Board authorizes solicitation of bids for district educational broadband spectrum
Summary
After legal guidance from the Kentucky Department of Education, the Clark County board voted to solicit bids to test market interest in selling the district's educational broadband spectrum rather than accept a direct purchase offer.
The Clark County Board of Education voted Jan. 20 to solicit bids to explore selling the district's educational broadband spectrum after staff reported interest from a buyer and sought legal guidance.
A KDE contact told the board that the department's legal team "advised us to bid that out" because federal regulations and property-surplus considerations may apply, the contact said during the meeting. Board members and staff said soliciting competitive offers will provide options and information and does not obligate the district to accept any bid. "It gives us an option to see where we're at and financially, possibly give a pretty significant cash inflow to the district," one presenter said.
The board instructed staff to draft and issue a solicitation to determine potential market interest; staff emphasized that any sale would follow applicable federal and state rules and that the district can decline bids if terms are not acceptable. Next steps include preparing an RFP or solicitation and returning to the board with bids and legal recommendations before any acceptance.
