school-owned devices used outside of school…
• "Enabling schools to leverage data and information on student use of online resources for education…"

It should be noted that SETDA is specifically asking the FCC to rule on the eligibility of Priority 2 VPN equipment and maintenance when used to provide remote access to a school's computer system by students and staff. Such a ruling would simplify the filing for Priority 2 discounts on VPN equipment for high-discount applicants by avoiding the need to allocate out a portion of the equipment and/or service costs for remote access use. Most importantly, SETDA is not asking the FCC to rule on the eligibility of Priority 1 wireless Internet services which might be used to access the schools' VPN networks.

Here are our initial thoughts on the SETDA petition and the FCC's likely response:

• Remote student/teacher access to school computer systems is a good thing and should be encouraged, both for access to e-learning content and for filtering.
• Adopting SETDA's clarification would not have a major impact on E-rate funding. VPN equipment is not all that expensive, and Priority 2 funding is shrinking anyway.
• But defining student/teacher remote access to school computers systems as being primarily for "educational purposes" – despite SETDA's effort to limit the clarification – would undoubtedly raise the issue of the eligibility of Priority 1 remote access services which, if approved, could dramatically increase funding demand.

So the question may become: Would the FCC be willing to adopt two alternative definitions of "educational purpose," one for Priority 1 and one for Priority 2?

Comments on the SETDA petition are due July 23; reply comments are due August 6.

July 1st CIPA Deadline

As of July 1st, the start of FY 2012, every school applicant for services other than pure telecommunications must have updated its Internet safety policy to include a component regarding the education of minors about appropriate online behavior (including cyberbullying). Additional information on the CIPA deadline (as well as the tech plan approval deadline) is available in our newsletter of April 23rd and in this week's SLD News Brief (summarized below).

We are already starting to see USAC verifying CIPA compliance, including the new educational requirement, as a part of Selective Reviews. Although most applicants will not receive such detailed reviews, all should be prepared to answer the USAC questions being posed. The following is an example of a USAC Selective Review Information Request ("SRIR") for CIPA compliance documentation:

1. An Internet Safety policy must address the following six issues:
   • Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and World Wide Web
   • The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications
   • Unauthorized access including "hacking" and other unlawful activities by minors online
   • Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors
   • Measures designed to restrict minors' access to materials harmful to minors
   • Provide for the education of students regarding appropriate online behavior including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and regarding cyber bullying awareness and response (schools only)
   • Did you have an Internet Safety Policy in place prior to the start of your second funding year of CIPA or prior to the start of your third funding year of CIPA if granted a waiver, as described above?  Yes ____  No ____
   • Provide a copy of the most currentversion of your Internet Safety policy.   
   • If your policy was revised after the start of services for this Funding Year, please provide a copy of your previous Internet Safety Policy upon which the revised policy was based.
2. In response to the [initial] SRIR, minutes from [the XX/XX/XXXX board meeting] were submitted. However documentation demonstrating notice of [this meeting was] not included.

In addition to E-rate considerations with regard to the new CIPA requirements, schools should be aware of their own state requirements on cyberbullying. A useful source of state-by-state information on cyberbullying legislation is provided by the National Conference of State Legislators ("NCSL"). NCSL also provides similar information on related legislation involving cyberstalking and cyberharrassment laws.

E-Rate Updates and Reminders

FCC Appeal Decisions Watch:

The FCC issued three appeal decisions last week.

Annunciation Elementary and Hamilton County (DA 12-957): Granted two requests by applicants seeking added time to file BEAR or SPI invoices. Interestingly, one of the applicants had previously been granted additional time under an earlier FCC order, but had missed that extended deadline as well.

Colorado Springs (DA 12-962): Granted requests for review of USAC funding denials based on vendor selection process violations. The FCC agreed with USAC that the applicant had not clearly demonstrated that price was the primary factor, but waived that requirement upon finding that the applicant had, in fact, selected the lowest price and most cost-effective offerings.

Churchill County et al (DA 12-985): Denied eight requests for waiver of the 60-day appeal deadline.

SLD System Issues:

The SLD systems continue to exhibit somewhat unstable characteristics. The most obvious problem last week, since resolved, was a two-day glitch in the Data Retrieval Tool ("DRT") whereby funding records were including duplicate FRNs. Anyone using E-Rate Central's more user-friendly Funding Quick Search tool (accessed on a state-by-state basis on the State Information pages) should note that it is based on the SLD's DRT database and will reflect any similar errors.

Schools and Libraries News Brief Dated June 22 – Additional CIPA Reminders

As indicated above, the News Brief for June 22, 2012, discusses aspects of CIPA compliance highlighting the new educational Internet safety policy requirement effective July 1st. The following topics are addressed:

• CIPA certifications (Form 486 and Form 479)
• Internet safety policy
• Technology protection measure (filter)
• Reasonable public notice and hearing or meeting
• Timetable for compliance with CIPA
• Documentation