To ensure your Technology Plan is meets E-rate guidelines, there are (at a minimum)
three things that you should check:

• DOES MY TECHNOLOGY PLAN MEET THE FIVE REQUIRED CRITERIA?
• DOES MY TECHNOLOGY PLAN INCLUDE MY E-RATE SERVICES/EQUIPMENT?
• DOES MY TECHNOLOGY PLAN COMPLY WITH E-RATE DEADLINES?

THE FIVE REQUIRED E-RATE CRITERIA:

1. GOALS: The plan must establish clear goals and a realistic strategy for using telecommunications and information technology to improve education or library services.

2. TRAINING: The plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff know how to use these new technologies to improve education or library services.

3. ASSESSMENT: The plan must include an assessment of the telecommunication services, hardware, software, and other services that will be needed to improve education or library services. To put this rule in plain English: "What will these services do for your district and why are you purchasing them?"

4. BUDGET: Budget information, concerning both eligible and ineligible expenses must be included in technology plans from now on. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO SHOW THE SLD THAT YOU HAVE BUDGETED AT LEAST ENOUGH FUNDING TO PAY FOR YOUR NON-DISCOUNTED SHARE. This budget MUST include both revenue and expense sections. Click here for a sample budget that is acceptable. We will need to obtain from you (every year) the total amount budgeted for non-eligible E-rate expenses. These non-eligible expenses include:

• Hardware such as workstations, printers, fax machines, scanners, digital cameras, application servers (servers that host grade programs or other non eligible software), data warehouse servers, and video equipment such as monitors and microphones.
• Professional development for any staff member for technology related training. This could include training on how to use video equipment, printers, basic computer training or training to use any software programs.
• Software, such as grading programs or Microsoft Office (generally any software beyond the basic operating software for eligible servers is not eligible and should be included in this budget total).
• Maintenance on workstations and other non-eligible hardware. This could include salaries of technical staff in the budget.
• Retrofitting, such as adding additional electrical capacity or construction of new computer labs.

5. EVALUATION: 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. THIS MEANS THAT YOU SHOULD SCHEDULE FOR AT LEAST ONE MID-YEAR TECHNOLOGY REVIEW MEETING TO EVALUATE HOW YOUR TECH PLAN IS PROGRESSING. These meetings could be more frequent (quarterly), and could include the entire technology committee or just the Technology Director and another staff member.

TECHNOLOGY PLAN INCLUDES E-RATE ITEMS:
Your Technology Plan MUST include all requested E-rate services and equipment that go beyond "basic phone service" (such as circuits for dial tone service or WAN connectivity). The Technology Plan should, at a minimum, briefly describe these services, why you are purchasing them, and include a budget for these services. If you are unsure if services go "beyond basic phone service" please contact CRW Consulting.

TECHNOLOGY PLAN MEETS E-RATE DEADLINES:

• 470 DEADLINE: At the time we file your 470 Form for the upcoming year, your technology plan must be written for that upcoming year. The plan, at this point, does not have to be approved, but should include the five required components and also include all of your E-rate services for the proper time period. At the time of filing your 470 for the upcoming year (e.g. 2010 - 2011) your Technology Plan must be written for that year (2010 - 2011). Your plan does not have to be approved by your school board nor by the state agency yet, but it must be written by the time we file your Form 470 and must generally describe (and provide a budget for) what we are listing on your Form 470. We suggest tracking any updates to your tech plan in a format similar to the one posted on our web site (click here for that sample).
• 471 DEADLINE: At the time we submit your Form 471, you should make sure that you have enough revenue and expenses budgeted to pay for your non-discounted share of all E-rate services listed on your application.
• START OF FUNDING YEAR DEADLINE: At the start of every funding year (July 1st of each year) your Technology Plan MUST be approved by the appropriate state agency.