On July 14, 2017, the SLD reminded applicants, as part of the weekly newsbrief, of their summer contact procedures. The summer contact period runs from May 26 through September 8. SLD recognizes that many administrators might be unavailable to answer program integrity assurance (PIA) questions during the summer and will not penalize applicants for not being responsive during this time frame. However, the SLD recommends that if an applicant is unavailable that they reach out to the SLD. While the E-rate Productivity Portal is not currently allowing applicants to set their summer deferral time frame, the SLD is advising applicants to call the SLD’s Client Services Bureau at 888-203-8100 to expedite informing the SLD of your desire to set up the summer deferral for your district.
Many applicants have already contacted the SLD and according to a Funds For Learning analysis, as of July 19, the SLD has $50.4 million pending applications that fall under the summer deferral procedure.