The Schools and Libraries Division announced that on June 3 it will release another $61.5 million worth of funding commitments for telecommunications and Internet access for the 2002 funding year, which starts July 1. The wave will bring the total committed so far this year to about $450 million. The SLD had no new information available on the prospects for funding internal connections.
In addition, the SLD said that between now and Sept. 6, it would enforce its deadlines for turning around auditors' information requests, only when it has a successful two-way communication between an applicant's contact person or their designee. The SLD position reflected the fact that some schools and school offices are closed for the summer and school personnel would be unaware that the SLD was trying to reach them. The SLD said, however, that it would be unable to move forward on these commitments until the fall.
