Education Service Center Region XI Technology Advisory Meeting November 18, 2010

1. Education Service Center Region XI Technology Advisory Meeting November 18, 2010

2. National Education Technology Plan Released The final version of the new National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) includes a focus on individualized instruction and connectivity, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said meeting the plan’s goals will help the nation’s students enter college and the workforce prepared to compete on a global level.

3. National Education Technology Plan Released Duncan outlined the five main goals covered in the plan: • Using educational technology to fundamentally change the learning process by making it more engaging and tailored to individual student needs and interests; • Using educational technology to develop a new generation of assessments; • Connecting teachers with their peers and experts so they are always up-to-date on the resources available to them; • Building infrastructure that lets schools support access to technology in and out of the classroom; and • Harnessing the power of educational technology to increase school district productivity and student achievement.

4. EETT Funding in the FY11 Budget • Congress returned to work Nov. 15th for a short Lame Duck Session to attempt to complete work on all FY11 Appropriations bills. Including the bill that funds Dept. of Education and programs and EETT. • Both House and Senate draft version of FY11 education spending bills provide $100 million for EETT, the same level as FY10. Administration’s budget request eliminated all EETT funding. Upcoming negotiations on a final bill may result in cuts to EETT or even its outright elimination.

5. 82nd Legislative Session First Week open for pre-filing of bills • 551 filed • 57 had anything to do with education What might impact technology? • HB 224 relating to bullying, including cyber-bullying, in public schools.

6. E-Rate Update

7. FY 2011 (Year 14) Coming Soon! • For services rendered 7/1/2011 - 6/30/2012 • 471 application window may open early January instead of November/December • Likely reason is to prepare online system for new 471 • Is expected to close mid March 2011 • Form 470’s being accepted now!

8. Don’t forget: You must post a 470 for every service, every year, unless..... You are in a multi-year contract that was originally competitively bid using a Form 470

9. FY 2010 (Year 13) Details • For services rendered 7/1/2010 - 6/30/2011 • P2 funding down to 85% • Likely to hit 80% • File the 486 after FCDL arrives • Double check TPESC website to make sure your 486’s are on file: http://tpesc.esc12.net/eratedata/default.aspx • Request discounted bills from vendors, if desired

10. Changes to CIPA Law • New CIPA Law passed October 2008 • In Nov 2009 NPRM, FCC did not include guidance to the extent to which online safety must be taught – may be leaving this up to each school to decide • CIPA Order should be released in coming months that will contain details of implementation requirements • Will likely be effective beginning July 1, 2011

11. Changes to CIPA Law • Internet Safety Policies will be required to include • "... educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response." • Essentially means that schools must educate students related to online safety in order to receive E-Rate funding • If you haven’t done so already, you might want to amend your Internet Safety Policies now and include this training in your curriculum • E-Rate requirements will NOT be retroactive • Don’t be fooled by companies that claim they are FCC-approved to provide this training or that you are required to purchase their product in order to be compliant

12. Document Retention • Rules require all applicants to retain ALL E-Rate and related documents for 5 years from last day of service in a particular funding year • If auditor visits in 4 years, and documents are missing, it could be the basis to recover all funding from that funding year • Document and keep everything remotely related to E-Rate • Like what?

13. Documents to Retain Tech plan and approval letter Proof of date tech plan “written” Consultant agreements RFP and proof of publication date All vendor correspondence Winning and losing bids Professional development sign-in sheets Bid evaluation documentation Proof of authorization to sign E-Rate forms Filtering records and payments NSLP forms and enrollment records Notification to vendor when changing service providers AUP and proof of public meeting Signed contracts Budgets Purchase orders Packing slips Asset or inventory records Installation records All vendor invoices Front and back of checks as proof of payment to vendor (non-discounted share) Proof of receipt of payment from vendor (BEAR checks) Soon: Proof that you are educating students about online safety

14. New SPIN Change Rules • Can no longer switch vendors because of lower price • Some vendors were abusing lax SPIN change rules and not bothering to participate in 470 bidding process • Legitimate reasons to switch include: • vendor breach of contract • service provider is unable to perform • bankruptcy • If you switch you must select vendor that received the next highest point value in the original bid evaluation, assuming there was more than one bidder

15. FY 2011 Eligible Services List • Webhosting • Initially proposed to become ineligible • FCC chose to retain webhosting eligibility • Expanded to include discussion boards, blogging, instant messaging and chat.   • INELIGIBLE: content, website development costs, searching of databases or content, student attendance reporting, and grade books • GPS • Not eligible, including the cellular and data charges that are used to provide the service • Online backup • Not eligible • Intrusion detection and prevention devices and services • Not eligible

16. P2: Basic Maintenance • Beginning in FY 2011, maintenance severely curtailed • Eligible: • Bundled manufacturer warranties up to 3 years • Cannot have a separate price • Actual labor and break-fix cost • Ineligible: • Unbundled warranties, insurance-type warranties, including Smartnet

17. Transfer of Equipment • E-Rate funded equipment must remain at approved site for 3 full years after installation • After which it may be moved to another eligible location, providing documentation is retained describing transfer • If school or library closes, equipment may be moved to another entity, regardless of discount • Must send letter to SLD outlining closing of school and transfer of equipment • Must keep documentation regarding transfer for 5 years • NEW: After 5 years, equipment may be disposed of or sold • Disposal does not need to be reported to USAC • Proceeds from sale do not need to be returned to USAC

18. Change to Tech Plan Rules • Beginning with FY 2011, budget no longer required as part of tech plan • Beginning with FY 2011, E-Rate will only require written or approved tech plans if applying for Priority 2 funding (internal connections or basic maintenance) • However, tech plan requirements remain for other existing technology funding initiatives

19. Change to Tech Plan Rules • TEA requests that tech plan requirement for the coming year remain in place for all schools and districts • Therefore the schools must have an approved tech plan that spans July 2011 - June 2012:

20. Community Use of Services • Schools may now permit general public to use the schools’ Internet access during non-operating hours – at the school • Until February 2010, such Internet access was only permitted to be used by K-12 students and staff for educational purposes • In February 2010, the FCC permitted such usage on a temporary basis

21. Community Use of Services Three conditions for community use of school facilities: • Usage is permitted only during a school’s “non-operating” hours or summer  • School may not request E-Rate funding for a higher level of service than would be required for educational purposes • Schools may not charge for the use of the Internet access, but may charge reasonable fees to cover overhead costs from individuals that use the schools' services and facilities Also: Organizations using a schools' services are permitted to recover related costs (e.g., “curriculum development and presentation costs”) from attendees

22. Community Use of Services • School not required to open facilities • Internet filtering rules must remain intact during use • New rule in no way permits schools to share their bandwidth with other ineligible entities, such as an off-site after-school program at the YMCA or community center • Also does not permit partially eligible entities, such as a Diocesan office that provides services to both schools and the church, to stop cost allocating the ineligible portion of Internet use

23. New Form 470 and 471 for FY 2011

24. New Form 470 for FY 2011 • File current 470 and certify ASAP • As soon as new 470 approved and online, old 470 version won’t be accepted – Flash Cut • New 470 removes many of the unused features and questions • MTM/contract/multi-year contract checkboxes • BEAR/SPI preference question • Ineligible entities section • Necessary resources checkboxes • Area codes and phone pre-fixes section • Added item for consultant registration number

25. Where Can I Look For Information? • http://tpesc.esc12.net/eratedata/default.aspx • Enter your E-Rate Entity Number in the field at the top of the page • Website shows • All FRNs • Every Funding Year • What Has Been Filed • What Has Been Committed and Disbursed

26. HB 2128 • Discount Program for Public Educational Institutions • The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) oversees the telecommunications discount program for libraries, schools, institutions of higher education, and hospitals that was created in 1995 as part of HB 2128 and which was extended in 2007 (through HB 735).  

27. HB 2128 • The statutory provisions governing some of discounted rates are set to expire on January 1, 2012. See Texas Utilities Code Chapters 57, 58, and 59. • The discount program remains an essential component of the state’s information and telecommunications infrastructure. • Without the discount program, many eligible institutions would be unable to meet their current level of service.

28. HB 2128 Without direct legislative action in the 82nd Session, some of the discounts will end. This impacts all schools and libraries that lease circuits. i.e., T1 lines, OptEman’s, GigaMan’s. Texas Library Association Telecom Survey http://www.txla.org/state-telecommunications-discount-program

29. Widening of I35 • Did you Know?