BOISE – Just over half of eligible schools have decided to sign up for Idaho’s new statewide high school Wi-Fi contract, putting the state’s cost for the coming year at $10,402 per school.

State schools Superintendent Tom Luna announced Friday that 203 of 340 eligible schools opted to participate in the service; schools had until midnight Thursday to decide whether to opt in. That’s 60 percent of the 340 eligible public and charter schools, which include all high schools, junior highs or middle schools in the state that serve students in grades 9 through 12.

With an annual cost of $2,111,655 in payments to Education Networks of America and 203 schools participating, the state’s cost per school next year will be $10,402. The Wi-Fi service is scheduled to be installed in participating schools by March 2014.

Betsy Z. Russell