1. Invitations are sent to the technology coordinator, superintendent and treasurer at the start of the subsidy application window in October each year. It is emailed from support@ohio-k12.help.
2. The invitation includes a secure link that must be used to access your online subsidy application.
3. If there have been changes to these key contacts at your district or school, you must provide the updates in September before the start of the subsidy application window.

1. All award notifications are made during the month of October each year. The window for applying is typically the month of October each year.
2. Subsidies are paid in two parts: first half in October or November ($900/building) and second half in March or April ($900/building). You can lookup your payments using Ohio Department of Education payment lookup.
3. Funds are received electronically from data in the OAKS system (the State of Ohio accounting system); alternatives to ACH payments must be setup with OAKS.
4. Districts and schools should account for this state funding using USAS Fund 451, Receipt Code 3219 with a unique Special Cost Center.

Q: Where can I find the allowable expenditures for this subsidy?

A: The allowable expenditures are explained at http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Finance-and-Funding/Programs/Educational-Technology/Ohio-K-12-Network/Spending-Guidelines.

Q: It says, “Please account for this funding using It USAS Fund 451, Receipt Code 3219 with a unique Special Cost Center. When is this due?”

A: Funds received for the Ohio K12 Network Subsidy must be encumbered on or before June 30. All funds must be spent on or before September 30.

Minimum Connectivity: The minimum connection speed is 1.56 Mbps.

Cable and DSL connections are not eligible for subsidy.

The minimum connection speed requirement is determined by the Ohio Department of Education in collaboration with the Ohio K12 Network Advisory Committee.

Building refers to an ODE-issued IRN which might include more than one physical building on the same campus.

A building is eligible must:

• have an ODE-issued IRN
• be Open for school (OEDS status) in the current year
• instruct K through 12 students; preK-only IRNs are not eligible
• have reported ADM/headcount in the prior school year

Closed Building: The building IRN must be “Open” in OEDS (see: https://oeds.ode.state.oh.us/).  Closed buildings that are  connected to your network are not eligible for subsidy.

Grade Span: A building IRN must be instructing students in the K through 12 grade span. Preschool-only building IRNs and adult education buildings are not eligible.

Student Headcount: Your district must have reported ADM or headcount for the building IRN in the previous school year. Headcount data is received from the Ohio Department of Education and imported on a periodic basis.

Districts and schools are required to file an on-time Erate 471 application for Internet Access (IA) with a qualified Ohio K12 Network ISP. The ISP is typically one of the ITCs of the Ohio Education Computer Network (OECN).

Erate applications are filed in the spring before the fall subsidy application period.

If you are a new district or school, you will not be eligible in your first year because it is not likely you filed for Erate. There is no waiver for this requirement.

An Erate 471 may be missing because it was filed by an entity other than the school, such as a consortia.

Erate 471 data is imported into the subsidy system from USAC during the summer and is matched by their Billing Entity Number (BEN). If your school was included in a Erate consortia filing, you will need to provide the BEN for the consortia and the 471 application number that included your school.

Q: If a non-public school uses auxiliary funding to pay for their internet service, how does this subsidy apply?

A: If the school has filed for E-Rate for Internet Access with an ITC as their provider and has students who are within the kindergarten through grade 12, they are eligible to apply for the subsidy.

You will be able to modify data pertaining to existing buildings’ technology data in step 2. If you find incorrect or missing information in a read-only field, or field you are not able to change, please contact support to have the information updated by our Ohio K12 Help Team.

You can add a school building or network facility by clicking the “Add a New Building” button in step 1, or by contacting support. We will add the information to the district and notify you when complete.

Note: If you add a new building, you MUST wait for confirmation from our support team that the building has been added to your district before you can continue to step 2.

You can easily indicate a building closure by clicking the “Close” button for the corresponding building in step 2. Complete and submit the form and our support team will be notified to review the request and close the building.

Note: You do NOT need to wait for a confirmation from support before proceeding to step 3.