Core Requirement No. 4

The plan must include an evaluation process that enables the school or library to monitor progress toward the specified goals and make mid-course corrections in response to new developments and opportunities as they arise.

The final requirement that should be addressed within the plan is how the plan itself will be evaluated and modified over its life. A brief discussion of this evaluation process is provided in Appendix 5.  See also the specific strategy examples shown for Goal 5 in Appendix 3.

Optional Component:

Effective for FY 2011, beginning July 1, 2011, approved E-rate technology plans no longer are required to provide budgetary information.  In our view, however, budgets are a critical aspect of the planning process and should be included.  We recommend that projected expenditures for each year of the technology plan be shown, broken down by major expense categories.  Projected funding for the plan should also be shown, indicating what portions are to be funded out of the annual operating budget, from a bond issue, or from other sources.  Portions of the funding plan dependent on the approval of E-rate discounts should be clearly identified.

E-rate applicants should note that an adequate budget, while no longer a requirement of the technology plan, is central to separate certifications in the Form 470 (Item 23) and Form 471 (Item 25) that each applicant must submit.  The SLD frequently performs “Item 25 Reviews” on Form 471 applications requiring the submission of detailed budgetary information to assure that the applicant has indeed:

secured access to all of the resources, including computers, training, software, maintenance, and electrical connections necessary to make effective use of the services purchased as well as to pay the discounted charges for eligible services.