Funding Status

Wave 54 for FY 2009 will be released on Tuesday, May 25th for $11.5 million. Beginning with this wave, Priority 2 funding is being approved at 78% (down from 80%) and above, and denied at 69% and below. Cumulative funding for FY 2009 is currently $2.71 billion.

Wave 1 for FY 2010 will be released on Wednesday, May 26th. Although released somewhat later than normal, due to late FCC approval, the first wave will be a large one, providing total funding of $426 million for over 18,300 applications. As is typical for this stage in the cycle, funding is provided only for Priority 1 services.

Technology Plan Reminders

If your current technology plan expires June 30, 2010, it must be approved by July 1, 2010 to ensure no funding is lost.

Remember, regardless of when your technology plan expires, it should be updated as needed to reflect new buildings, infrastructure projects, telecommunications upgrades, etc.

Note: The State Library is currently in the process of sending letters to libraries whose Technology Plan has or soon will expire.

Due to adverse weather conditions in many areas of the country that may have prevented applicants from filing their FY2010 E-rate applications by the close of the window, USAC – in consultation with the FCC – has extended the close of the filing window to FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2010 AT 11:59 pm EST.

All FCC Forms 471 electronically filed or postmarked by that date and time will be considered IN WINDOW.

If libraries have any questions or need assistance they should contact Lorrie at lorrie.germann@etech.ohio.gov or 614.485.6050

If you have any questions as to whether you have a certified Tech Plan on file and/or its dates of coverage, please do not hesitate to contact Missy Lodge, mlodge@sloma.state.oh.us or Julia Ward, jward@sloma.state.oh.us

Information on writing a Tech Plan can be found on WebJunction at:  http://oh.webjunction.org/oherate/-/resources/bparticles

The following is from the USAC School and Libraries News Brief:

APPLICATION PROCESS: Technology Planning

The first document prepared by recipients of service under the E-rate program should be the technology plan. A technology plan is a written document that describes the technologies and associated resources, both existing and planned, that will assist a school to provide educational services or a library to provide library services.

Technology plans are required for all discounted services other than basic telephone service. For example, if you are requesting discounts on a PBX or a T-1 or DSL line – or if you are applying for any services in the Internet Access, Internal Connections, or Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections categories of service – you have more than basic telephone service and you will need a technology plan.

Here are the basic requirements of a technology plan:

• It must be created (written) before the Form 470 is filed.
• It must cover all 12 months of the funding year for which you are applying.
• It must contain all five required elements (see below).
• It must be approved by a USAC-certified Technology Plan Approver (TPA) before the Form 486 is filed or services start, whichever is earlier.
• In general, it cannot cover more than three years.

Let’s look at each of these requirements in turn.

The technology plan must be created before the Form 470 is filed.

Your technology plan must form the basis for the products and services you are seeking on your Form 470 and the products and services you subsequently order on your Form 471. The products and services you request on your Form 470 must therefore be consistent with your technology plan. Your technology plan should be specific enough to allow you to achieve your goals and strategies for providing educational or library services, but flexible enough that you can consider different available technologies to attain those goals.

Note that the technology plan written before the Form 470 filing is not necessarily the final version of your technology plan, nor the version that will eventually be approved by your TPA. It should, however, be far enough along in its development that it can reasonably support your requests for discounted products and/or services. In addition, we recommend that you document the date that you created your technology plan since this information may be requested during review of your Form 486. The creation date is defined as the date your technology plan first contained the five required elements in sufficient detail to support the products or services requested on your Form 470.

The technology plan must cover all 12 months of the funding year.

Services beyond basic telephone service that are received during the funding year must be covered by the technology plan. In most cases, services are received during the entire funding year, so the technology plan must cover the entire funding year.

If your current technology plan expires before the end of the funding year for which you are applying, you must write a new technology plan that covers the remainder of the funding year. As above, that new technology plan must be written before the Form 470 is filed and approved before the Form 486 is filed so that your services for the entire year are covered by approved technology plans.

The technology plan must contain the five required elements.

Those elements are:

• goals and strategies for using telecommunications and information technology;
• a professional development strategy;
• an assessment of telecommunications services, hardware, software, and other services needed;
• budget resources; and
• an ongoing evaluation process.

Your technology plan should address each of these elements at a level of detail appropriate to the size of your entity. For example, the technology plan for a one-room rural library with dial-up Internet access would be much shorter and simpler than the technology plan for a large urban library with 20 branches and high-speed Internet access in all of the branches.

The technology plan must be approved by a USAC-certified Technology Plan Approver (TPA).

USAC certifies certain entities to approve technology plans. In general, state departments of education and state libraries can approve plans.

The technology plan should not cover more than three years.

New technologies and services develop and change rapidly. Funding can be reduced or increased. Staff changes can lead to modifications of organizational goals. For these and other reasons, technology plans can become out-of-date in a relatively short period of time. Consequently, with two exceptions, your technology plan should not cover more than three years.

For more information on all aspects of technology planning, you can refer to the USAC website:  http://www.usac.org/sl/applicants/step02/?WT.mc_id=sl-newsbrief-20091016

The basic requirements for a technology plan are as follows:
* It must be written before the Form 470 is filed.
* It must cover all 12 months of the funding year for which discounts are being requested.
* It must contain all five required elements.
* It must be approved by the State Library of Ohio before the Form 486 is filed or services start, whichever is earlier.
* In general, it cannot cover more than three years.

The State Library is hosting a webinar this Thursday, 10/22 at 3:30, featuring Kendra Morgan, TechAtlas Project Coordinator at WebJunction, who will guide participants step-by-step through the process of using TechAtlas to create an appropriate technology plan.

Then next week, on Wednesday 10/28 beginning at 9:30, Lorrie Germann from eTech Ohio, our E-rate consultant, will lead a day-long workshop on creating the Form 470. This will be followed by another workshop on Monday 12/14 on creating the Form 471, the last step in the process of applying for E-rate approval.

You may sign up for any or all of these training opportunities by going to http://host6.evanced.info/ohio/evanced/eventcalendar.asp

–
Stephen Hedges, Director
Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN)
2323 W. Fifth Avenue, Columbus, Ohio  43204
614-728-5250    AIM: hedgesst

·      Deadline to file FY08 BEAR (Form 472) is 120 days after the date of the Form 486 Notification Letter or 120 days after the last date to receive service, whichever is later.  This will be October 28, 2009 for most applicants.  In order to file an online BEAR, you are required to have a PIN.  If you have not received a PIN, you will need to file a paper form.  A PDF version can be found at http://www.universalservice.org/_res/documents/sl/pdf/472.pdf .

·         Deadline to file FY09 Form 486 is 120 days after the date of the USAC Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) or 120 days after the service start date, whichever is later.  The deadline for applicants who received their FDCL prior to the service start date of July 1, 2009 (Waves 1-10), is October 29, 2009.

·         There is still time to register for the public library E-rate workshops.  Go to the Events Calendar on WebJunction Ohio at:  http://host6.evanced.info/ohio/evanced/eventcalendar.asp.  The 470 workshop is scheduled for October 28, 2009 and the 471 workshop is scheduled for December 14, 2009. 

·         There is a special webinar on October 22, 2009 at 3:30 hosted by Kendra Morgan, TechAtlas Coordinator at WebJunction.  The webinar will assist librarians in using  the TechAtlas tool to write a Technology Plan.

In the webinar Kendra will introduce participants to the TechAtlas Technology Plan preparation program.  She will then guide participants step-by-step through the program.  This webinar will be held October 22 from 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. To register for the webinar and to get details on connecting to the webinar room go to:  https://www3.oclc.org/app/request/bin/request.asp?specialCode=TechAtlas102209

Technology Planning is the first step in the E-Rate process.  Remember to also sign up for the 470 workshop (October 28) and the 471 workshop (December 14). 

More information on the workshop sites and registration information will be made available closer to the dates. 

Additionally, a webinar will be held the last week of September.  The webinar will be hosted by Kendra Morgan, TechAtlas and is designed to assist public libraries in using the TechAtlas tool for the development of a Technology Plan that meets all E-Rate requirements.  Public libraries are encouraged to use this free technology tool available at WebJunction Ohio or webjunction.techatlas.org

The Schools and Libraries News Brief has issued information and reminders regarding CIPA compliance. 

“In general, the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires schools and libraries receiving discounts on Internet Access, Internal Connections, and/or Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections services to certify that they are enforcing a policy of Internet safety that includes measures to block or filter Internet access for both minors and adults to certain visual depictions.

In the last few rounds of audits, auditors have observed a number of instances where applicants are not in compliance with CIPA or cannot successfully document their compliance with CIPA. We are providing the high-level summary of the requirements of CIPA below to assist applicants with both compliance and documentation.

CIPA certifications (Form 486 or Form 479)

To receive discounted services, your school or library authority must certify that:

• You are in compliance with CIPA, or
• You are undertaking actions to comply with CIPA, or
• CIPA does not apply because you are receiving discounts for Telecommunications Services only.

There are three basic requirements for CIPA: a Technology Protection Measure, an Internet Safety Policy, and a reasonable public notice and public hearing on the policy.

 - Technology Protection Measure (filter)

To be in compliance with CIPA, schools and libraries must have a Technology Protection Measure. This is a specific technology, such as a filter, that blocks or filters certain Internet material. It must protect against access to child pornography, visual depictions that are obscene, or — when Internet access is used by minors — material that may be harmful to minors. It may be disabled for adults engaged in bona fide research or other lawful purposes.

 - Internet Safety Policy

Schools and libraries also must have an Internet Safety Policy.

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 communication
• 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 material harmful to minors

 - Reasonable public notice and hearing

Your proposed Internet Safety Policy, including the Technology Protection Measure, must be addressed at a public hearing for which you provide reasonable public notice. For private or parochial schools, the notice can be provided to the constituent community rather than the public at large.

Timetable for compliance with CIPA

Funding Year 2001 was the first year that CIPA became effective. For the purposes of CIPA, your First Funding Year is the first year on or after FY2001 in which ALL of the following events occur:

• You apply for funding for discounted services in the categories of Internet Access, Internal Connections, and/or Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections.
• USAC funds one or more of those funding requests – i.e., USAC makes a positive commitment on one or more of the FRNs associated with your funding requests.
• You successfully file a Form 486 for one or more of the funded FRNs.

In your First Funding Year, you can be undertaking actions to comply with CIPA. If you are unfamiliar with CIPA or you want more information on this topic, refer to the “Documentation for ‘Undertaking Actions’” section of the website guidance on CIPA.

Your Second Funding Year for purposes of CIPA is always the funding year following your First Funding Year, even if you apply for Telecommunications Services only or if you don’t apply at all. In general, you must be in compliance with CIPA at the beginning of your Second Funding Year. The only exception is if you are prevented from certifying compliance because of state or local procurement rules or regulations or competitive bidding requirements. In this case you can request a waiver for your Second Funding Year on Form 486, Item 6b or 6c, or Form 479, Item 6d or 6e. You cannot request a waiver simply because you aren’t yet in compliance or for other reasons.

You must be in compliance with CIPA at the beginning of your Third Funding Year – no exceptions.

Documentation

You should keep documentation of your compliance with CIPA as part of your program documentation. Your documentation should demonstrate or include the following:

• Evidence of a public notice and hearing. Examples of appropriate documentation include newspaper announcements of the notice and hearing, a Board letter or agenda referencing the event, or Board meeting minutes.
• Existence of an Internet Safety Policy. Note that your policy must address the five issues listed above.
• Proof that a Technology Protection Measure (filter) is in place. Examples of appropriate documentation include an invoice from a service provider showing charges for Internet filtering services, a work order showing when the filter was installed or will be installed, or a system report detailing various websites or inappropriate activity that has been filtered.”