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Ysleta ISD board approves E‑Rate solicitations; district share of projects estimated at about $408,600

Ysleta Independent School District Board of Trustees · January 15, 2026

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Summary

Board approved multiple E‑Rate related RFP awards for network electronics, campus UPS, firewall maintenance and fiber upgrades; administration said USAC may fund roughly $2.3M of a $2.7M consolidated project and the district share would be about $408,600 pending final USAC decisions.

The board voted Jan. 14 to advance multiple E‑Rate solicitations and award related contracts subject to final negotiation, legal review and actual USAC funding commitments. Administration and consultant Ed Gifford described a consolidated E‑Rate package that included category‑2 campus network equipment, UPS systems, firewall maintenance and fiber closet upgrades.

Staff summarized the funding forecast for the 2026 funding year: district procurement documents list about $2.7 million in pre‑discount contract proposals; the USAC projected share was presented as approximately $2.3 million with an estimated district obligation in the neighborhood of $408,600 (figures subject to the program integrity assurance review and final funding commitment decision letters). Staff emphasized that projects would not move forward without a funding commitment letter and that the RFPs were structured to avoid district exposure until USAC commitment or a purchase order is in place.

The board then considered and voted on individual solicitations. Recorded motions and outcomes in the transcript included: approval of an award for network electronics and miscellaneous equipment (not‑to‑exceed $665,000; vote recorded in transcript), campus UPS RFP (not‑to‑exceed $342,000; approved 5‑0 on the record), NGFW maintenance and support (not‑to‑exceed $876,000; recorded vote 3‑2), and a fiber upgrade/closet project (not‑to‑exceed $841,000; recorded vote 3‑2). Trustees asked for confirmation that servers and some end devices are ineligible for E‑Rate funding and were told the program generally excludes end‑user devices and many software licenses.

District IT leadership said equipment is at or near end of life in many closets (UPS and OM1/OM2 fiber in legacy cabling) and that the multi‑year approach and E‑Rate discounts allow phased modernization while spreading cost. Trustees asked about outage history, vendor support SLAs, and long‑term maintenance; staff said many components are already installed or awaiting replacement and that proposals include maintenance and overnight hardware replacement clauses.

All award motions were contingent on final negotiation, house counsel review and the filing of required USAC forms (Form 470/471/486 etc.). Several awards passed with split board votes as recorded on the audiovisual record; contract execution was conditioned on receipt of USAC funding commitments.