Frequently Asked Questions about Technology Funding for Eligible Florida Schools Application Eligibility Funding Vouchers Product Qualification Application Who receives the application? Applications are being mailed out to Superintendents during the week of September 4, 2006. What is the role of the district? Districts must: Verify the eligible schools based on 2004-05 National School Lunch Program being at 50% that is supplied to the Florida Department of Education. Data must be on file with the FLDOE. Verify the total number of students for 2004-05 in the eligible schools from data provided to the FLDOE. Changes can be made to the reports but need NSLP and FLDOE documentation to verify. Verify merged or deleted schools. When is the application due? Return the application by December 18, 2006. These can be postmarked or faxed. Eligibility Which schools are entitled to vouchers? Eligible schools must have at least 50 percent of their student population during the 2004-05 school year eligible for free and reduced priced lunch. Funding How do schools get funded? Funds will be made available through General Purpose Vouchers and Software Vouchers. General Purpose Vouchers can be used to purchase qualifying hardware and professional development services. Software Vouchers can be used to purchase software for all personal computers. Do all claims have to be mailed back at the same time or can the districts send them back as they make purchases? If the entirety of the voucher is not spent, will the district be mailed back a new voucher with the remaining balance? The two vouchers do not have to be returned to the Settlement Administrator at the same time. They may be mailed separately. If there are not enough purchased products to redeem the full value of the voucher(s), the Settlement Administrator will issue a General Purpose Balance Voucher and/or Software Balance Voucher for the remaining voucher balance(s). Once a receipt is received by the settlement administrator, what is the typical time for a district to receive their reimbursement? 6-8 weeks. Once a voucher comes in with the required back-up receipt(s)/invoice(s), if the voucher is filled out completely, signed and each purchase receipt/invoice shows: vendor name; purchase date; product name; product price; and method of payment (cash, cc, on account, etc.) payment is usually processed & mailed in 6-8 weeks. What can cause delays in receiving reimbursements? Delays can occur for the following reasons: Districts send copies of their vouchers instead of their original vouchers Voucher has unauthorized signature or NO signature Incomplete vouchers—The Product List section must be filled out unless there are too many products to list, at which time a spreadsheet providing the required product information, must be attached, and “See Attached” is written on the back of the Voucher. Missing receipts/invoices NO eligible products How much money is my district getting? Microsoft is still working on the settlement with consumers—once that is paid, then the FL school system gets half of what is left over to be split among all qualifying schools. There is no way at this time to determine the total Cy Pres Award $ amount or what each school district's portion will be. How much will be distributed to each school? Will it be the same amount for each school, or up to the district to decide how to distribute? The Settlement Agreement directs that the benefits be directed to the qualifying schools. Are you concerned with what fund source previous purchases or current purchases come from? All that is required is that the proof of purchase supplied meets the requirements of the Settlement Agreement. Vouchers What can schools purchase with the vouchers? General Purpose Vouchers may be redeemed for: Any Qualifying Hardware—personal computers, laptop computers, tablet PC's and Apple Macintosh computers, printers, scanners, monitors, keyboards and pointing devices (e.g. mouse, trackball, etc.) Any non-custom software used with the hardware acquired through the use of General Purpose Vouchers “Professional Development Services” or “IT Support Services” used in connection with the hardware or software acquired through use of the General Purpose Vouchers and/or Software Vouchers Equipment needed for networking and infrastructure (e.g. routers, servers, wireless network cards, or wireless access points) MSNTV units and access for students' homes or comparable technologies in the market Certification training for software and networking Tablet computers or comparable technology that may become available Non-custom assistive technology devices and non-custom software designed for use by students with special needs Software Vouchers may be redeemed for current or future: Operating system software Word processing software Spreadsheet software Presentation software Desktop relational database software oriented towards single users and typically residing on a standard personal computer Web-authoring software Productivity suite software Encyclopedia software Server software including client access licenses The above can be purchased for either personal computers or Macintosh computers. Software Vouchers may also be redeemed for non-custom software titles, produced by other companies, that have similar functionality and compete with any of the above-identified software titles and can be used with Qualifying Hardware. Can you give me an example of using the two types of vouchers? A district buys 25 Apple computers, each with monitor, keyboard, optical mouse and printer, then wants to purchase AppleWorks (word processing software), Keynote (Apple presentational software), Adobe Creative Suite 2 (presentation & web-authoring software) and Mavis B Teaches Typing, DK I Love Spelling, & Accelerated Math, (software programs for the Macintosh computer). The computers, monitors, keyboards, mice and printers are purchased with the General Purpose Vouchers. AppleWorks, Keynote, Adobe Creative Suite 2 and the O/S (operating system software for Apple Computers) are all software redeemable with the Software Voucher. Mavis Typing, DK I Love Spelling & Accelerated Math Software are redeemable on the General Purpose Voucher because they are non-custom software that are NOT comparable to MS software listed on the Software Voucher. Will the general purpose vouchers cover 100% of the cost of a computer? The General Purpose Voucher is redeemable for the actual purchase price [cost less discounts, taxes, fees & Shipping & Handling] of eligible products, until the full $ value of the General Purpose Voucher is exhausted. The $ value of each voucher is printed on the front of the voucher. Do the invoices provided by vendors have to certify the academic price? No. The Settlement Administrator does not require the school districts to attach a vendor's statement to the invoice that "certifies that the price charged for such software is no greater than its standard academic price or, if an academic price is not available, is the normal or standard price charged for such software." The vendor's invoice listing the actual purchase prices of all software is sufficient. How do I fill out the voucher for multiple purchases of the same product? Each product needs to be listed on its own line unless the invoice shows several products "bundled" together in a package price. For example on a Dell invoice for the purchase of an Inspiron computer [for example], Dell lists out all of the components, peripherals, software, 3 year warranties, etc. that are included in the laptop or desktop package. Then at the bottom of the invoice in the total line they give one price followed by Shipping & Handling charges and perhaps taxes. Instead of listing out the Inspiron PC, the monitor, the mouse, memory, Lotus, Adobe, 3 yr warranty, etc. on separate lines, the districts need to just write in one line, "Dell Inspiron laptop" and write in the total cost per the invoice [minus taxes, S & H, and instant discounts]. On the other hand if, for example, on a Software Voucher one invoice shows 8 copies of Adobe Creative Suite, 1 copy of Office 2003, and 2 copies of Windows XP Pro, each is a different product with a separate unit price, therefore each software title will need to be listed on its own line, with the same invoice date on each line. If a district purchases the exact same item [e.g. an Optiplex 745 computer] on 4 different days with 4 different invoices, the product will need to be listed 4 times. Each invoice is unique in its invoice number and date. If the district has one invoice on which 100 Optiplex 745 computers are listed on page 1 of the invoice, then on page 3 another 50 Optiplex 745 computers are listed, the district may total the two quantities of computers and enter the purchase on one line, as Optiplex computer with a QTY of 150. What if a computer comes bundled with an OS? The OS included in a purchased bundled computer may be redeemed on the Software Voucher instead of the General Purpose Voucher if the vendor separates the OS software price from the computer price and lists both prices on the vendor invoice. The price listed for the OS needs to reflect the actual purchase price of the software. Vendors do not need to "certify" to the Settlement Administrator the price of software bundled in a computer package, if the full bundled computer is to be redeemed on a General Purpose Voucher. Only the bundled purchase price must be listed on the vendor invoice. Will the Settlement Administrator be checking that the number of software titles purchased and redeemed under the General Purpose Voucher is equal to or less than the number of computers purchased? No. The only situation whereby the Settlement Administrator actually matches the number of software titles to the number of computers purchased is when bundled computers are purchased with a General Purpose Voucher and the claimant would like the OS software that is loaded on each computer applied to their Software Voucher. In that case, the vendor's invoice must list the price of the bundled computer [minus the OS software price] and price of the OS software separately. Can you clarify what is covered under "Professional Development Services" or "IT Support Services" used in connection with the hardware or software acquired through use of the General Purpose Vouchers and/or Software Vouchers? For quick clarification, yes, a Claimant may redeem IT Support Services provided by a contracted company/individual other than the vendor from whom they purchased the product. IT Support Services must be provided by an actual vendor, local or non-local, not a staff member of the School District. IT Support Services are expressly for installation and maintenance. Please remember that Professional Development Services and IT Support Services may be redeemed on General Purpose Vouchers only. Does "IT Support Services" mean a district could contract with a company/individual to support the machines and software they buy with the vouchers? "Support" being services like, but not limited to, installing software, troubleshooting problems, making repairs, network maintenance, backup services. YES It would not be to pay the salary of a staff member to do this same work, correct? That is correct. It would NOT be to pay the salary of a staff member to do the same work. Example 1:  60 tablets are purchased with the GPV. Would "IT Support Service" cover the following? A local company is contracted to image the machines and distribute them to the school. That company also is contracted to provide technical support and to make repairs to those 20 machines. Yes, this would be redeemable as IT SUPPORT Services on a General Purpose Voucher. Example 2:  SQL server software is purchased with the SV. Would "IT Support Service" cover the following? A company is contracted to install the server software, to perform routine maintenance to keep it updated and to run daily back-ups. YES Example 3:  A school purchases Accelerated Reader along with professional development and 1 year of support with the GPV. The professional development is an initial 2 days of on-site training and 4 days throughout the contract year. Would "IT Support Service" cover the following? The support is 24/7 phone access for technical support and on-site service is the problem cannot be resolved over the phone. YES How will the vouchers work with Microsoft School Agreement, where districts purchase large packages of software, some of which does not qualify under the agreement ? As long as the software products purchased on the School Agreement can be individually identified, those eligible for redemption will be included. Software which may not be eligible on the Software Voucher may, in some circumstances, be eligible on the General Purpose Vouchers. What if I am still unsure about whether a product is allowable under the vouchers? The settlement administrator recommends that, prior to purchase, school districts print off the product description from the internet and fax it to the administrator so that they know exactly which product is being considered. The school district can fax product questions/descriptions at any time, to (503)350-7895. What is the timeline for vouchers? April 17, 2007 is the EARLIEST we can expect to see a voucher. April 17, 2007 is a "target" date ONLY. If there are no delays, the FL Cy Pres Vouchers are scheduled to mail out April 17, 2007. Vouchers are good through 2010. Qualifying purchases must be made after April 15, 2003. When do the vouchers expire? Completed voucher information and documentation must be mailed to the Settlement Administrator, Florida, PO Box 4277, Portland, OR 97208-4277 by June 17, 2010. Where are the vouchers being sent? To the superintendents or district contacts? Each district's full Cy Pres benefit will be divided into two equal portions, distributed in the form of two vouchers: a green General Purpose Voucher and a pink Software Voucher [both of equal $ value]. The district's Cy Pres vouchers will then be mailed to the District Superintendent or the superintendent's designated Cy Pres "Contact", at the school district mailing address provided by Ron Lauver, CIO of the FL DOE. Do the receipts need to have the individual school information on them, or can they come from the district? The receipts/invoices do not need "the individual school information on them". The vouchers will be addressed to the districts therefore the district must be referenced on the receipts/invoices [unless it is a retail receipt such as Office Depot or Costco, etc.] Again, receipt(s)/voucher(s) must show: vendor name; purchase date; product name; product price; and method of payment (cash, cc, on account, etc.) Please note: If the receipts meet these 5 points, there is no need to include a copy of a UPC code/box top, for proof of purchase. Also, to expedite the redemption process, please do not send copies of Purchase Orders, Packing Slips, Approvals, check copies, or any other backup information other than copies of the actual purchase receipts. What will the mailed vouchers look like? Are the vouchers going to come in two separate envelopes or are there two separate vouchers in the same envelope? The Cy Pres Vouchers will be very distinguishable. Each qualifying district will receive two vouchers, a General Purpose Voucher which is GREEN, and a Software Voucher which is PINK. Each voucher will have half of the district's total award amount printed on it in bold numbers. Both vouchers are mailed together in the same 9x12 white window envelope, to the ATTN: of the Superintendent or her/his designated "Contact", at the address given to us by the FLDOE. There will be a Voucher Insert included with the two vouchers. This is a guideline to assist in the redemption of the vouchers. How long will the processing of the vouchers take? Can I speed up the process? It takes at least 60 days to get money back once vouchers are returned with all proper paperwork. The processing of the Cy Pres Vouchers for redemption goes much more quickly if: The ORIGINAL Voucher is returned to the Settlement Administrator [voucher copies will not be redeemed] The Voucher is entirely filled out The Voucher is dated and signed by the superintendent or her/his designated "Contact" person The List of Products [on the backside of the voucher] is filled out listing all products to be redeemed, their actual purchase date from the invoice [not the purchase order date], the actual purchase prices [minus fees, taxes and immediate discounts], the quantity, and total price. The List of Products needs to match the invoices not the purchase orders The Voucher is accompanied solely by copies of the purchased products' invoices and/or receipts. The invoices/receipts must show the (1) vendor name, (2) date of purchase, (3) product description, (4) purchase price [after immediate discounts], and (5) the method of payment [e.g. credit card, cash, on account, Terms, etc. are ok. Credit card and account numbers are not necessary] Only copies of actual invoices/receipts of purchase accompany the vouchers. Print outs of Price Quotes, Shopping Cart Contents, Packing Slips, incomplete Orders, etc. are not acceptable replacements for invoices/receipts The purchased products listed are actually redeemable per the guidelines on the vouchers themselves [districts can call with eligibility questions.] Please note: A copy of each product's UPC Barcode or box top is not necessary if the receipts meet the 5 pt. criteria [see above]. Copies of Purchase Orders, Packing Slips, more than one copy of the same invoice/receipt, check copies, photos of products, and other extra documentation are not necessary and may slow the redemption process. Also, if the list of products to be redeemed is longer than the space provided on the back of the voucher, please write "See Attached Spreadsheet" on the List of Products page and attach a spreadsheet listing only products to be redeemed, using the same format as the voucher. Again, please match the spreadsheet information to the information on the copies of invoices/receipts [not purchase orders]. There is no need to send in more receipts than are necessary for the full redemption of the voucher. The Settlement Administrator cannot select products for redemption. The district must designate which products they would like to redeem. Can we send in an invoice to be reviewed, to see if it is acceptable, prior to official submission with the voucher? Yes, we can review an invoice prior to submission with a voucher. Fax it to (503) 350-7895 along with a cover letter which explains the district's plan of intention (e.g., "we are purchasing 20 laptops with our General Purpose Voucher and would like to apply all 20 of the laptop operating systems toward the redemption of our Software Voucher"). On the actual invoice, should the districts highlight the products they are claiming? If there are multiple products on the invoice but the district is only claiming some of them, highlighting the products to be redeemed is important. If there is only one product on the invoice, or more than one product, all of which are being redeemed, highlighting is not necessary. For listing items for redemption on the voucher, should each line encompass the information on one invoice, or should each line list one product? If the second option is correct, does a product need to be listed several times if it is on several different invoices? In answer to your second question, each product needs to be listed on its own line unless the invoice shows several products "bundled" together in a package price. For example on a Dell invoice for the purchase of an Inspiron computer [for example], Dell lists out all of the components, peripherals, software, 3 year warranties, etc. that are included in the laptop or desktop package. Then at the bottom of the invoice in the total line they give one price followed by Shipping & Handling charges and perhaps taxes. Instead of listing out the Inspiron PC, the monitor, the mouse, memory, Lotus, Adobe, 3 yr warranty, etc. on separate lines, the districts need to just write in one line, "Dell Inspiron laptop" and write in the total cost per the invoice [minus taxes, S & H, and instant discounts]. On the other hand if, for example, on a Software Voucher one invoice shows 8 copies of Adobe Creative Suite, 1 copy of Office 2003, and 2 copies of Windows XP Pro, each is a different product with a separate unit price, therefore each software title will need to be listed on its own line, with the same invoice date on each line. If a district purchases the exact same item [e.g. an Optiplex 745 computer] on 4 different days with 4 different invoices, the product will need to be listed 4 times. Each invoice is unique in its invoice number and date. If the district has one invoice on which 100 Optiplex 745 computers are listed on page 1 of the invoice, then on page 3 another 50 Optiplex 745 computers are listed, the district may total the two quantities of computers and enter the purchase on one line, as Optiplex computer with a QTY of 150. Please state again the process for districts who would like to redeem the "Academic Upgrade Price" for their bundled software and hardware purchases. Is the $59 for both the OS and Office, or $59 for each one? District (a) must supply proof of purchase for the hardware with bundled software, (b) must specify the number and title of the software being claimed and (c) must confirm that it wants the academic upgrade pricing applied. OS; Windows, XP and Vista are $59.00 each and Office is $50.00 each. If a district wide purchase has been made in the past (such as an email application on a server that benefits all schools) does the total price need to be pro-rated for just the qualifying schools? No. If the amount of the MS Office purchase significantly exceeds the amount of the reimbursement voucher, since SW is generally acceptable under the General Purpose voucher, may we attach the purchase to both vouchers, and get reimbursement for the full amount of the purchase? For example, if the purchase is $500K, and we have SW and GP vouchers in the amount of $300K each, can we submit the $500K against the SW voucher and HW voucher, and have $300K reimbursed against the SW voucher and $200K against the HW voucher? You can submit the same invoice for both General Purpose & Software vouchers if you include detailed written instruction to do so. Are purchases to upgrade educational SW (versus new purchases) reimbursable under the GP voucher? Upgrades can be claimed if purchased within the redemption period 4/15/03 through 6/17/10. Can additional information be hand-written on the invoice (such as method of payment) or does it need to be officially reprinted from the vendor? Or if the information is not included on the invoice, should we include additional documentation? These are good questions. Handwritten anything doesn't work. Everything comes from the vendor's invoice. However, if in addition to Purchase Order information, if the invoice shows "Terms" [e.g. NET 30 or NET 45 or even "On Account"], that works. If for some reason an invoice has absolutely no reference to payment type, a copy of the payment check may be included. We would just prefer to keep the paperwork to a minimum and also avoid receiving private account information. Less is more. May a district use a report from a vendor that shows all of the information that is needed, along with a cover letter, in place of a receipt for the purchased items? Yes as long as it provides: (1) the 5 points for proof of purchase, using the actual purchase information NOT Purchase Order information; (2) an identifiable product description [e.g. instead of listing TOS M30X s214 6/1.3 40 GB 256 MB XPP MPN #PSA72U-3HL01L the product description needs to read "Toshiba Satellite M30X Laptop; and (3) if breaking out bundled software using the standard academic price, the district still needs a cover letter requesting the Settlement Administrator to use the standard academic price for x number of Operating Systems and apply them to the Software Voucher.] On the software voucher, if a district is requesting a reimbursement for previous purchases as well as purchasing new Microsoft Office 2007 licenses and include that on the voucher, is the waiting time for the purchase of licenses the same 6 to 8 week period as for the reimbursement? Yes Can a district submit a vendor generated spreadsheet in lieu of invoices? A Vendor generated spreadsheet [a spreadsheet created by a district is not acceptable] with the Vendor name and District name in the header, is acceptable as a "replacement for many different invoices" [from the same vendor] provided that each line has: The Purchase Date [or invoice date] The Invoice Number [one invoice per line] The Product Name/Description [e.g. Dell OptiPlex GX260] The Quantity The Unit Price [actual purchase price The Total Price Method of Payment [e.g. Credit, On Account, Check, Net 45, etc.] Included must also be some type of proof/certification that the spreadsheet came from the vendor. A statement from the account representative attesting to that, will suffice. For all purchased products, the actual price paid must be listed on the spreadsheet. In the case of opting to use the standard academic price of $59 for the OS software, $59 (unit price)must be listed on the spreadsheet. Please remember that in applying bundled OS software to the Software Voucher, the listed qualifying bundled computers (being redeemed on a GP Voucher) must have a price that reflect the actual purchase price minus the OS software price. Also, in order to redeem bundled OS software to the Software Voucher, the spreadsheet still needs an attached letter (from the district) requesting the Settlement Administrator to apply X number of OS to the Software Voucher. Product Qualification Are the ActivSlates and ActivVotes that are peripherals to the Promethean ActivBoard considered Qualifying Hardware as they can be considered a writing tablet and pointing device? The ActivSlate and ActivBoard are qualifying hardware, but the ActivVotes are not. Does the ActivWand for use with the Promethean ActivBoard qualify for purchase? No, the ActivWand is not eligible for redemption. Are digital cameras considered Qualifying Hardware? No, nor are Camcorders. Are document cameras considered Qualifying Hardware? No, document cameras are not eligible for redemption. Are handheld devices or software acceptable? Palm Pilots and comparable technology are not redeemable. Therefore software for these products is not redeemable. It must be software for PCs, Macintosh computers, & laptops. Is SQL server an acceptable use for software vouchers? Yes. Server software is eligible for redemption on the Software Voucher. Are subscription-based products eligible? No. The product must be software which can be loaded on a PC or laptop. Can Novell software be redeemed under the software voucher? Yes. Novell is an eligible title on the software voucher. Are Extended Warranties an acceptable purchase to be redeemed? Extended warranties are eligible under IT Support on GP Voucher only. Are laptop cases eligible for redemption under the General Purpose voucher? No Return to Florida Microsoft Antitrust Litigation Information Site