Comal ISD approves $3.03 million contract for fiber expansion using collaborative E‑rate discounts

The Comal ISD Board of Trustees voted 6-0 on March 27 to authorize a contract with the Region 20 E‑rate collaborative to expand the district’s fiber-optic network, approving an amount not to exceed $3,025,714.

IT staff framed the project as a multi-phase build that creates three resilient “rings” in the district network and provides direct fiber access to new campus sites. Mr. Monroe, who presented the plan, said the district leveraged a multi-district collaborative (including smaller district partners) to raise the project’s E‑rate discount from roughly 60% to about 78% by averaging discount levels across partners. That discount, Monroe said, reduces the district’s projected out-of-pocket cost from a roughly $7 million total project to about $1.8 million…