Before You Begin

Non-instructional Facilities

A non-instructional facility (NIF) is a school building without classrooms or a library building without public areas. Non-instructional facilities on school and library property are eligible to receive discounts on telecommunications and Internet access services (Priority 1 services).

Examples of non-instructional facilities on school property include, but are not limited to, administrative buildings, school bus barns and garages, cafeteria offices, and facilities associated with athletic activities. Examples of non-instructional facilities on library property include, but are not limited to, administrative buildings, bookmobile garages, interlibrary loan facilities, and library technology centers.

Eligibility of Priority 1 Services On-site

Telecommunications Services and Internet Access provided to non-instructional facilities located on school or library property are eligible for support under the definition of Educational Purposes beginning with Funding Year (FY) 2004. (Administrative buildings were eligible to receive some Priority 1 services before FY2004.)

Eligibility of Priority 2 Services On-site

The eligibility of Internal Connections provided to on-site non-instructional facilities continues to be limited by FCC rules as follows: support is not available for internal connections in non-instructional buildings of a school or school district or in separate administrative buildings of a library, unless those internal connections are essential for the effective transport of information to an instructional building of a school or to a non-administrative building of a library.

Entity Numbers and Discount Calculations for NIFs

To be correctly entered in FCC Form 471 Block 4 Worksheet (for shared services) or a Block 5 Discount Funding Request (for site-specific services), a non-instructional facility must have an entity number.

An administrative office or wing in a school or library is considered part of that school or library, not a separate non-instructional facility, and does not need an entity number.

A non-instructional facility does not need a separate entity number if it serves only one eligible school or library and is located on the same campus as that school or library. (In other words, access from that facility to the school or library does not cross a public right-of-way). An example of this type of facility is a separate cafeteria building on a high school campus that is only used by students from that high school. The applicant should use the entity number of the school or library on the funding request, and detail the services provided by the name and campus location of each non-instructional facility on the Item 21 attachment for the funding request.

A non-instructional facility that serves multiple schools or libraries must have an entity number. An example of this type of facility is a separate cafeteria building on a high school campus that functions as a central kitchen for the entire school district.

A non-instructional facility that is not located on the same campus as a school or library must have an entity number. An example of this type of facility is a school stadium on school property but not on the campus of any school that hosts the sporting events for the entire school district.

Discounts for School NIFs

In general, the discount for a school NIF is the weighted average discount of the school district in which it is located.

However, some school NIFs may contain classrooms. If so, the discount for that school NIF is calculated as follows:

• To determine the discount for a NIF with classrooms and a fixed student population, divide the number of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) at the school by the total number of students at the school. Use this number and the urban or rural status of the school to look up the discount on the discount matrix.
• If the NIF with classrooms has a student population that varies from day-to-day or over time, use a "snapshot" of the student population. To determine a snapshot, choose a particular day and calculate the percentage of the student population in the classroom that is NSLP-eligible and take that percentage to the discount matrix. Be sure to maintain documentation of your calculation.

Library Discounts

The discount for a non-instructional library facility is calculated using the same method for calculating the discount of a library outlet or branch.

For more information on calculating discounts, refer to the FCC Form 471 Instructions.