Liberty Hill ISD unveils multi-year network overhaul; short-term firewall and content-filter replacements planned

The Liberty Hill ISD technology director presented a districtwide network assessment on Nov. 18 that outlines short-, mid- and long-term upgrades to address capacity and reliability issues as enrollment grows.

Greg Bertram told the board the district currently has a 5-gigabit internet service but said the firewall hardware is a six-year-old appliance with a 4-gigabit throughput cap and the content filter is limited to 3 gigabits, creating bottlenecks. "We have a 5 gigabits throughput on our ISP service currently," Bertram said, and recommended increasing bandwidth to at least 10 Gbps in the short term and to 20 Gbps through two providers long term to provide redundancy.

Bertram recommended immediate, E-rate‑timed steps: replace the content filter (order already placed on M&O for near-term swap), submit E-rate bids for higher ISP capacity and switch/hardware replacements, and replace aging access points. He estimated short-term costs around $1.6M to $2.45M, mid-term $1.75M to $2.55M, and long-term $3M to $5M or more, noting E-rate reimbursements could cover roughly 40 percent of certain wide-area network or fiber-ring costs.

Trustees asked about cabling standards (Cat6 vs. Cat6A), monitoring tools for actual throughput, and the timeline for replacement cycles. Bertram said he would prioritize the firewall and content filter replacements and standardization of switch manufacturers to reduce configuration complexity. He cautioned that some large projects'notably building a resilient fiber ring'carry sizable upfront costs and multi-year timelines but may reduce ongoing WAN charges if financed and e-rated.

No contract awards were approved at the meeting; staff said they will prepare E-rate bids and return with specific procurement recommendations and cost estimates that reflect actual bid responses.