Funding Status
The SLD is scheduled to release Wave 1 for FY 2012 on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 (see SLD press release). Although the first wave this year is later than usual, the wave is the largest ever — $646 million for over 23,800 applications. This represents over half the applications filed within the FY 2012 window. Wave 1 includes $24.6 million for 1,185 New York applicants.
By way of comparison, the following table compares the Wave 1 funding for FY 2012 with that of the previous five years. Note that although this year's first wave is the largest, aggregate funding by July 10th was higher in a couple of the earlier years.
| Funding |
|
First Wave |
|
Funded by July 10 |
| Year |
|
Date |
Amount |
|
Wave |
Amount |
| 2012 |
|
July 10 |
$ 646 M |
|
1 |
$ 646 M |
| 2011 |
|
June 23 |
$ 395 M |
|
3 |
$ 455 M |
| 2010 |
|
May 26 |
$ 416 M |
|
7 |
$ 758 M |
| 2009 |
|
April 28 |
$ 135 M |
|
11 |
$ 589 M |
| 2008 |
|
May 1 |
$ 339 M |
|
11 |
$ 692 M |
| 2007 |
|
May 21 |
$ 196 M |
|
9 |
$ 475 M |
Wave 1 includes funding for Priority 1 applications only. Funding for Priority 2, even at 90%, remains problematic and may not be resolved until later in the fall.
Wave 51 for FY 2011 will be released on Thursday, July 5th, for $13.1 million — none for New York. Cumulative funding for FY 2011 is $2.25 billion. The SLD confirmed that Priority 2 funding for FY 2011 is now being approved at 89% and above, and being denied at 80% and below.
No wave for FY 2010 is scheduled this week.
E-Rate Updates and Reminders
FCC Appeal Decisions Watch:
No FCC E-rate appeal decisions were issued last week, but an interesting petition was filed by the State E-rate Coordinators' Alliance ("SECA") regarding a recent FCC decision. Last January, SECA filed a Request for Review and Waiver (SECA Waiver Request) with respect to E-rate funding denials by USAC for untimely filed Item 21 attachments on FY 2011 Form 471 applications. Noting that the Item 21 filing deadline had been new, and that USAC's applicant reminder process had been confusing, SECA proposed a blanket waiver of the Item 21 rule for FY 2011. As an example of the problem, SECA included a short list of applicants whose funding had been denied in Wave 5 for Item 21 violations.
In late May, the FCC issued an appeal decision (DA 12-855) granting requests from five petitioners, one of whom was SECA, seeking the reversal of USAC denials or funding reductions because of applicant failure to respond to requests for additional information and/or failure to file Item 21 attachments for FY 2011 applications. While the decision did not address SECA's request for a blanket waiver, it did provide relief for the specific applicants cited in the SECA petition.
The latest SECA petition renews its request for a blanket waiver. It provides an updated and greatly expanded list of 151 additional applicants twelve, including twelve in New York, whose entire applications or specific FRNs have been denied as a result of Item 21 submission problems. As of Wave 50, SECA calculated that $5.5 million in funding requests have been so denied. Implicit in the SECA petition is the hope that, at a minimum, the FCC would afford the same degree of relief to the extended list of applicants as it had done for the much shorter initial list.
CIPA and Tech Plan Deadlines:
July 1st was the both technology plan approval and updated Internet safety policy deadline for many applicants (see our newsletter of April 23rd). Failure to meet this deadline exposes applicants to loss of funding. Specifically:
- Applicants receiving Priority 2 funding must have a tech plan approved by a USAC-certified approver for all services received. Non-recurring services (e.g., equipment purchase and installation) received before approval will not be funded at all. Recurring services (e.g., equipment maintenance) received before approval will also not be funded, and approved funding will be reduced proportionately for those months not covered by an approved plan.
- Applicants applying for funding for anything other than pure Telecommunications services (i.e., Internet access and any Priority 2) must be CIPA compliant. As of July 1, 2012, this means that Internet safety policies for schools (not libraries) must include a component regarding the education of minors about appropriate online behavior (including cyberbullying). As with the technology plan requirements, failure to meet the updated CIPA requirements, by the July 1st deadline, will lead to a similar loss of funding.
FCC Seeks Comment on VPN Remote Access:
As discussed in our newsletter of June 25, 2012, the FCC is seeking comment on a petition for clarification filed 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. Comments are due July 23; reply comments are due August 6.
Schools and Libraries News Brief Dated June 29 – Using the DRT
The News Brief for June 29, 2012, discusses the SLD's Data Retrieval Tool ("DRT"). The DRT is the most important database tool on the SLD Web site, providing detailed funding data on every funding request since the program's inception. It is also the source of information for several third-party E-rate database tools such as E-Rate Central's more user-friendly Funding Quick Search tool (accessed on a state-by-state basis on our State Information pages).
Warning: The SLD systems have been a bit unstable over the last couple of months. Although the DRT appears to be operating correctly at the moment, users may still experience occasional problems with the DRT itself or with any other database tools which rely on DRT data.