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Wisconsin E-rate InformationFebruary 4, 2008 
CONTENTS
Note: More recent information provided below may supersede older information. January 2008 updates 1) AT&T SPINs Various AT&T acquisitions and service changes over the past several years has resulted in some SPIN confusion. Recently staff from AT&T, DPI and TEACH had a conference call to clarify SPINS. Based on this call, please use the following guidance in completing your Form 471s.
2) 2008 enrollment and free/reduced lunch data The final 2008 enrollment and free/reduced lunch data are now available. The data are the same in both files but the second one has district totals and a worksheet sorted by CESA. Note the following:
The DPI has posted information that applies to schools and libraries which will be using the state Department of Administration (DOA) contract to receive discounts on (1) cell (voice) phone services, and/or (2) Internet services received via handheld devices. (Applicants always have the option of selecting the provider of their choice, outside of the state contract.) If you will be purchasing services from the DOA contract note the following:
See the site E-rate Cell and Handheld Device Discounts Using the State Contract for more detailed information. 4) STS Discounts The Website on information on filing for STS long distance phone discounts for 2008 has been updated.
1) Bandwidth Options Many schools and libraries are finding that they have insufficient bandwidth to meet the needs of their staff, students, or library patrons. Staff at the DPI, the Department of Administration (DOA) BadgerNet team, the BadgerNet Advisory Council and DOA TEACH have prepared a paper titled 2008 E-rate Application Cycle and Bandwidth Options to assist you in reviewing and selecting the best option for increasing your bandwidth. 2) Fall workshops The Fall 2007 DPI E-rate training for the 2008 funding year will be as follows: Monday, October 29. 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Friday, November 9 and Thursday, November 29, 1:00pm - 3:30pm. These are two identical sessions for those more experienced with the E-rate program. To view the live November 29 session, at approximately 12:58pm on Thursday, go to the DPI MediaSite page. On the left menu click on Instructional Media and Technology and then click on the "Applying for E-Rate FY2008 - Nov. 29." You will also see on this page that the earlier presentations are archived and available for viewing at any time. Sessions will be done via MediaSite. This will enable you to view the training session from your desktop via a browser. You must have Windows Media Player installed. Mediasite works best with PCs but will work with Macs with Media Player. There is no need to register.
1) Lunch Data Reporting Starting this fall, the DPI will no longer have a separate Website for schools to report students eligible for free/reduced lunch. Instead, we will be using lunch eligibility data reported to us via the Individual Student Enrollment System (ISES). We hope that elimination of the separate data collection — used in past years for the E-rate and DPI's food and nutrition programs — will save districts time. Every district has a staff person responsible for completing their district's ISES reporting. I encourage you to work with that person to make certain your data on student eligibility for free/reduced lunch are entered in a timely manner. Information on this is on the ISES site at at Economically Disadvantaged Status Website. As you can see from this fall's time frame for ISES data collection, schools have several weeks at the beginning of the school term to process NSLP applications. This time period may extend beyond the 3rd Friday of September. (Some districts process NSLP applications well into Oct.) We anticipate having a final Excel file available of each district's free/reduced lunch and enrollment data in the latter half of December. This time frame is about the same as in past years when we used the separate Website reporting. We have been unofficially told by the SLD that the 471 filing window will be about the same as the past several years: It will open in late November and close in early February. For questions on ISES reporting, contact your district's ISES Administrator. If you have any questions related to using ISES data to determine your E-rate discount, then contact Bob Bocher. 2) New school year Now that school has started, if a new person in your district (or library) will be doing E-rate, be certain he/she subscribes to DPI's E-rate email list. 3) More PIA contacts coming, respond as needed With the resumption of school, PIA will increase contacts with applicants to resolve outstanding issues with Form 471s submitted before the February 7 deadline. In past years PIA would often routinely deny applications for minor rule violations. The FCC is now requiring more outreach by PIA to resolve these issues, and thus hopefully fund your application. While this is good news, it can result in PIA asking some annoying and bewildering questions. For more details on this, see the section titled "Changes in PIA Reviews for FY2007" in the April 20 News Brief at http://www.usac.org/sl/tools/news-briefs/preview.aspx?id=86 Many PIA questions relate to contract issues (e.g., did you have a legal contract when you filed the 471?). In the past the FCC required two signatures (provider and school) and two dates on each contract. But in April the FCC said that it would start using state contract law to determine if an applicant has a legally binding contract. DPI generally does not give legal advice on issues not directly related to a DPI program. So if needed, you may have to consult with an attorney if PIA has contract questions. NOTE: Failure to respond to a PIA request will likely cause an application to be denied or have funding reduced. If you have any questions on how you should respond to a PIA request, contact Steve Sanders (Stephen.Sanders@dpi.wi.gov) or Bob Bocher.
Below are several recent updates. On June 18 Superintendent Burmaster wrote our Congressional delegation seeking cosponsor support for bipartisan legislation designed to protect the E-rate. Currently, there are companion bills (S.609/H.R.278) in the House and Senate to permanently exempt the E-rate from the federal Antideficiency Act (ADA). In late 2004, the FCC concluded that the E-rate was subject to the ADA. This interpretation disrupted E-rate disbursements for nearly 6 months and forced USAC to lose millions of dollars in investments that would otherwise have provided more E-rate funding. Congress has intervened to head-off similar service disruptions during each of the past 3 years by passing legislation to temporarily exempt the E-rate from the ADA. The current temporary exemption will expire on December 31, 2007. A bipartisan group in Congress is seeking to make the exemption permanent. Just over $2.5 million has been funded thus far for 2007. This amount represents 376 funding requests (FRNs) out of a total of 2,384 FRNs filed by the February 471 deadline. Several schools contacted DPI saying they have heard nothing from PIA since submitting their 471. The SLD says it still has "thousands" 471s that have not yet had any PIA review. Now that summer vacation here, if PIA cannot contact you, your 471 will be placed on a "hold" list and will not reviewed again until September. So it is best if you can check your email or voice mail throughout the summer months and respond to any PIA request. To see the status of your 471, go to the SLD's Services Ordered and Certification Form 471 Application Status site, enter your BEN and hit Search. Even if you've not been contacted by PIA, you should still see a status of "Certified-In Window." The FCC has started to review the Eligible Services List (ESL) for the 2008 application cycle. DPI will make at least the following recommendations for the 2008 list.
There is still no new DOA cell phone contract as of July 1, 2007. The old contract has been extended pending signing of the new contract.
1) Cell phone discounts via the state contract The current state Department of Administration (DOA) cell phone contract expires on June 30, 2007. DOA will be bidding for a new cell contract to start July 1, 2007. However, this new or "replacement" contract will not be signed before the February 7, Form 471 filing deadline. Thus, to enable schools and libraries to purchase off the replacement cell contract, you must follow the SLD guidance on follow the SLD guidance on State Replacement Contracts. See the Website below for details on this process. 2) Common reasons for E-rate denials DPI staff have compiled a list of the Common Reasons for E-rate Funding Denials. This list is based on Wisconsin applications from 2004 through 2006. In this three-year period, 8.3% of all funding requests were denied. See the listing of denials for more detailed explanations on why applications are denied. The five most common reasons are listed below.
State Agency Resource Staff Please contact the following staff if you have questions. K-12 public school E-rate questions and public school technology plans: Stephen Sanders Library E-rate questions and public library and library system technology plans: Bob Bocher E-rate and private school technology plans: Gordon Hanson
Bob Bocher, Technology Consultant
Last updated on 2/25/2008 9:06:06 AM |
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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster
Department of Public Instruction, 125 S. Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841 (800) 441-4563  Contact Us About Us Copyright Privacy Non Discrimination Accessibility DPI Home
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