School tech chiefs: Stick with local broadband contracts for FY ‘17, plan statewide options for ‘18

Schools now rely on broadband service for everything from telephones to classroom instruction and materials. “Without the internet, education just stops,” Will Goodman, president of the Idaho Education Technology Association, told lawmakers who are holding a day-long hearing today on school broadband. He said some school districts have told him that if the internet goes out, they’ll have to close school, just as when the power goes out.

Goodman said the Idaho Education Network allowed school districts across the state to buy the infrastructure to upgrade broadband service to modern levels, in some cases bringing in fiber that then allowed cell phone towers to be constructed and broadband service to become available to the entire community. But in the future, the equipment will continue to need updates and upgrades, he said, in order to keep up with the increasing standards for broadband service.

The association is recommending the state continue the current plan in which school districts contract on their own for broadband service and are reimbursed by the state for fiscal year 2017, the year for which lawmakers will budget when they begin their next legislative session in January. There’s not time to set up a new program and qualify for federal e-rate matching funds before then, Goodman said; that has to be done a year in advance.

But then, for fiscal year 2018 and beyond, they’re recommending an optional statewide program with some significant changes from the IEN: Access for all schools, not just high schools; a program that is “removed from politics;” transparency, including all pricing being made clear; and support for school districts with whichever items they need help on, including funding, competitive bidding, e-rate support, and technical support. Goodman said the proposal follows along the lines of legislation introduced late in the last legislative session by Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene.

“A district that is better able to do it themselves should be able to do it themselves,” Goodman said. But smaller districts or those that lack technology staff “should be able to have that assistance available to them.”

Goodman returned to the podium later in the day to clarify: “We are not recommending a statewide managed network,” he told the lawmakers. “I don’t know that I made that very clear. What we are recommending is more of a service agency.” The idea is a service agency that would provide schools funding for broadband, and help them with e-rate support, technical support, bidding support and so forth. “What we would like is the districts to have the ability to opt out of any one part of that service if it did not fit their needs.” Some school districts in the state are entirely capable of submitting their own e-rate applications, for example, he said; others may need help.

If districts needed help bidding the contracts, “This agency would be bidding at the local or regional level, if a district requested help,” Goodman said. “We are not encouraging a return to a managed statewide network.”