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Committee recommends revision of E‑Rate Management policy; staff say federal program covers roughly 80% of connectivity costs
Summary
The Policy and Governance Committee recommended Policy 0124, E Rate Management, for sponsor revision after district IT staff explained how the federal E‑Rate program funds internet and infrastructure costs and noted telephone services are no longer reimbursable.
The Policy and Governance Committee of the Prince George's County Board of Education on March 25 recommended Policy 0124, “E Rate Management,” to the policy sponsor for revision after a presentation from district technology staff.
E‑Rate funds, which the district uses to support internet access and network infrastructure, are reimbursed by the federal E‑Rate program administered by USAC and ruled by the Federal Communications Commission, Robin Evans, supervisor of telephone and wiring services, told the committee. “Our free and reduced lunch numbers dictate what our percentage of reimbursement would be for the program. So currently this year, our reimbursement rate is 80%,” Evans said. She added that the district spends about $8,000,000 annually and receives a little over $6,000,000 back under that rate.
The nut of the discussion was the program’s role in the district’s ongoing technology modernization. Dr. Dan Zuckerman, chief of information technology, said E‑Rate is a “critical part” of the district’s technology refresh and helps fund everything from internet bandwidth to switches and Wi‑Fi hardware. Zuckerman noted the district must lay out funds up front and seek reimbursement later, and that staff work closely with procurement and accounts payable to remain compliant and timely for audits.
Board members pressed for clarification on changes to the policy language. Staff said a significant reason for the recent revision was to remove references to telephone services, which in prior policy iterations were listed as eligible but are no longer reimbursable under current E‑Rate rules. “In the previous policy, we included telephone services, but that is no longer an eligible item in the E‑Rate program,” Zuckerman said when asked to repeat the point for clarity.
Committee members also asked staff to describe outcomes the public would recognize from E‑Rate funding; Zuckerman pointed to expanded bandwidth and devices as examples, saying high schools that once had 100 megabits per second internet are now getting up to 10 gigabits per second in some locations as part of post‑COVID infrastructure expansion.
The committee voted, by roll call, to recommend Policy 0124 to the policy sponsor for revision approval. The recorded affirmative votes were Doctor Felton Moss, Miss Boozer Struthers and Miss Walker; the committee clerk announced “3 in the affirmative.”
Next steps: the recommendation sends the revised policy language to the policy sponsor for their revision approval and any further administrative edits.
Provenance: The presentation and discussion of Policy 0124 begin with the committee chair’s introduction of the item and Ms. Welsh’s handoff to Dr. Zuckerman and Robin Evans (transcript block starting at 139.845 seconds) and conclude with the committee vote recommending the policy to the sponsor (transcript block starting at 778.165 seconds).
