Board awards five-year wide-area network contract; staff cites E-rate savings

District technology staff presented a recommendation for a new wide-area network (WAN) provider and the board voted to award the contract at the Feb. 13 meeting.

Mr. White (district technology presenter) told the board the recommended provider offered competitive pricing and a favorable five-year structure. Staff described the contract as a five-year agreement with options to extend; presentation materials noted scalability and technical solutions to address current and future needs across the district’s buildings.

During the Q&A board members asked for clarification about the provider name, contract length and recurring costs. Staff explained the provider (referred to in the presentation as Zayo and as ENA, which had been associated in the presentation) and said the contract term presented was five years with additional one-year options. Staff also discussed E-rate, the federal schools-and‑libraries support program, and said qualifying costs would be partially subsidized; staff explained the district’s share would be 10% of eligible costs under the E-rate structure. Staff presented recurring monthly capacity costs for the district and a per-site monthly charge for gig circuits; those numbers were discussed and slightly unclear on the audio transcription, so the board requested follow-up documentation.

The board approved the WAN award by roll call, 5–0. After the vote the board instructed technology staff to proceed with contract execution and E-rate coordination.

What was said (attributed): “It was competitive prices … they had a favorable long term structure over the 5 year contact term,” Mr. White said. On E-rate, staff said, “E-rate is a government funding project where they provide money for networking and connectivity … the schools that win that funding pay 10% of the cost.”

Next steps: Technology will execute the contract, apply for E-rate funding where eligible and report implementation progress to the board.