County seeks to colocate public Wi‑Fi on district buildings; board questions security and terms

York County officials have requested permission to colocate public Wi‑Fi equipment on multiple York City School District buildings, district staff told the Nov. 10 committee.

"This agreement is about allowing them to use our school buildings to install those Wi Fis," Mr. Haines said when introducing the item and noting Exhibit A identifies sites including Jackson, Devers, Ferguson, McKinley, Smith and William Penn Senior High.

Board members asked whether the district would receive a utility payment and whether the county network would interfere with the district—s own systems. Mr. Haines said the county would make a single, global utility payment each month and would not maintain the district—s equipment. The district—s technical team and the county have discussed access windows for vendor staff; district staff said vendor access would be limited to times when buildings are staffed.

District staff and committee member Jess also emphasized filtering and student safety. "If the student does connect to that Wi Fi, they are still filtered through our light speed filtering," Jess said, adding the district can prevent student devices from connecting to the colocation network during school hours if necessary.

Committee members asked about the term and removal of equipment. Staff said the grant‑funded program anticipates a five‑year term with an option for renewal and that, if the program ended, the vendor would be responsible for removing equipment.

Administration recommended forwarding the agreement to the buildings and grounds agenda for further review; the committee discussed adding the item to a future consent or action agenda after solicitor review and any requested modifications.

Provenance: Wi‑Fi colocation discussion appears in the transcript beginning at SEG 171 and continuing through SEG 331.

Speakers quoted: Mr. Haines (presenter, SEG 171–196); Jess (public technical liaison, SEG 290–307).