• Form 470: Last chance to qualify for Form 471 window
• Additional tip for obtaining Form 471 Entity Numbers
• Form 486s, BEARs, and discounted bills
• Update on OGS contract expiration dates and usage
• Recent FCC decision reaffirms strict SPIN change

The following is a summary of the E-rate News for the Week of December 13, 1999, prepared by E-Rate Central. Official SLD news appears in the "What’s New!" section of the SLD’s web site. Additional information and interpretations appear elsewhere on this web site.

Form 470: Last chance to qualify for Form 471 window

Tuesday, December 21^st, is the last day to post a Form 470 on the SLD web site for program year three ("PY3") services in order to be able to file a Form 471 within the application window. Since a Form 470 must be posted for 28 days, this would allow only one day – January 18 – to sign all necessary contracts, finalize and sign the Form 471, and express mail it for arrival at the SLD by January 19. At this point in time, the only way to get a Form 470 posted by December 21 is to file it online.

Applicants missing the December 21 date for posting a Form 470 may still want to file afterwards for either of two purposes:

a) Plans to file a Form 471 after the PY3 application window, in the event additional funds may be available for late filers; or

b) Plans to sign one or more multi-year contracts later in 2000 in a manner that would make those contracts E-rate eligible in future program years.

Additional tip for obtaining Form 471 Entity Numbers

The new Form 471 for PY3 requires each individual school or library site to be identified by an Entity Number assigned by the SLD. In our News of the Week, two week ago, we described a process for using the SLD online entry system to search for Entity Numbers by ZIP Code and suggested calling the SLD’s help line (888-203-8100) for missing numbers.

Our experience with calling the help line is that callers are normally referred to the SLD’s Technical Client Service Bureau in New Jersey. Unfortunately, the Entity Number person(s) there seem to be awash in inquiries. For applicants who filed Form 471s last year, there appears to an easier way to get numbers directly from the help line personnel through a database lookup under the previous application. Simply provide the earlier Form 471 Application Number to a SLD representative and request a check of the Entity Numbers that were assigned to last year’s list of schools and libraries.

Form 486s, BEARs, and discounted bills

Applicants, funded for PY2, may have filed their Form 486s before knowing whether their vendors planned to use the BEAR or discounted bill mechanism. Assuming that they would have to file BEARs for at least part of the year, many applicants may have entered "YES" in Column (I) indicating that BEARs would be submitted.

If, after the fact, an applicant finds that one or more of its vendors are issuing discounted bills (and subsequently invoicing the SLD for the discounts), the applicant may get a call from the SLD asking for confirmation of discount billing and for authorization to reimburse the vendor(s). Authorization can be given by faxing the SLD a simple note of confirmation, or the need to respond can be preempted by filing a revised Form 486 indicating "NO" in Column (I).

If a Form 486 specifies "NO" BEARs, the SLD is able to process either BEARs or vendor invoices without applicant intervention. It apparently cannot, however, process a vendor invoice without confirmation if the applicant specified "YES." Applicants, who have not yet filed Form 486s, therefore, are advised to use "NO" in Column (I) unless they are reasonable certain that BEARs will in fact be required for the entire funding year.

Update on OGS contract expiration dates and usage

The NYS Office of General Services ("OGS") is working diligently to make sure that most of its E-rate eligible contracts will be available for schools and libraries throughout the entirety of the next funding year (ending June 30, 2001). Two steps are being taken that should to be completed by the first of the year.

a) A typical OGS contract is structured for a multi-year period including a provision for several annual renewals. For E-rate purposes, the SLD will look to the expiration date of the final renewal. However, the expiration date shown in the individual contract information on the OGS web site is the expiration of the most current renewal period. To provide more complete expiration data for E-rate purposes, OGS has created a separate web site list of potentially eligible contracts (see OGS Web Site). The goal, by January 1, 2000, is show both current and final renewal period expiration dates for each contract on this list.

b) OGS is also trying to amend certain contracts that are currently in their final renewal periods so as to extend expiration dates until at least June 30, 2001. In any case in which OGS has no general plans to renegotiate a contract, an attempt will be made to extend the current contract’s provisions solely for school and library use through the end of PY3. Again, this information will be reflected in the list of E-rate contracts.

An applicant using an OGS contract must be careful to specify a "Contract Award Date" on the Form 471 that is on or after the "Allowable Contract Date" (28 days after posting of the Form 470). Important: The Contract Award Date should be the date on which the applicant decides to use the OGS contract for services to be received in PY3, not the date that OGS signed the original contract with the vendor. To document the selection date, it may be advisable to send a short letter notifying the vendor that services will be used in the next funding year. Mailing addresses for OGS contractors can be found on the OGS web site under the "Contractor Information" associated with each contract. The "Contract Number," also required on the Form 471, can be found in the same location.

Recent FCC decision reaffirms strict SPIN change conditions

A timely reminder: Once a Form 471 has been filed, specifying that a specific vendor will be used to provide an eligible service, it is very difficult to get E-rate funding changed to another vendor. This point was recently reiterated by the FCC in a decision (DA 99-2784) denying an appeal by the Delaplaine School District that, through miscommunication between school officials, had contracted for service from a different vendor than had been specified in its Form 471 application. In this case, the FCC noted, "the need to seek a SPIN change was not necessitated by any default on the part of the original vendor. Rather, it resulted from the school’s own voluntary action." Request denied! (The full text of this decision is available on the E-Rate Central web site under FCC Decisions.)

To review: The E-rate rules permit SPIN changes (i.e., change of vendors) in only three circumstances:

1. When the service provider refuses to participate in the E-rate program.

2. When the service provider has gone out of business.

3. When the service provider has breached its contract with the applicant.

Even under one of these circumstances, failures of the original vendor must be carefully documented and additional conditions apply to the selection of a new vendor (see Spin Change).