Committee recommends multiyear contract with E Rate Online LLC to support Board of Education connectivity applications

The New Haven Finance Committee on Jan. 13 recommended a three-year contract with E Rate Online LLC to support the Board of Education’s applications for federal E-Rate discounts and related consulting services.

City and school IT staff described the vendor as a consultant that helps develop technical specifications, manage application paperwork and monitor federal funding opportunities. The proposed agreement would pay $35,000 annually for three years for services such as application support, specification development and compliance review.

Committee members asked how quickly the item reached the committee given the contract period began July 1, 2024. City staff said the renewal and paperwork underwent administrative delays; the Board of Education approved the contract in September and the department has been playing catch-up. Presenters said E Rate Online had been patient while the city completed internal approvals.

Officials cited the E-Rate program’s large discounts as the reason to engage the consultant: some eligible services can receive discounts of roughly 80–90 percent, reducing local outlays for networking, Wi‑Fi, backup power and other school technology infrastructure. The vendor’s work was credited with helping projects such as UPS replacement, school networking upgrades and recent cybersecurity-related work.

Alder Aldo Festa asked staff to quantify the dollar savings achieved through E Rate Online’s assistance; staff agreed to provide a return-on-investment summary to the committee.

The committee voted to forward the three-year agreement as a favorable recommendation to the full Board of Alders. No members of the public testified on this item during the meeting.

What’s next: staff will supply the committee a follow-up report showing E-Rate discounts captured and an ROI comparison requested by alder members.