Idaho school districts cut Internet costs by switching providers

BOISE – The data is in: school districts across Idaho are saving big bucks by switching from the defunct Idaho Education Network to local vendors for their high-speed Internet service.

“The cost per megabit was cut nearly in half,” legislative budget analyst Robyn Lockett told legislative budget writers Monday.

The data helped the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee decide how to handle school broadband for next year: They’ll keep doing what they’re doing now rather than try to start up a new statewide contract.

The joint budget committee approved a $6.4 million allocation to the state Department of Education for school broadband service in the fiscal year that starts July 1; school districts will have to take competitive bids and sign their own yearlong contracts, then be reimbursed by the state.

Gov. Butch Otter had requested $10.5 million next year for the Idaho Education Network. But that was before a court declared the state’s $60 million contract with two politically connected vendors illegal.

The contract was awarded in 2009 to Nashville, Tenn.-based Education Networks of America and Qwest Communications, now CenturyLink.

Syringa Networks, an Idaho company that originally was part of the contract but was dropped by then-state Department of Administration Director Mike Gwartney, sued and won.

With the demise of the network last month, schools scrambled and found their own broadband vendors. At least five North Idaho districts switched to Post Falls-based Ednetics, and ended up with far more bandwidth at a fraction of the price.

Legislative budget writers received a report Monday on 93 of 129 school districts and how they handled the changeover. About 50 stayed with Education Networks of America, which urged districts to sign new short-term contracts to avoid service interruptions. All but two of those saw costs either stay the same or rise, with some more than doubling.

School districts that switched to new providers generally saw costs drop and bandwidth increase. Tiny Castleford School District’s service went from $5,165 a month for 42 megabits per second under the Idaho Education Network to $600 a month for 50 megabits per second from a local telephone company.

Legislative budget analysts estimated that total state costs dropped by 21 percent, while bandwidth increased.

Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, noted that three school districts in her legislative district stayed with the previous vendor, Education Networks of America, and saw their costs double.

Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said, “In some cases they did it just to prevent interrupting service. It is probably the high-water mark.”

The joint budget committee’s decision to provide funds to distribute to school districts for broadband service next year is a one-year decision. “For this next year, it says we’re staying on the same path we’re on,” Cameron said, “and we’ll evaluate what to do for 2017.”