The Schools and Libraries Corporation is trying to wrap up the processing of the last of its applications so that it can proceed to notifying E-rate applicants whether they will actually receive any money. On Sept. 3, it said it would be notifying about 400 applicants over the next few weeks that a particular line item of their application had been rejected, prior to data entry, for violation of program rules. The SLC said notification would come through a letter, called a Form S, which would be delivered by priority mail.
The SLC said these rejections involved instances such as a service being delivered and paid for before the start of the current program year or a contract being signed before the end of the 28-day posting period. Applicants will be provided with instructions on how to appeal this determination.
The SLC is mailing out "last chance" letters, giving applicants whose applications have not yet been processed specific dates by which they must contact the SLC customer service bureau and supply the required information before their application will be rejected.
The upshot is that funding commitments will not be distributed until at least October, when the SLC expects to send them out in "waves," starting first with applications that are seeking support only for telecommunications services and Internet access. The SLC has informally told the Federal Communications Commission that Oct. 1 is too soon to start the next filing window, but the FCC has not yet changed its rule specifying that the next window must start by that date.
