Your eRate Technology Plan
We know the requirements!
There are no short cuts when it comes to realizing the promise of new technologies! When applied with understanding, knowledge, attention to detail and measured by the dynamic needs, hopes and dreams of those to be served, there are no limits to the good and extraordinary results it can support and inspire!
Your Technology Plan
If your school is requesting funding through the eRate (Education Rate) Funding program in areas other than telecom services, you will need a USAC approved technology plan. Applicants who seek telecommunication services other than basic telephone service, Internet access, internal connections, or basic maintenance of internal connections should review the following information about technology plan requirements and approval.
An approved technology plan must meet the following criteria which address:
Goals: The plan must establish clear goals and a realistic strategy for using telecommunications and information technology to improve education or library services.
Strategies: The plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff know how to use these new technologies to improve education or library services.
CIPA Children's Internet Protection Act: In early 2001, the FCC issued rules implementing CIPA. Basically, all schools requesting eRate funding must substntiate that they do have an internet filter in place for the protection of all students.
As you work to develop this plan, here are some questions to consider
Three of the five elements have been selected for elaboration with questions to guide applicants in developing or revising their technology plans. Based on USAC's review of technology plans in the course of the Program Integrity Assurance reviews, criteria #1, #2, and #5 appear to be the most challenging for applicants engaged in the planning process.
The plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff understands how to use these new technologies to improve education or library services.
This Section Provides Guidance on:
Core Elements of Your Technology Plan and the Approval Process:
Elements of a Technology Plan
The FCC has stipulated that requests for discounts must be based on an approved technology plan. To ensure that schools and libraries are prepared to effectively use the requested services, applicants must certify that their requests are based on approved technology plans that include provisions for integrating telecommunication services and Internet access into their educational program or library services. Most schools and libraries have already developed such plans and may only need to modify these existing plans slightly to conform to program criteria for technology plans.
Technology Plan Scope and Timeframe Scope
Schools are not required to write or develop a separate Universal Service Fund technology plan. However, the approved plan must include a sufficient level of information to validate the purpose of a Universal Service Fund request. An approved technology plan does not have to include the specific details required on each form of the application process.
All approved technology plans should include provisions for evaluating progress toward the plan's goals, and ideally these assessments should occur on an annual basis. A technology plan should be responsive to new and emerging opportunities, open to review and not a static document. If you find that your technology needs change and you want to order services beyond the scope of your existing plan, you must prepare and submit a new plan for approval.
Timeframe
Approved technology plans should cover a period of no more than three years. In view of the rapid development cycle of new technologies and services, schools and libraries should approach long-term commitments with caution. However, long-range planning may be important in the case of some lease-purchase arrangements or very large capital investments that require extended commitments. There may also be cases in which an approved plan is longer than three years to conform to federal, state, or local requirements. Whenever an approved plan is longer than three years, there should be a significant review of progress during the third year.
A technology plan must be written - including all five elements and must be approved before the start of service. Applicants are now required to formally certify on Form 486 that the technology plans on which they based their purchases were approved before they began to receive service. (See Reviews for Program Compliance below for more details).
Technology Plan Approval Process Technology Plan Approvers
To ensure that technology plans are based on the reasonable needs and resources of the applicant, and that they are compatible with the goals of the Schools and Libraries Program, the FCC requires independent approval of an applicant's technology plan.
Technology Plan Certification
The technology plan approver is expected to use the criteria and standards outlined above in Elements of a Technology Plan and Technology Plan Scope and Timeframe. USAC will provide a letter of certification to each approving entity. Each approver should provide a copy of a document stating that the technology plan has been approved and the time frame (not more than three years) the approval covers.
Approval of State Education Agency and Public School Plans
The primary approver for State Education Agency (SEA) technology plans is the U.S. Department of Education. School districts that have not developed approved technology plans under one of these national or state initiatives may have their own district-level plans approved by their SEA, following the criteria and standards outlined above in Elements of a Technology Plan and Technology Plan Scope and Timeframe. In the case of a Local Education Agency (LEA), plans that were approved for the U.S. Department of Education's EETT program satisfy the requirements for Schools and Libraries Program Technology Plans as long as they are accompanied by a current operating budget.
Charter School Technology Plan
A charter school may have its technology plan approved through the same institution that granted its charter, if that agency is a USAC-Certified Technology Plan Approver. The only exception to this would be if a Charter school has requested and received an exception to this rule by USAC.
An SEA may delegate its approval authority by designating a third party to establish and operate an independent peer review process on its behalf. In the event of such delegation, the SEA should notify USAC. USAC will certify the alternative approval entity, but the state will retain responsibility for the approvers operating under its jurisdiction.
Note: Schools that are subject to a state review process by state or local law may not circumvent the state process by submitting plans directly to USAC (FCC Order 97-420, paragraph 157). In the event that USAC certifies alternative procedures for approval of public school technology plans in a state, these procedures may not be used as an alternative approval process for public schools in any other state, and no USAC certified approval procedure may be used as an appeals mechanism for any school in any state.
If your school is requesting funding through the eRate (Education Rate) Funding program in areas other than telecom services, you will need a USAC approved technology plan. Applicants who seek telecommunication services other than basic telephone service, Internet access, internal connections, or basic maintenance of internal connections should review the following information about technology plan requirements and approval.
An approved technology plan must meet the following criteria which address:
Goals: The plan must establish clear goals and a realistic strategy for using telecommunications and information technology to improve education or library services.
Strategies: The plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff know how to use these new technologies to improve education or library services.
CIPA Children's Internet Protection Act: In early 2001, the FCC issued rules implementing CIPA. Basically, all schools requesting eRate funding must substntiate that they do have an internet filter in place for the protection of all students.
As you work to develop this plan, here are some questions to consider
Three of the five elements have been selected for elaboration with questions to guide applicants in developing or revising their technology plans. Based on USAC's review of technology plans in the course of the Program Integrity Assurance reviews, criteria #1, #2, and #5 appear to be the most challenging for applicants engaged in the planning process.
The plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff understands how to use these new technologies to improve education or library services.
This Section Provides Guidance on:
Core Elements of Your Technology Plan and the Approval Process:
Elements of a Technology Plan
The FCC has stipulated that requests for discounts must be based on an approved technology plan. To ensure that schools and libraries are prepared to effectively use the requested services, applicants must certify that their requests are based on approved technology plans that include provisions for integrating telecommunication services and Internet access into their educational program or library services. Most schools and libraries have already developed such plans and may only need to modify these existing plans slightly to conform to program criteria for technology plans.
Technology Plan Scope and Timeframe Scope
Schools are not required to write or develop a separate Universal Service Fund technology plan. However, the approved plan must include a sufficient level of information to validate the purpose of a Universal Service Fund request. An approved technology plan does not have to include the specific details required on each form of the application process.
All approved technology plans should include provisions for evaluating progress toward the plan's goals, and ideally these assessments should occur on an annual basis. A technology plan should be responsive to new and emerging opportunities, open to review and not a static document. If you find that your technology needs change and you want to order services beyond the scope of your existing plan, you must prepare and submit a new plan for approval.
Timeframe
Approved technology plans should cover a period of no more than three years. In view of the rapid development cycle of new technologies and services, schools and libraries should approach long-term commitments with caution. However, long-range planning may be important in the case of some lease-purchase arrangements or very large capital investments that require extended commitments. There may also be cases in which an approved plan is longer than three years to conform to federal, state, or local requirements. Whenever an approved plan is longer than three years, there should be a significant review of progress during the third year.
A technology plan must be written - including all five elements and must be approved before the start of service. Applicants are now required to formally certify on Form 486 that the technology plans on which they based their purchases were approved before they began to receive service. (See Reviews for Program Compliance below for more details).
Technology Plan Approval Process Technology Plan Approvers
To ensure that technology plans are based on the reasonable needs and resources of the applicant, and that they are compatible with the goals of the Schools and Libraries Program, the FCC requires independent approval of an applicant's technology plan.
Technology Plan Certification
The technology plan approver is expected to use the criteria and standards outlined above in Elements of a Technology Plan and Technology Plan Scope and Timeframe. USAC will provide a letter of certification to each approving entity. Each approver should provide a copy of a document stating that the technology plan has been approved and the time frame (not more than three years) the approval covers.
Approval of State Education Agency and Public School Plans
The primary approver for State Education Agency (SEA) technology plans is the U.S. Department of Education. School districts that have not developed approved technology plans under one of these national or state initiatives may have their own district-level plans approved by their SEA, following the criteria and standards outlined above in Elements of a Technology Plan and Technology Plan Scope and Timeframe. In the case of a Local Education Agency (LEA), plans that were approved for the U.S. Department of Education's EETT program satisfy the requirements for Schools and Libraries Program Technology Plans as long as they are accompanied by a current operating budget.
Charter School Technology Plan
A charter school may have its technology plan approved through the same institution that granted its charter, if that agency is a USAC-Certified Technology Plan Approver. The only exception to this would be if a Charter school has requested and received an exception to this rule by USAC.
An SEA may delegate its approval authority by designating a third party to establish and operate an independent peer review process on its behalf. In the event of such delegation, the SEA should notify USAC. USAC will certify the alternative approval entity, but the state will retain responsibility for the approvers operating under its jurisdiction.
Note: Schools that are subject to a state review process by state or local law may not circumvent the state process by submitting plans directly to USAC (FCC Order 97-420, paragraph 157). In the event that USAC certifies alternative procedures for approval of public school technology plans in a state, these procedures may not be used as an alternative approval process for public schools in any other state, and no USAC certified approval procedure may be used as an appeals mechanism for any school in any state.
