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Child Internet Protection Act, E-rate Form 479

Compliance Checklist What CIPA Requires

E-Rate applicants must enforce a policy of Internet safety and certify compliance with the purpose of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) to be eligible for E-Rate discounts for services other than basic telephone service. Each year UEN is required to collect an E-Rate Form 479 from every school district and consortium member on file in order to remain CIPA compliant.

Please print the CIPA form below, filling out pages one and two.

For first year E-Rate filers only: If this is your first E-Rate filing year, and you have not yet met all of the CIPA requirements, please check box 6.b., indicating that you are undertaking actions to comply with the requirements of CIPA for the next funding year. Please refer to the USAC's website for detailed CIPA compliance measures. In addition, we have a handy CIPA Policy Compliance Checklist below for your convenience.

If you are beyond your first E-Rate filing year, and you have met all of the CIPA requirements (see CIPA Policy Compliance Checklist below) check box 6. a. on page two.

Please be sure to sign and date your CIPA form. You may send your CIPA form via email, fax or traditional postal service mail to:

Melinda Brereton
E-rate Program Administrator
Utah Education Network
101 Wasatch Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
801-581-6539 - Phone
801-581-8904 - Fax
801-541-9769 - Cell
mbrereton@media.utah.edu

July 1, 2012 CIPA Policy Compliance Checklist

Must be completed and/or you must have documentation that shows your compliant policy is in place by 7/1/2012.

  1. Document proof of public (board) meeting where CIPA policy is included as an agenda item and its announcement to the public (web page, or newspaper notice)
  2. Post, publish, or otherwise document that the policy is/was approved by the board.
  3. Policy should include the following terms and/or phrases:
    • Technology Protection Measure
      A technology protection measure (e.g. Internet filtering software) is a specific technology that blocks or filters Internet access. It must protect against access by adults and minors to visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or — with respect to use of computers with Internet access by minors — harmful to minors. It may be disabled for adults engaged in bona fide research or other lawful purposes. The policy must also include monitoring the online activities of minors.
       
      Retain documentation of the technology protection measure (e.g. bills from a service provider or filter logs) for at least five years after the last date of service.
    • Internet Safety Policy
      The Internet safety policy must address the following issues:
      •  Access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet and World Wide Web
      • The safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct electronic communications
      •  Unauthorized access including "hacking" and other unlawful activities by minors online
      •  Unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal information regarding minors
      •  Measures designed to restrict minors' access to materials harmful to minors
      • NEW! A statement that you are "educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response."

Retain a copy of the Internet safety policy for at least 5 years after the last day of the funding year in which the policy was relied upon to obtain E-Rate funding.

Please keep in mind that CIPA policies should not include detailed procedures describing how you comply with policy. Whatever is written in policy becomes an auditable item for which you will be held accountable. If the above items are included in documented policy, you have complied with the CIPA Policy rules.

An excellent discussion of the differences between policy and procedures and links to example AUP's is posted on the CoSN web site.

What CIPA Requires

Schools must certify, as part of their Internet safety policy, they are educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including cyberbullying awareness and response and interacting with other individuals on social networking sites and in chat rooms.

Schools can comply with the E-Rate educational requirements of CIPA as stated in the above paragraph by doing one of the following:

If you have questions or need assistance regarding the “Education” component of the CIPA requirements, please contact Rick Cline of the Utah Education Network.

Rick Cline
Utah Education Network
NetSafe Utah Project Manager
www.netsafeutah.org
801-585-0913 (office)
801-201-5696 (cell)
rcline@uen.org

Visit the FCC's Children's Internet Protection Act web page to learn more about the additional protections for children using the Internet that Congress recently enacted.