New Program Helps Schools Recover Lost E-Rate Funds for Websites

In an effort to help schools recoup federal funding that was formerly available to pay for school website hosting, SchoolNow has announced the E-Web Recovery Program.™ School districts which formerly received payments for up to 90 percent of their web services can now apply for discounts at the SchoolNow E-Web Recovery Funding Page. The new program helps schools recover lost E-rate funds for websites.

SchoolNow is offering discounts to all qualifying schools using the same National School Lunch Program (NSLP) criteria the Schools and Libraries (E-rate) Program uses to determine discount percentages.

Federal funding sources reduced

The E-rate program provides discounts of up to 90 percent to help eligible schools and libraries in the United States obtain affordable telecommunications and internet access. Up until 2017, schools could apply funds to website hosting, but now funds are limited to paying for broadband and voice services.

The program is in response to changes in the last three years to what services are eligible for discounts. “For so many years, thousands of schools depended on E-rate to help either defray or, in some cases, totally underwrite their web hosting,’ said Eric Fulkert, CEO of SchoolNow, “so we are doing what we can to help schools recover some of those lost dollars.”

School administrators should be familiar with the method used to determine qualifying discounts. Like E-rate, the SchoolNow E-Web Recovery Program™ uses a percentage formula based on the NSLP. SchoolNow is employing the same criteria in place for the E-rate program, providing up to a 50% match against qualifying federal funds.

Making it easy to fund school websites

“We wanted to create a program that school officials were both comfortable with and confident that their website hosting services can be maintained – or in some cases restored – to a level that will ensure an informed and engaged school community,” said Fulkert.

“Schools lean heavily on their websites to serve as a communication hub for the community,” said Fulkert. “It’s where parents go when they need to find info about everything from calendar items and staff directory info to lunch menus and just great school stories.”

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) is the not-for-profit corporation designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to administer approximately $770 million annually to the E-rate program.

The E-Web Recovery Program,™ provided by the SchoolNow school communications cloud, is not applicable to existing SchoolNow contracts. SchoolNow provides ADA-compliant CMS, text and voice notification systems, and mobile apps to K-12 school districts, public, private and charter schools, and community and small colleges.