Moorhead schools award 120‑month dark-fiber lease to Dakota Carrier Network for seven sites

The Moorhead Area Public Schools board voted Feb. 24 to award a Category 1 leased dark-fiber contract to Dakota Carrier Network of Fargo for six strands of dark fiber connecting seven remote school sites for a 120‑month term.

District staff explained the contract will replace an expiring lease and supports the district’s wide-area network that delivers Internet, phone, paging and building control services to classrooms. The recommended price is $1,925 per month; staff said the district expects to receive federal E-rate reimbursement (Universal Service Fund for schools and libraries) at the district’s reimbursement rate such that the net cost would be about $770 per month after E-rate and additional state telecom equity aid. The board was also told the contract includes a stipulation that all fiber run in City of Moorhead–approved right-of-way.

Staff described the history: the district has used dark fiber since 1998, previously held a 20‑year lease, and is now contracting for 120 months (10 years) in line with E-rate program limits. Staff said the lease covers interconnections between identified remote sites (seven sites) rather than Internet access at the data center; the district maintains a 5 Gbps connection into the high school and extends connectivity to other sites via the dark fiber pairs. District staff explained the use of six strands provides working pairs, redundancy and a spare for recovery in case of cuts.

Board members asked technical and coverage questions, including why the career academy site was not listed in the bid (staff explained that site and other facilities were bid under separate contracts with different expiration dates). A board member asked what would happen without dark fiber; staff replied that the fiber is the district’s “heartbeat” — without it classrooms and building systems would lose Internet connectivity and related services, and replacing it with separate building connections would be more expensive.

A motion to award the cat‑1 leased dark-fiber bid to Dakota Carrier Network of Fargo for six strands connecting seven remote school sites to Moorhead High School for a 120‑month term at $1,925 per month was moved by Board member Laura Lee, seconded by Cassidy, and approved by voice vote; individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the transcript.

Staff said they will return in a later meeting with a Category 2 recommendation for equipment that completes phase 2 of the high school build-out.