Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on how lawmakers decided today that Idaho school districts – like Coeur d’Alene – that opted not to join a controversial statewide contract for high school WiFi services should qualify for state funding for their own WiFi networks. The decision from the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee would not only allow districts that went out on their own to be reimbursed; it’d also offer that option to those now in the contract who want to withdraw; those districts, if they met certain standards, would get $21 per student, the same price the state is paying Education Networks of America.

State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna, who signed the five- to 15-year contract in July based on a one-year appropriation from JFAC, called today’s decision “good news,” saying it showed the state would continue to support wireless networks for every Idaho high school, which he said was his goal all along.