Board approves soliciting bids for district's educational broadband spectrum
Summary
Staff recommended and the board agreed to solicit bids to determine market interest in the district's FCC-granted educational wireless spectrum after Kentucky Department of Education legal review advised competitive solicitation; the motion passed 5-0.
The board authorized staff to solicit bids to explore purchase offers for the district's educational wireless spectrum, a resource the presenter said was originally assigned to schools by the FCC about 20 years ago. Staff said KDE legal advised bidding the spectrum to understand market interest and potential revenue rather than moving directly to a surplus-sale process.
Board members and legal counsel discussed regulatory complexity and the practicality of building district-operated networks; presenters noted it is typically not financially feasible for districts to build a dedicated Internet network given existing statewide broadband services. The motion to seek bids passed 5-0.

