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District hears E-rate plan to replace firewall, UPS and switches; project estimated at about $271,705
Summary
Wayne County RESA technology coordinator Jonathan Turner presented the South Redford School District's FY26–27 E-rate upgrade: timeline (June–Oct 2026), vendor recommendations and a total project estimate of $271,705, with the district portion reported as roughly $90,000. Board members asked about firewall layers, funding sources and USAC timing.
Jonathan Turner, technology coordinator with Wayne County RESA, told the South Redford Board of Education on March 9 that the district is seeking federal E-rate discounts to replace aging uninterruptible power supplies, upgrade switches and replace the district firewall as part of a FY 2026–27 technology project.
Turner described the district network topology and E-rate funding categories and said the district sent an RFP in February and received six bids. He recommended line-item awards for fiber maintenance (lowest bidder AMCOM, about $56,000), UPS units (Vector Technology), a firewall replacement (Delta Network Services, about $70,000), switches (Intercom, $23,360) and smart-net support (Inicop, $8,045). "The entire project is gonna cost about $271,000. $271,705," Turner said, adding the district's out-of-pocket responsibility would be taken from the technology budget allocation and E-rate program.
The presentation included a projected timeline: work to begin approximately June 2026, run into October 2026 and require USAC approval of the E-rate reimbursement (Turner said reimbursement is anticipated roughly 16 weeks after project completion). Turner said the district's current UPS units are five to seven years old and, following a recent outage, need replacement to restore phone and network resiliency.
Board members questioned network security and funding. One member asked whether a single firewall could be bypassed given the number of buildings; Turner said all district traffic routes to the main firewall in the data center and offered to follow up with his network team about firewall layers. On who pays if E-rate were discontinued in the future, Turner said: "Once we do start the work, they can't take it away from us; in the future, if they do so choose to get rid of the E-rate program, then, yes, it would be a district purchase." The board clarified that non–E-rate components would be paid from the tech bond budget and the district's share from the technology budget.
Next steps: the cabinet and RESA team evaluated the bids and recommended awardees; the district will proceed with contract documentation and pursue USAC approvals before implementation. The board requested a copy of Turner's presentation and asked staff to return with any follow-up details on the firewall architecture and exact district cost share.
