[Insert Date]

Dear Parents,

You may know that the [Insert School/School District name] has been participating in the E-rate program for the past ten years. The E-rate program is a Federal program which provides schools and libraries across the country with substantial discounts on their technology services.

These discounts reduce the costs of our telephone service, Internet access, and the internal connections we use to build and maintain the computer networks that link our classrooms. The size of the discounts which we receive is based the income level of our student’s families. Our local public library also benefits since it shares our discount rate. Discounts also save the district and taxpayers a substantial amount of money.

We need your help qualifying for the largest discount allowable by providing us with some very general information. Please take a minute to fill out and return the attached survey to [Insert contact person’s name/address] before [Insert date]. This information will remain confidential and will be reported only as a total group, not by individual families, and will not be used for any purpose other than E-rate.

The income guidelines on the attached survey are the same as those used for participation in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. However, since responses to the survey will be kept confidential, answering yes to any of the questions on the attached form will not make your children eligible to receive Free or Reduced price lunches. Instead, if you have children you would like to enroll in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program, please contact [Insert contact person’s name/address/phone number].

Thank you for your participation in helping [Insert School/School District name] stretch its resources to best serve all our students. If you have any questions, please call our office at [Insert telephone number].

Thank you,

[Name]
[Title]