SLD Training

I went to the SLD training in DC last week. It certainly exceeded my expectations, but my expectations were low. I don't know how a one-day training aimed at everyone in the program can be successful. I think they would have been better off running several sessions, separating service providers from applicants and beginners from experts.

Here are some things I found significant:
1) The SLD is planning to start a listserv with information updates.
2) The SLD will soon post a table of state-by-state eligibility of pre-K, adult ed and juvenile justice facilities.
3) Any FRN with a "non-recurring" cost in it can be considered and non-recurring service, having until Sept. 30 to complete service.
4) For 2006-2007, maintenance will be a recurring service.
5) There was a reference to a "training site," which seemed to be a site with dummy 470s and 471s, which trainers could use to allow trainees to practice on forms without doing any real harm.

Finally, I got an answer to a question that I've been asking for a year and a half. The question is, if an ASP makes an administrative application (the example I used was a student information system) accessible from the Web, and separately identifies the costs associated with hosting that content on the Web, are those costs eligible for E-Rate funding.

The answer from Phil Giesler, the SLD's eligibility guru: Yes.

Of course, I'd feel better if I had it in writing from the FCC, but I'll take what I can get.

The SLD staff said they would try to get all the questions that people gave them into some kind of FAQ and publish it on the Web site. Maybe they'll tell us about it in the new listserv....