District IT presents $716,000 plan to expand outdoor Wi‑Fi at Brea Olinda High School

The Brea Olinda Unified School District’s Director of Technology Services, Josh Barton, presented the board with a multi‑phase plan to improve campus and outdoor wireless coverage, focusing on Brea Olinda High School’s uniquely challenging topography.

Barton said previous investments upgraded uplinks and classroom technology and that the current pain points are high‑density environments at the secondary level and outdoor field coverage. To provide robust, weather‑resilient connectivity for fields and parking areas, Barton proposed installing a cabled backbone that requires trenching along the main walkway to bring conduit and fiber to new outdoor access points. The concept plan, developed with network consultants, maps proposed access‑point locations and identifies critical, optional and bridge‑based coverage areas.

The initial cost estimate for the BOHS outdoor coverage project is $716,000, Barton said, including equipment MSRP, a 10% miscellaneous buffer and an allowance for trenching and labor. He described the estimate as preliminary and recommended pursuing competitive bids and coordination with other planned site projects (for example, sidewalk or parking work) to generate savings.

Trustees raised questions about contingency risk — including buried utilities, rocky substrates and the district’s history with subsurface work — and recommended more detailed site surveys. Staff and trustees also discussed the project timeline (Barton estimated 6–8 weeks of work), the need to avoid disrupting in‑session activities and whether the work should be bid out or combined with other facility projects to reduce cost.

Next steps: staff will develop more detailed cost estimates, conduct site surveys and explore coordinating the trunk installation with other scheduled work so that board members can consider a recommendation at a future meeting.